Fee Assistance Program FAQs

The Fee Assistance Program benefits are subject to change. These are the current benefits:

MCAT Official Prep Products Benefit

• The MCAT Official Prep products benefit package is subject to change. The current MCAT Official Prep products benefit is the MCAT Official Prep Online-Only Bundle ($268.80 value), which includes all online MCAT Official Prep products. 

You will receive the MCAT Official Prep products benefit once in a lifetime, regardless of how many times you are a Fee Assistance Program awardee. We will provide more details about this benefit if you are awarded Fee Assistance.

MCAT Exam Benefits

• Reduced registration fee, from $335 to $140, for MCAT exams.
• Consideration for financial assistance to obtain an updated evaluation to support an application for MCAT exam accommodations (For more information and instructions on how to apply, please visit aamc.org/accombenefit).

Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) Benefit

• Complimentary subscription to the Medical School Admission Requirements online database following account activation ($36 value).

AMCAS Application Benefit

• Waiver for all AMCAS fees for one (1) application submission, covering up to 20* medical school submissions ($1,030 value), submitted by December 31, 2023.

Additional fees will be charged for each medical school designation beyond the initial set of 20.

Unused medical school designations do not carry over to the next AMCAS application cycle, even if the next application cycle falls before December 31st of the next year after you've been awarded.

AAMC PREview Exam Benefit

• Waiver for AAMC PREview professional readiness exam registration fees ($100 value). 

ERAS Application Benefit

• 60% fee discount on up to 50 ERAS applications.

Visit the benefits page to learn more.

You may be awarded fee assistance a maximum of five (5) times during your lifetime. This restriction enables other examinees and applicants to also benefit from this program. You will receive MCAT Official Prep product benefits once in a lifetime, regardless of the number of times you are a Fee Assistance Program awardee.

For returning applicants, if you were awarded Fee Assistance benefits in the previous calendar year, you will see a summary of your remaining benefits.

Fee Assistance Program benefits are NOT retroactive. Benefits may only be applied after the Fee Assistance Program benefits have been awarded. 

If you apply and receive fee assistance for two consecutive calendar years, any unused benefits from your first award will expire as soon as your new award is approved. After you have selected to receive your MCAT Official Prep products benefit, the products expire on December 31 of the next year. The expiration date will be visible in the MCAT Official Prep Hub. The MCAT Official Prep products expiration date will not be affected if you are approved for Fee Assistance again.

Your benefits will begin on the date of approval and will expire the next calendar year on Dec. 31^st regardless of when you apply and receive the award during the current application year. Please refer to the table below for clarification.

Other program specific limitations will also apply:

AMCAS Benefits

Your waiver can be used to submit one (1) AMCAS application with up to 20 medical school designations. Once you have used your fee waiver, and all 20 medical school designations, your AMCAS benefits will expire.  To submit a new AMCAS application with a fee waiver, you must first submit a new Fee Assistance Program application for approval.

Unused medical school designations do not carry over to the next AMCAS application cycle, even if the next application cycle falls before December 31st of the next year after you've been awarded.

MCAT Official Prep Products Benefit

The MCAT Official Prep products benefit can only be awarded once in your lifetime, regardless of how many times you apply for Fee Assistance Program benefits.

The expiration date for these products will be visible in the MCAT Official Prep Hub. The MCAT Official Prep products expiration date will not be affected if you are approved for Fee Assistance again.  

There are several reasons that you may not receive MCAT Official Prep products benefit with your Fee Assistance Program approval:

• You did not indicate that you wish to receive MCAT Official Prep products benefit.  If you answered “No” to the question “Do you wish to receive MCAT Official Prep products?” you will not receive MCAT Official Prep products. You can verify your response to this question by logging in to your Fee Assistance Program application.  If you initially answered “No”, you will have an opportunity to change your response to “Yes” and receive your benefit.
• You received MCAT Official Prep products in a previous Fee Assistance Program award.  As MCAT Official Prep products are only available to Fee Assistance Program awardees once in their lifetime, you would not receive this benefit with subsequent awards.

To access your MCAT Official Prep products benefit, please visit www.aamc.org/mcatprep and click “MCAT Official Prep Hub”. You will need to login with your OneAAMC credentials to access your products.

Your Fee Assistance Program approval award may be used for one (1) AMCAS application for up to 20 medical school designations. You will not be able to transfer unused medical school designations to future AMCAS applications. To receive a fee waiver for a new AMCAS application, you must submit a new Fee Assistance Program application for review. If your new Fee Assistance Program application is approved, then you will receive new benefits that can be applied to your AMCAS application. For returning applicants, if you received Fee Assistance Program benefits in the last two calendar years, you are not required to create a new application.

There are a few reasons that your fee waiver will not work with your AMCAS submission:

• You submitted your AMCAS application prior to receiving your Fee Assistance Program award.  Fee Assistance Program benefits are not retroactive.  If you paid to submit your AMCAS application prior to receiving your Fee Assistance Program award, you will not be able to use your AMCAS benefit for that application. 

• You already utilized your AMCAS benefit to submit a previous AMCAS application. The AMCAS fee waiver, and medical school designations, can only be applied to one (1) AMCAS application.  If you utilized your award, or partial award, for a previous AMCAS application cycle, you will need to reapply for Fee Assistance Program benefits to receive a new waiver. Unused medical school designations cannot be transferred from one AMCAS application to another.

The Fee Assistance Program is a benefit rather than a purchased service, therefore the Fee Assistance Program itself is not taxable. You will be charged tax, if applicable, on the discounted amount of your MCAT registration or AMCAS fees. The AAMC products and services you receive for free will not be taxed. For more information, please visit the AAMC Sales Tax FAQ page.

No, AMCAS benefits (submission fee waiver and 20 medical school designations) can only be applied to one (1) AMCAS application. Once the benefit is applied to that application, it cannot be utilized on other AMCAS applications. Unused medical school designations cannot be transferred from one AMCAS application to another.

No, AMCAS medical school designations do not roll over to the next AMCAS application year. You will need to reapply for Fee Assistance Program benefits in order to submit a new AMCAS application with updated medical school designations.

Benefits may only be applied after the Fee Assistance Program benefits have been awarded. For example, if you pay full fees for an MCAT registration and your Fee Assistance Program application is later approved, the MCAT registration fees will not be refunded. Also, you will not be able to use your awarded medical school designations if your AMCAS application was submitted before your Fee Assistance Program application was approved. The AAMC is not responsible for any MCAT registration deadlines or medical school application deadlines you may miss while waiting for the review of your Fee Assistance Program application. No refunds will be issued if you pay full fees for an MSAR subscription, MCAT registration or an AMCAS application, for example, those fees will not be refunded if your Fee Assistance Program application is later approved. All sales are final on AAMC products.

No, you will not be able to use your awarded medical school designations if your AMCAS application was submitted before your Fee Assistance Program application was approved.