AAMC PREview Exam Guide for Premeds

The AAMC PREview exam can feel like one more unfamiliar requirement added to an already complicated medical school application process. After preparing for the MCAT, requesting letters of recommendation, writing essays, and researching schools, you may suddenly discover that several programs on your list also require or recommend a situational judgment test. You are then left trying to understand what PREview measures, how much it matters, whether you need to take it, and how you are supposed to prepare for an exam that does not test traditional academic content.

I understand why students find this frustrating. PREview does not resemble the exams most premeds are accustomed to taking, and there is no biology chapter or equation set that you can memorize to guarantee a strong score. Instead, the exam asks you to evaluate how effective different responses would be in situations involving professionalism, communication, teamwork, ethics, conflict, responsibility, and other challenges that students may encounter in academic or healthcare training environments.

This guide will walk you through what the AAMC PREview exam is, how the format and scoring work, which applicants should take it, how schools may use the result, and how to prepare with the official AAMC resources. The goal is not to make you overanalyze every hypothetical interaction in your daily life. It is to help you understand the professional reasoning the exam is designed to assess so that the format feels familiar and manageable by test day.

What Is the AAMC PREview Exam?

The AAMC PREview professional readiness exam is a standardized situational judgment test. It presents hypothetical scenarios and asks you to evaluate the effectiveness of several possible behavioral responses to each situation. Your task is not to select what you personally would be most comfortable doing. You are evaluating how effective or ineffective each response would be according to the circumstances described.

The situations may involve students, faculty members, supervisors, colleagues, patients, or other people in educational and professional settings. A scenario might involve a teammate who is not completing assigned work, a student who receives difficult feedback, a concern about fairness, a potential ethical problem, or a conflict that requires respectful communication and appropriate escalation.

PREview is designed to provide medical schools and other health professions programs with additional information about an applicant’s understanding of professional behavior. Your responses are compared with effectiveness ratings developed with medical school representatives, including faculty members, admissions officers, student affairs professionals, and others familiar with the standards expected of medical students.

This is different from a personality test. The exam is not simply asking whether you are naturally kind, outgoing, calm, or agreeable. It is assessing whether you can recognize behaviors that protect others, address problems responsibly, communicate respectfully, follow appropriate procedures, and demonstrate the judgment expected of someone entering professional healthcare education.

Is PREview the Same as the MCAT?

PREview and the MCAT serve very different purposes. The MCAT evaluates scientific knowledge, reading comprehension, critical analysis, and reasoning across several academic subject areas. PREview evaluates your ability to judge the effectiveness of professional behaviors in hypothetical situations.

You do not need to memorize biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, or sociology content for PREview. You also will not complete calculations, analyze scientific passages, or write extended responses. The challenge comes from distinguishing between responses that may all sound somewhat reasonable but differ in their professionalism, timing, completeness, or potential consequences.

A response may be well intentioned but incomplete because it ignores a serious safety concern. Another may address the problem but escalate too aggressively before attempting an appropriate first step. A third may be respectful and collaborative but fail to take responsibility when accountability is needed.

Preparing for PREview therefore requires a different mindset from preparing for the MCAT. You are learning the structure of the exam, the meaning of the rating categories, and the patterns that distinguish highly effective actions from merely understandable ones.

Which Medical Schools Use the AAMC PREview Exam?

The list of participating schools can change during each application cycle. For the 2026 testing year and 2027 medical school application year, the AAMC places participating programs into four categories: schools that require PREview, schools that recommend it, schools that require a situational judgment test and accept PREview to satisfy that requirement, and schools that are exploring PREview for possible future use.

Those categories matter because they create different responsibilities for applicants. When a school requires PREview, your application may not be considered complete until the score has been received. When a school recommends it, the program may review your application with or without a score. When a school is only exploring the exam, it may receive the score for research or planning purposes without using it to make an admissions decision during the current cycle.

Do not assume that every school on a participating list uses the score in the same way. Check the current AAMC participating-schools page, the school’s official admissions website, the AMCAS application, and MSAR when building your list. Because schools can update their policies, confirm the requirement again shortly before submitting your application.

You should not automatically take PREview merely because you are applying broadly. First identify whether any of your likely schools require or recommend it. When none of your schools use PREview, taking the exam may add expense and stress without improving the application. When even one serious target school requires it, you should plan your testing date early enough that the score will not delay completion.

Do You Need to Take the AAMC PREview Exam?

You need to take PREview when a school on your list requires the exam or requires a situational judgment test that PREview can satisfy. Failing to complete a required exam may leave the application incomplete even when the rest of your AMCAS materials have been submitted.

When a school recommends PREview, the decision is less straightforward. A recommendation should be taken seriously, but it is not identical to a requirement. Consider how strongly you are interested in the program, how many recommended schools appear on your list, whether you can test before their preferred deadline, and whether the time and cost fit your application plan.

When a school is only exploring the exam, the AAMC states that the score will not be used to make admissions decisions during that application year. In that situation, the school may view the information as part of its evaluation of whether to adopt PREview in a future cycle rather than as an assessment of your current candidacy.

The safest approach is to create your preliminary school list early, place each program’s PREview policy in your application tracker, and schedule the exam only after understanding which requirements actually apply to you.

What Does PREview Test?

PREview evaluates your ability to recognize effective and ineffective professional behavior. Although the exam does not require you to recite a list of competencies, the scenarios often involve accountability, communication, teamwork, empathy, ethical responsibility, resilience, adaptability, respect, fairness, and the ability to respond constructively to problems.

A strong response usually addresses the actual issue rather than avoiding it. It considers how the action affects other people, uses an appropriate level of authority, follows relevant procedures, and attempts to resolve the situation respectfully. When a serious safety or ethical concern exists, an effective response may require prompt escalation rather than quietly managing the matter alone.

An ineffective response often ignores the problem, places personal convenience above responsibility, retaliates against another person, makes assumptions without gathering enough information, or chooses an unnecessarily extreme action before trying a reasonable first step. Some responses are ineffective not because the underlying intention is bad, but because the action is incomplete, poorly timed, or unlikely to resolve the situation.

The exam rewards careful distinction. You may encounter two responses that both sound responsible, but one addresses the problem more directly or appropriately. Understanding those differences is more important than memorizing a simplistic rule such as “always report” or “always speak privately first.”

What Is the PREview Exam Format?

PREview is administered online through a remotely proctored testing platform. You read hypothetical scenarios and rate the effectiveness of multiple responses associated with each one. The response scale uses four categories: very ineffective, ineffective, effective, and very effective.

The active testing portion is shorter than the MCAT, but you should reserve additional time for identification, check-in procedures, system requirements, instructions, and communication with the remote proctor. Your testing environment must comply with the AAMC’s current policies, so you should read the PREview Essentials and complete all required technical checks before exam day. The 2026 exam uses the Meazure Exam Platform and ProctorU remote-proctoring system.

Because procedures can change, do not rely on an older video or discussion forum for technical instructions. Read the version of the PREview Essentials that applies when you register, since the AAMC states that the document is the official policy and procedure guide and may be updated during the testing year.

When Is the AAMC PREview Exam Offered?

For the 2026 testing year, PREview is offered during testing windows from April through October. Registration is completed through the AAMC PREview Portal, and appointments are available on a first-come, first-served basis until they reach capacity.

Do not wait until the last testing window merely because the exam is available into the fall. Schools using rolling admissions may be unable to complete or review your file until a required score arrives, and score-release timing may not align with the date you submit AMCAS.

When choosing a date, work backward from your schools’ application-completion expectations. Allow enough time to become familiar with the exam, complete official practice, handle a technical or scheduling issue, and receive the score. You should also avoid placing PREview immediately before an MCAT date, final examinations, or another demanding obligation when a different testing window is available.

How Much Does the AAMC PREview Exam Cost?

The standard PREview registration fee for the 2026 testing year is $105. The standard rescheduling fee is $25, and applicable taxes may also be charged depending on the testing location. The registration fee includes one exam appointment and unlimited score distribution when you choose to have the exam scored.

Applicants approved for the AAMC Fee Assistance Program may receive PREview-related benefits. Under the 2026 policy, the registration fee for the first attempt is waived, with additional discounts described in the current PREview Essentials. Review the official Fee Assistance Program information before paying because benefits generally need to be approved before registration rather than applied retroactively.

The cost is another reason to determine whether your schools actually use PREview before registering. An applicant should not feel pressured to pay for every admissions test mentioned online when the exam is irrelevant to the final school list.

How Is the AAMC PREview Exam Scored?

Your score is based on how closely your effectiveness ratings align with the scoring key developed by medical education professionals. The AAMC collaborates with representatives familiar with medical school expectations to establish the key rating for each response.

The final result is reported on a scaled score ranging from 1 to 9. A higher score indicates that your ratings aligned more closely with the established effectiveness ratings across the exam.

Your score report includes the total scaled score, a confidence band, a percentile rank, and any applicable notes. The confidence band reflects the imprecision that exists in any standardized measurement, while the percentile rank indicates the percentage of examinees who received the same score or a lower score. The AAMC updates the percentile table each May using results from the most recent three testing years, which means the percentile associated with a particular score can change over time.

Do not interpret the score as a permanent measurement of your morality, empathy, or potential to become a physician. It reflects how your judgments aligned with the scoring framework on one standardized exam under one set of conditions.

What Is a Good PREview Score?

There is no universal PREview score that guarantees an interview or acceptance. Schools differ in how they use the exam, how much weight they assign to it, and whether they are using the result in admissions at all.

A higher score and percentile generally indicate stronger alignment with the scoring framework, but you should resist treating one score as a national admissions cutoff. A program that requires PREview may still review the result as one part of a broader application, while a school exploring the exam may not use the score in admissions during the current cycle.

Review your score report in context. Look at the scaled score, confidence band, and current percentile, then confirm how the schools on your list describe their use of PREview. Avoid relying on old percentile charts because the AAMC recalculates them annually.

Your goal should be to prepare carefully and perform as well as you reasonably can rather than trying to identify the minimum score that will be “good enough” everywhere.

How Important Is PREview for Medical School Admissions?

PREview is one part of the admissions process and does not replace GPA, MCAT performance, clinical experience, service, recommendations, essays, or interviews. The exact importance depends on the school.

When a program requires the exam, completing it is important because the application may remain incomplete without a score. When it recommends the exam, the school is signaling that the information may be useful, although applicants may still be reviewed without it. When a program is exploring PREview for future use, the AAMC states that the score is not used to make admissions decisions during that cycle.

Do not assume that a high PREview score will compensate for a substantially weaker academic record or a lack of meaningful clinical experience. The exam measures a different dimension of preparation, and a strong result cannot erase every concern elsewhere in the file.

At the same time, do not panic after an average or lower result. Medical school admissions decisions are based on many pieces of information, and schools using holistic review are not likely to reduce an entire application to one situational judgment score.

How Are PREview Scores Sent to Medical Schools?

When you elect to have the exam scored, your PREview score is automatically available to your AMCAS application on the designated score-release date after you have initiated the application. When you take PREview after submitting AMCAS, the result is uploaded when it becomes available.

Score-reporting procedures can differ for programs outside the AMCAS system, so review the current AAMC instructions when applying to osteopathic, dental, podiatric, or other health professions programs that accept PREview.

Do not assume that submitting AMCAS means every school has received everything needed to complete your file. Track each program’s requirement, your testing date, the official score-release date, and whether the school marks your application complete.

Can You Void the PREview Exam?

The AAMC allows examinees to make a scoring decision on exam day. Beginning but not completing the exam or choosing to void it still counts as an attempt under the 2026 testing limits.

This means voiding should not be viewed as a consequence-free way to preview the real exam. Use the official sample and practice materials to become familiar with the format before test day.

Read the current Essentials for the exact procedures and consequences because exam policies can change. You should understand the scoring choice before the session begins rather than trying to learn it while already stressed.

How Many Times Can You Take PREview?

For the 2026 testing year, the AAMC allows up to two PREview attempts during the testing year and a maximum of four lifetime attempts beginning with the 2024 administration. You may hold only one appointment at a time.

A no-show does not count as an attempt, although you must pay another registration fee to schedule again. Beginning but not completing the exam or voiding it does count toward the annual and lifetime limits.

Although a retake is possible, you should plan to prepare responsibly for the first attempt. Situational judgment scores may not improve simply because you repeat the exam, particularly when you have not changed how you review the rating scale or analyze your mistakes.

Should You Retake a Low PREview Score?

A retake may be worth considering when several schools on your list place meaningful emphasis on PREview, your first attempt was affected by a significant technical or personal problem, or your preparation did not include the official materials.

However, do not retake automatically because the score was not as high as you hoped. Consider the cost, the annual and lifetime limits, your remaining testing windows, your other application responsibilities, and whether you have a realistic plan for improvement.

Before scheduling again, complete additional official practice and examine why your ratings differed from the scoring key. You may have misunderstood the four effectiveness categories, treated every imperfect response as very ineffective, avoided appropriate escalation, or rated what you would personally do rather than the effectiveness of the action presented.

A retake should follow a change in preparation rather than disappointment alone.

How to Prepare for the AAMC PREview Exam

PREview does not require months of content review, but that does not mean you should take it without preparation. The exam has its own logic, response scale, pacing, and technical procedures, and becoming familiar with them can reduce avoidable mistakes.

The AAMC currently offers three full-length practice exams, including a scored practice exam that provides a scaled score and percentile rank. Two additional full-length PDF exams are free and unscored, with scoring keys and rationales that explain how responses are evaluated.

Begin with the official resources before using third-party materials. PREview scoring depends on the AAMC’s effectiveness framework, so practice questions written by an unrelated company may not reflect the same distinctions or rationales.

Preparation should focus on understanding why a response is effective or ineffective. Simply completing a practice exam and counting correct ratings will not help as much as reviewing the reasoning behind each discrepancy.

Step 1: Learn the Four Effectiveness Ratings

The most important early task is understanding the difference between very ineffective, ineffective, effective, and very effective.

A very effective response addresses the central problem appropriately, protects the people involved, reflects professional responsibility, and is likely to improve the situation. An effective response may still be helpful but may not be as complete, timely, or direct.

An ineffective response is unlikely to resolve the problem or may overlook an important responsibility. A very ineffective response may worsen the situation, violate a serious obligation, create harm, demonstrate retaliation, or ignore a significant ethical or safety concern.

Do not treat the categories as synonyms for nice, neutral, rude, and terrible. A polite response can still be ineffective when it avoids a necessary conversation, while a firm response can be highly effective when it addresses a serious concern respectfully.

When reviewing official rationales, focus on what separates neighboring categories. Understanding why one action is effective rather than very effective is often more valuable than recognizing an obviously harmful response.

Step 2: Identify the Central Problem

Before rating any response, summarize the situation in one sentence. Ask what the actual concern is, who could be affected, what responsibility the person holds, and whether the matter involves safety, fairness, ethics, communication, performance, or policy.

Students sometimes become distracted by minor details or by whether they personally like the people in the scenario. The response ratings should be based on the professional problem rather than your emotional reaction to the characters.

When the central issue is a simple misunderstanding, a respectful direct conversation may be appropriate. When the issue involves immediate safety, discrimination, dishonesty, or another serious concern, a quiet informal conversation may be insufficient by itself.

Identifying the central problem helps you avoid applying the same solution to every scenario.

Step 3: Evaluate Each Response Independently

You are rating the effectiveness of each response, not selecting one best answer from a group. More than one response can be effective, and several responses can be ineffective for different reasons.

Do not lower the rating of a reasonable response simply because another option appears stronger. Ask whether the action itself would help address the situation appropriately.

Similarly, do not assume that one action must receive each rating category. The distribution depends on the scenario and the responses presented.

This is one of the most important differences between PREview and a traditional multiple-choice exam. You are making several separate judgments rather than searching for one hidden correct letter.

Step 4: Consider Timing and Proportionality

An action may be appropriate in principle but poorly timed or unnecessarily extreme.

For example, escalating a minor disagreement to the highest possible authority before speaking with the people involved may damage trust and use an inappropriate chain of communication. However, serious safety or ethical concerns may require immediate reporting rather than a gradual informal approach.

Ask whether the response matches the seriousness of the situation. Effective professional judgment involves neither ignoring problems nor escalating every issue dramatically.

The strongest response often addresses the matter at the lowest appropriate level while preserving the ability to seek additional help when the concern continues or becomes more serious.

Step 5: Look for Accountability

PREview frequently rewards responses that acknowledge responsibility, correct mistakes, seek feedback, and take reasonable steps to prevent the problem from happening again.

An effective response does not hide an error merely to protect the person who made it. It also does not necessarily punish someone harshly before understanding what happened.

When a person receives criticism, look for actions that listen carefully, ask clarifying questions, reflect on the feedback, and make a plan for improvement. Defensiveness, retaliation, blame, and avoidance are generally less effective because they prevent learning and resolution.

Accountability should remain proportionate. Taking responsibility does not require accepting blame for something you did not do, but it does require responding honestly and constructively to your role in the situation.

Step 6: Protect Safety, Fairness, and Trust

When a scenario includes potential harm, dishonesty, discrimination, harassment, privacy concerns, or another serious professional issue, responses should prioritize safety and ethical responsibility.

A response that avoids conflict but leaves others at risk is unlikely to be highly effective. Similarly, protecting a friend or teammate from consequences may appear compassionate in the moment but can undermine fairness and trust.

At the same time, effective action should avoid unnecessary assumptions. Gathering relevant information, documenting concerns appropriately, and involving the correct person may be more professional than making a public accusation without enough evidence.

The exam often tests whether you can balance respect for individuals with responsibility to the broader community.

Step 7: Use the Official Practice Rationales

The official rationales are the most valuable part of your preparation because they explain how the AAMC distinguishes among rating categories.

After each practice set, review every item you rated differently from the key. Write down the reason for the difference rather than simply recording that you missed it.

You may notice recurring patterns. Perhaps you rate passive responses too highly because they avoid confrontation, or you rate direct communication too harshly because it feels uncomfortable. You may escalate too quickly, overlook the importance of policy, or assume that a response is very effective merely because its intention is positive.

A short error log can help you recognize those patterns before the official exam. Keep the notes focused on principles rather than trying to memorize individual scenarios.

Step 8: Complete a Full Practice Exam Under Realistic Conditions

Complete at least one full-length official practice exam without interruptions. Use the same computer and testing space you expect to use for the official administration when possible.

The purpose is not only to estimate performance. It is to learn whether you become mentally tired, begin rushing, overthink every rating, or lose track of the difference between neighboring categories.

Afterward, review the full exam carefully. The value comes from understanding your decisions, not simply finishing within the time limit.

The AAMC identifies full-length practice as the most effective way to become familiar with what the exam measures, the format, and the response-evaluation process.

Step 9: Prepare Your Testing Environment

Because PREview is remotely proctored, your technical preparation matters. Review the current system requirements, complete the required checks, and make sure your camera, microphone, browser, internet connection, identification, and testing space meet the rules.

Choose a private, quiet location where you are unlikely to be interrupted. Inform anyone in the household that you are taking a proctored exam and cannot have another person enter the room.

Remove prohibited materials before check-in rather than trying to reorganize the space while the proctor waits. Make sure the name on your registration exactly matches the identification you will use, because the AAMC requires the first and last names to match.

Technical preparation may not improve your professional judgment, but it can prevent a strong preparation effort from being disrupted by avoidable logistical problems.

Common PREview Mistakes

One common mistake is rating responses according to personal preference. You may dislike confrontation and therefore consider any direct conversation ineffective, even when respectful communication is necessary to resolve the issue.

Another mistake is assuming that the most dramatic response must be the most responsible. Immediately contacting the highest authority can be excessive when a problem can be addressed appropriately through direct communication or a closer supervisor.

The opposite mistake is refusing to escalate a serious concern because escalation feels disloyal or uncomfortable. When safety, discrimination, dishonesty, or another significant issue is involved, protecting others may require formal reporting.

Students may also confuse good intentions with effective behavior. Wanting to help does not automatically make an action useful, particularly when the response ignores boundaries, policy, consent, or the actual needs of the person involved.

Another frequent error is treating the exam as though there must be one correct action and three incorrect actions. Each response is rated independently, and several may receive similar effectiveness ratings.

A One-Week PREview Study Plan

A focused one-week plan may be enough when your schedule is limited and you already have experience with situational judgment questions.

During the first day, read the official description of the exam, review the four effectiveness ratings, and learn the testing procedures. During the next two days, complete sample scenarios slowly and study the rationales in detail.

In the middle of the week, complete one full-length official practice exam under timed conditions. Spend the following day reviewing every disagreement with the scoring key and identifying patterns in your reasoning.

Use the final two days for a second practice set, focused review of your error log, and technical preparation. Avoid trying to memorize dozens of rigid rules because professional judgment depends on the specific context.

A Two-Week PREview Study Plan

During the first week, learn the format and rating scale, complete smaller sets of official questions, and begin an error log. Give yourself enough time to understand why neighboring ratings differ.

At the end of the first week, complete one full-length practice exam under realistic conditions. Review it carefully over the following day or two rather than rushing immediately into another exam.

During the second week, focus on your repeated reasoning errors, complete the remaining official practice material, and take another timed exam. Reserve the final days for light review, system checks, and making sure you understand the exam-day rules.

This plan provides enough repetition to become comfortable without allowing PREview preparation to consume the time needed for the rest of your medical school application.

A Four-Week PREview Study Plan

A four-week plan may be useful when PREview is particularly important for your school list, you are less comfortable with situational judgment exams, or your schedule only allows short study sessions.

During the first week, learn the format, competencies, response scale, and official policies. During the second week, work through practice scenarios without strict timing and study every rationale.

During the third week, complete a full-length exam and identify patterns in your mistakes. During the final week, complete another official exam, review your error log, and prepare the testing environment.

Do not stretch preparation over several months merely because you believe more time must always produce a higher score. Once you understand the format and have used the official materials thoughtfully, continued practice with low-quality unofficial questions may create confusion rather than improvement.

PREview Versus CASPer

PREview and CASPer are both situational judgment assessments, but the formats differ. PREview asks examinees to rate the effectiveness of presented responses, while CASPer includes scenarios followed by questions that require written or video-recorded answers.

PREview therefore focuses on recognizing the relative effectiveness of behaviors, while CASPer asks you to generate and explain your own response. Some students find PREview more structured because the possible actions are already provided, while others find the fine distinctions between rating categories difficult.

Do not assume that preparing for one exam completely prepares you for the other. The professional principles overlap, but you should still use the official materials for each specific test.

Also confirm which exam each school accepts. Some schools may require a particular situational judgment assessment, while others may allow PREview to satisfy a broader requirement.

Can You Study for PREview?

Yes, although preparation looks different from traditional content study.

You can learn the format, understand the rating categories, practice identifying the central issue, and become more consistent in evaluating professional behavior. You can also reduce avoidable mistakes caused by unfamiliarity, pacing, or technical problems.

You cannot guarantee a perfect score by memorizing a list of phrases such as “communicate respectfully” or “follow the chain of command.” Those principles must be applied according to the seriousness and context of each situation.

The best preparation combines familiarity with careful reasoning rather than last-minute memorization.

Can a Strong PREview Score Offset a Low GPA or MCAT?

A strong PREview score can provide favorable information about your professional judgment, but it should not be expected to replace academic evidence.

Your GPA and MCAT help medical schools assess readiness for a demanding scientific curriculum. PREview addresses a different part of preparation. A high score does not erase weak recent science performance or establish that you can manage the academic workload.

Similarly, strong academics do not make professionalism irrelevant. Medical schools need students who can learn complex material and function responsibly with patients, classmates, faculty members, and healthcare teams.

Think of PREview as one additional component of the application rather than a tool for repairing an unrelated weakness.

What Should You Do After Receiving Your Score?

Begin by reviewing the scaled score, confidence band, and current percentile rank. Remember that percentile tables are updated annually, so use the information shown on your official report rather than an older chart.

Next, confirm that the score has been connected to your AMCAS application and review the completion status of every school requiring it. Scores are automatically uploaded to AMCAS after the application has been initiated and the designated release date arrives.

Avoid letting the score consume the rest of your application cycle. Once schools have received it, continue focusing on secondary essays, interview preparation, coursework, service, and other responsibilities that remain under your control.

Your PREview Score Does Not Define Your Professional Character

It can feel strange to receive a number that appears to measure professionalism. You may interpret a lower-than-expected score as evidence that you lack judgment, empathy, or the qualities needed to become a physician.

That is too broad a conclusion for one exam.

PREview measures how closely your ratings aligned with an established scoring framework across a limited set of hypothetical scenarios. It does not observe how you treat patients, respond to real feedback, support teammates, care for family members, or behave during difficult moments in your actual life.

Take the exam seriously, prepare with the official materials, and learn from the reasoning behind the scenarios. After that, allow the result to remain one part of a much larger application.

Your professionalism will ultimately be demonstrated through patterns of behavior over time, not only through a score from 1 to 9.

Frequently Asked Questions About the AAMC PREview Exam

What does AAMC PREview stand for?

PREview is the name of the AAMC’s professional readiness exam. It is a standardized situational judgment test used by participating medical schools and other health professions programs.

Is PREview required for every medical school?

No. Some schools require it, some recommend it, some accept it to satisfy a general situational judgment test requirement, and others are only exploring it for possible future use. Check the current AAMC list and each school’s official policy.

How much does PREview cost?

The standard 2026 registration fee is $105, and the standard rescheduling fee is $25. Applicable taxes may also be charged.

When is PREview offered?

The 2026 testing year runs from April through October. Appointments are offered during specific testing windows and may reach capacity.

What is the PREview score range?

Scores range from 1 to 9. Your score report also includes a confidence band and percentile rank.

How many times can I take PREview?

For 2026, you may attempt the exam twice during the testing year and no more than four times in your lifetime beginning with the 2024 administration.

Is PREview taken at a testing center?

PREview is delivered online through a remotely proctored platform. You must meet the current technical, identification, workspace, and testing-location requirements.

Does PREview contain essays?

No. PREview presents responses and asks you to rate how effective or ineffective each one would be. It does not require the extended written responses used by some other situational judgment tests.

How long should I study for PREview?

Many students can prepare within one to four weeks using focused review. The appropriate amount depends on your familiarity with the format and how much time you can devote to official practice.

Are there official PREview practice tests?

Yes. The AAMC currently offers three full-length practice exams, including one scored practice exam and two free unscored PDF exams with scoring keys and rationales.

Is the PREview practice exam score predictive?

The new scored practice exam provides a scaled score and percentile rank similar to the official score report, but one practice result should still be treated as an estimate rather than a guarantee of official performance.

Does PREview automatically appear on AMCAS?

When you choose to have the exam scored, the result is automatically connected with your AMCAS application after you initiate the application and the score-release date arrives.

Can I take PREview after submitting AMCAS?

Yes. When you test after submitting AMCAS, the score is uploaded when it becomes available. Make sure the timing still meets the completion expectations of your schools.

Is PREview harder than CASPer?

The exams use different formats, so the answer depends on the student. PREview asks you to rate provided responses, while CASPer asks you to generate written or video answers. You should prepare specifically for whichever exam your schools require.

Can I use third-party PREview questions?

You can, but begin with the official AAMC materials because they best reflect the exam’s scoring framework. Unofficial questions may use different assumptions or rating logic.

Is PREview more important than the MCAT?

No general rule applies to every school, but the exams assess different areas. The MCAT measures academic knowledge and reasoning, while PREview assesses judgments about professional behavior.

What happens if I do not take required PREview?

A school requiring PREview may leave your application incomplete until the score is received. Confirm each program’s policy and schedule early enough to avoid unnecessary delays.