If you believe that an issue or disruption at the test center interfered with your performance on the exam, including an issue with the delivery of your approved and scheduled accommodations, and you wish to have the AAMC investigate what occurred, you must:

• Ask the test administrator to file a case report at the time the incident occurs. Ask for the case report number so you can include it in your Test Center Concern service request.
  • If you do not ask the test administrator to witness and document your concerns at the time the problem occurs, the AAMC will be limited in its ability to research your test center concern.
  • The test center is not responsible for researching or resolving any problems you experienced (only the AAMC can do that); however, filing the case report the day of the exam allows the AAMC to act on your Test Center Concern.
• You must submit the MCAT Test Center Concern (TCC) service request form through the MCAT Registration System no later than five calendar days after your exam. Concerns received after five calendar days or sent via other channels other than the service request form in the MCAT Registration System will not be investigated.
  • After you file a Test Center Concern, the AAMC will investigate the issues you reported and will provide a written response. The AAMC may, in rare situations and at its sole discretion, offer an additional remedy to include the option to void the exam and/or a refund. These are the exclusive remedies available following the submission of a TCC.
  • We will not investigate your concern based solely on the case report filed by the test administrator. You must submit a test center concern for an investigation to take place regardless of a case report being filed by the test center or if you left information in the End of Day survey.
  • You will receive an automatic email confirmation upon submission. If you do not receive an automatic email, we did not receive your TCC submission.
  • Your results will not be scored differently, nor your score reports notated in any way because of a test center concern investigation.
  • Test Center Concerns are confidential. Submitting a TCC does not impact your score, and a record of the TCC is not reported to institutions by AAMC.
  • The investigation process or response can take up to 35 days from the date of your exam. In the event that we are unable to complete our Test Center Concern investigation prior to the scheduled score release, your score may be held until the investigation is concluded.
    • If your score is on hold, you will not be able to view or release your score until it is released.

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Next: Report Suspected Violations

Fair testing for all MCAT examinees is a priority for the AAMC. The MCAT exam is administered under strict supervision and security measures. If you receive, or have access to, information or material in any form from any source that you reasonably believe contains confidential exam content or has been represented to contain confidential exam content, it is your responsibility to immediately report its existence to the AAMC.

​​​Before, during, or after test day, please report to the AAMC and/or the test administrator any questionable behavior you observe or reasonably believe to have occurred or that may occur, including but not limited to examinees:  

• Receiving assistance or copying from another test-taker.  
• Taking a test for someone else.  

• Having access to secure test questions before or after the exam.  

• Presenting false, altered, or tampered identification to attempt to gain admission to the test center. 
• Attempting to record or otherwise capture test questions during the exam.  

• Using notes or unauthorized aids.  

• Altering or falsifying score results or reports. 
• Falsifying accommodations documentation. 

AAMC utilizes a third-party app called STOPit! for the reporting of suspected violations. Users can submit incident reports directly through the app and may include text, photos, or videos, allowing for comprehensive documentation of any issues related to MCAT content.

STOPit! enables anonymous two-way communication between users and administrators. This feature allows follow-up questions, additional information, and clarifications while maintaining complete anonymity.

• Google Play Store
• App Store

Reports of Examinee Agreement violations, cheating, disclosure of confidential MCAT exam content, wrongdoing, or other alleged actions that undermine the integrity of the MCAT exam will be treated in a confidential manner. If you report such activity, the AAMC will not disclose your identity except on a need-to-know basis, including responses to subpoenas, court orders, or other legal processes.

The AAMC reserves the right to investigate if there is evidence that you may have engaged in any behavior that may be considered detrimental to a fair and secure testing process or impacts the testing environment, security, and integrity of the exam. If you violate procedures or engage in irregular behavior, it will be reported to the AAMC.

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Next: Investigation Procedures, Final Report, Arbitration and Additional Actions

The AAMC Policies and Procedures for Investigating Reported Violations of Admission and Enrollment Standards apply and are incorporated into The MCAT® Essentials for Testing Year 2025.

• If you are the subject of an investigation by the AAMC, you shall fully cooperate with the AAMC investigation, produce all documents and materials requested by the AAMC, and submit to an in-person interview conducted by or on behalf of the AAMC at the association’s request. You shall truthfully and completely answer all questions posed during investigative interviews conducted by or on behalf of the AAMC.
• If the AAMC initiates an investigation, it will notify you before issuing an investigation report. Investigation-related communications will be sent to you via email. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have an active email address on file with the AAMC that you check frequently. All responses to the AAMC must be submitted in writing.
• At its sole discretion, the AAMC may elect to send a fact-based investigation report documenting the violation and subsequent investigation, with any attachments provided by the applicant, to legitimately interested parties, both now and in the future.

You will be provided with a draft investigative report to review and an opportunity to respond before the final report is issued. If in your response you conclude that the draft report unfairly characterizes the matter under investigation, or if agreement between the parties on the content and language of the report cannot be reached, you may request arbitration. Arbitration shall be conducted through written submission to the American Arbitration Association in Washington, D.C. The sole issue for arbitration shall be whether the AAMC acted reasonably and in good faith in making its decision.

In addition to issuing and disseminating the investigation report, the AAMC may take actions for policy or rules violations including but not limited to:

• Terminating an exam administration.
• Issuing a warning letter to an examinee.
• Placing MCAT scores on hold.
• Canceling an existing MCAT registration or score.
• Suspending MCAT registration eligibility for a limited period or permanently.

The AAMC may, at its sole discretion, file a civil lawsuit against you for material breaches of the Examinee Agreement that cause damage to the AAMC and/or a third party or for any other violation of the AAMC’s legal rights. In addition, the AAMC may, at its sole discretion, refer you to one or more federal, state, or local prosecuting attorneys for criminal investigation and prosecution when it has a reasonable basis to conclude that you may have committed a crime in the course of violating the Examinee Agreement.

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Next: Score Cancellation

If the AAMC determines that your scores are invalid for any reason, the AAMC may, at its sole discretion, cancel your scores. The AAMC will notify you of the potential of a score cancellation as soon as possible via email. If your score is canceled, the raw or scaled scores will not be disclosed to you, medical schools, or any other interested parties. There is no appeal of this decision.

If your scores are canceled through no fault of your own, the AAMC may, at its sole discretion, permit you to either retest within the same testing year for no additional fee or receive a full refund of your initial registration fee. If you wish to retake your exam, you will be required to retake it in full.

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Next: MCAT Exam Delivery Disruptions

The AAMC and its test-delivery administrator, Pearson VUE, try to ensure all facilities are properly equipped and fully functional on test day to ensure exams are properly administered. On those rare occasions when we are unable to administer the exam as scheduled, it may be necessary for the AAMC to cancel or reschedule an exam to a new location or date based on availability.

If we cancel your exam on or before test day, or if you are unable to complete the exam after starting, we will notify you via email and provide a full refund of your base registration fee and return your testing attempt. To sit for the exam, you must schedule a new appointment, which is subject to availability. Remember that toward year's end, seats fill up and rescheduling may not be possible.

AAMC will not administer special makeup exams at the request of the examinee or reimburse or compensate for lost wages, travel costs or other ancillary expenses incurred as a result of a canceled or rescheduled MCAT exam. We will not reimburse or compensate examinees for any costs beyond the MCAT base registration fee. The AAMC is not responsible for missed application deadlines and will not expedite the release of scores due to a rescheduled or canceled appointment.

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Next: Test Question Challenges

If you believe a question or content on the MCAT exam was ambiguous, flawed or redundant, submit an item challenge. You must submit item challenges in the MCAT Registration System no later than five calendar days after your exam. Challenges received after five calendar days will not be investigated and reported back to you. The AAMC will provide a written response via email to test question challenges within two to three weeks from the date we receive your correspondence.

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Next: Discussion of the MCAT Exam

The AAMC developed guidelines to help you understand the prohibition on disclosure of exam content and how you may appropriately share your exam experience.

What is permitted:

• Commenting on your general exam experience, such as test center conditions or how you felt about a particular test section.
• Describing the exam with the same level of detail as in the What's on the MCAT Exam? content outline.

What is not permitted:

• Describing in more specific detail than in the What's on the MCAT Exam? content outline: exam questions, passages, graphics, incorrect responses, correct answers, topic lists, and frequency and order of exam topics.
• Outlining the steps or process to answer a question.
• Speculating about which questions are field-test or experimental questions.
• Assisting anyone else in doing any of the above.

While you may read or hear other guidelines inconsistent with these statements, keep in mind that the information contained herein, and in the binding MCAT Examinee Agreement, is directly from the AAMC. By following these guidelines, it is possible to share your MCAT experience without committing a violation.

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Next: MCAT Exam Scoring