Download my free MCAT content review tracker spreadsheet to track chapters, topics, progress, daily goals, Anki, practice questions, and weak areas.
MCAT Content Review Tracker Spreadsheet: Free Google Sheets Study Planner
MCAT content review can become surprisingly difficult to organize because you are not studying one class for one final exam. You are trying to keep track of Biology, Biochemistry, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Sociology, CARS, Anki, videos, practice questions, and eventually full-length exams, often while balancing classes, research, clinical experience, work, or other responsibilities at the same time.
I created this free MCAT Content Review Tracker Spreadsheet because I think one of the easiest ways to make MCAT studying feel more manageable is to turn a vague goal such as “finish content review” into a finite collection of topics you can actually work through. Instead of wondering whether you are behind or repeatedly reviewing whatever topic happens to be on your mind that day, the spreadsheet gives you a visual record of what you have covered, what is still left, and how quickly you are moving toward your goal.
You can open the free Google Sheet here: MCAT Content Review Tracker Spreadsheet. The current blank template contains 50 major sections and 232 smaller subsections, with formulas that calculate the percentage you have completed overall and within individual subjects.
There is one thing I want to make very clear before you start using it. The downloadable template was originally organized around The Berkeley Review, or TBR, books, so I would not download it and assume that every row has to remain exactly as written. I personally used Kaplan as an organized backbone during my own MCAT content review, and if I were using this tracker with the exact system I studied with, I would simply replace the TBR chapter names with my Kaplan chapters and keep the underlying tracking structure.
That flexibility is actually one of the reasons I like using a spreadsheet instead of a fixed PDF checklist. The important part is not whether your row says “TBR Biology Chapter 4” or “Kaplan Biochemistry Chapter 6.” The important part is creating a complete enough map of your own resources that you always know what you have reviewed, what still needs work, and where your study time should go next.
Download the Free MCAT Content Review Tracker Spreadsheet
You can open the spreadsheet here: Free MCAT Content Review Tracker Google Sheet. The shared copy is view-only so that everyone starts with a clean version, and you can use File → Make a copy in Google Sheets to create an editable version in your own Google Drive.
Once you have your own copy, I would rename it with your test date or study period so it is easy to find later. Something simple such as “MCAT Content Review Tracker, January Test” is enough, and then you can begin replacing the default chapter structure with whichever books, videos, decks, and question resources you actually plan to use.
The current spreadsheet is deliberately simple rather than trying to automate every part of your MCAT preparation. I think that is a strength because you can make it as detailed or as minimal as you need without spending several days learning how to operate your study tracker instead of actually studying.
Why I Made an MCAT Content Review Tracker
One thing I remember from studying for the MCAT was how easy it was to lose track of what actually needed another pass. As I reviewed practice exams and question sets, I would keep an ongoing list of topics that I needed to revisit, which helped prevent a mistake from disappearing as soon as I closed the explanation.
That process eventually taught me that MCAT content review should not be completely linear. You may begin with an organized set of books, but your practice questions will gradually tell you which topics deserve more attention, which topics are already strong, and which things you thought you understood are not actually holding up when the MCAT puts them into a passage.
I personally used Kaplan as a structured content-review backbone, MileDown as my primary Anki deck, Khan Academy when I needed another explanation, UWorld as my main practice-question resource, Blueprint as a secondary practice source, and increasingly more AAMC material as my exam approached. Keeping those resources connected is much easier when you have one central place where you can see which topics you have covered rather than treating every resource as its own completely separate study plan.
That is the role I want this tracker to serve. It should be the map of your MCAT content, while your books teach the material, Anki helps you remember it, practice questions show whether you can apply it, and full-length exams tell you where the entire system is still breaking down.
What Is Inside the MCAT Content Review Tracker?
The current template has three major components: a Summary dashboard, a detailed TBR Chapters checklist, and a TBR Daily Pace section. The Summary automatically calculates completion percentages based on the detailed rows you mark complete, while the Daily Pace tab helps compare your actual progress with the amount of material you planned to finish by a particular date.
The blank Summary currently contains Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, and CARS. Across those categories, the spreadsheet contains 50 major sections and 232 subsections, including 85 Biology subsections, 38 General Chemistry subsections, 40 Organic Chemistry subsections, 42 Physics subsections, 24 Psychology subsections, and three CARS sections.
I would not become overly attached to those exact numbers because they reflect the way this particular template was originally organized. If your Kaplan books break content into a different number of chapters or you decide to divide Biochemistry into metabolism, amino acids, enzymes, molecular biology, and other smaller units, your personalized sheet may eventually contain many more or fewer rows.
The purpose of the spreadsheet is not to prove that the MCAT contains exactly 232 things. The purpose is to give your content review a beginning, middle, and end.
Important 2026 Update: Customize the Subject Categories
The first change I would make today is adding Biochemistry and Sociology more explicitly if you are converting the tracker into an AAMC-oriented study planner. The original Summary page has Biology and Psychology categories but does not list separate Biochemistry and Sociology categories, which reflects the resource organization behind the original template rather than the exact way the modern MCAT is structured.
The AAMC currently organizes the exam around Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems, Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems, Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior, and Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills. Its official content outline also organizes the underlying material into foundational concepts, content categories, and scientific inquiry and reasoning skills.
If I were rebuilding my own copy today, I would probably keep subjects such as Biology, Biochemistry, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Sociology, and CARS as clearly visible categories. That gives you enough detail to immediately notice if Biochemistry is falling behind rather than allowing those chapters to disappear inside a broad Biology percentage.
You could also organize the tracker according to the four MCAT sections instead. I personally prefer individual subjects during content review because “Chemical and Physical Foundations” is too broad to tell me whether my real problem is circuits, electrochemistry, or organic chemistry, but either organizational style can work if it helps you make study decisions.
The AAMC Content Outline Should Be Your Master Checklist
Because this spreadsheet is customizable, I think one of the best improvements you can make is comparing your chapter list against the official AAMC MCAT content outline. The AAMC describes that resource as the complete description of the competencies you are responsible for knowing, organized around foundational concepts, content categories, and scientific reasoning skills.
I have a separate guide to the official document here: AAMC MCAT Topic List PDF Download and Complete Guide. I would use that as the authority for the scope of your content review and use this spreadsheet as the practical tool that helps you work through the material.
For example, if your review book combines several AAMC topics into one chapter, you can leave it that way if the organization works for you. If the AAMC outline contains an important area that your chapter checklist barely mentions, you can add a new row so it does not disappear from your plan.
That makes the tracker more valuable than simply copying the table of contents from one commercial book set. Your books become one source of organization, while the AAMC remains the ultimate reference for what the exam is designed to assess.
How the Summary Dashboard Works
The Summary tab gives you a quick picture of your progress without requiring you to scroll through hundreds of detailed rows. Each subject shows the total number of sections and subsections, how many you have completed, and the percentage that is currently marked complete.
I like this because content review can otherwise become deceptive. You can spend three straight days reviewing Biology and feel extremely productive, while Physics has quietly sat untouched for two weeks.
A percentage dashboard makes that imbalance obvious. If Biology is approaching completion while Physics has barely moved, you have a concrete reason to shift the next several study blocks instead of relying on whichever subject you feel most comfortable opening.
I would look at the Summary tab about once a week rather than constantly refreshing it after every study session. The tracker should help you make better decisions, not turn MCAT preparation into an obsession with making every percentage rise at exactly the same rate.
Completion Percentage Is Not the Same as Mastery
This is probably the most important limitation of any content tracker. Marking a chapter complete means you reviewed it, not that you have permanently mastered everything inside it.
You can read a chapter on electrochemistry, answer several questions correctly that afternoon, and still discover three weeks later that the concepts did not stick. That does not mean the tracker failed because content review is only the first layer of MCAT learning.
I would therefore interpret “100% complete” as I have completed my planned first pass through the material, not “I can now answer every question the AAMC could possibly ask about this subject.”
The second stage comes from Anki, practice questions, repeated retrieval, error review, and returning to topics when your performance shows that they remain weak. This distinction prevents the tracker from encouraging the false idea that you cannot start serious practice until every progress bar reaches 100%.
I Would Add a Status Column, Not Just Completed
The default spreadsheet mainly counts whether a subsection has been completed. If you want a more useful long-term tool, I would add a simple Status column with options such as Not Started, In Progress, Reviewed, Needs Review, and Strong.
That gives you more information than a binary checkbox. A chapter you read six weeks ago but repeatedly miss in UWorld should not look identical to a chapter you reviewed and consistently answer correctly.
I would still keep the system simple. You do not need twelve mastery levels, five colors, a confidence score from one to ten, and a complicated algorithm for every topic because maintaining the spreadsheet can eventually take more time than using the information inside it.
A small number of meaningful statuses gives you enough flexibility to distinguish “I covered this” from “I know this well.”
I Would Also Add a Last Reviewed Column
A Last Reviewed column can be surprisingly helpful because time changes how meaningful a completion checkmark is. A topic completed yesterday and a topic completed three months ago may both show as done, but they do not necessarily deserve the same confidence.
You do not need to update this column every time Anki shows you one card. I would use it primarily when you deliberately return to a larger content area because practice exposed a weakness.
For example, if you review circuits in January and then a Blueprint exam in February shows that circuits are still causing problems, update that row when you revisit the subject. Over time, your sheet begins to show not only what you covered but which areas repeatedly required intervention.
That pattern can be extremely informative when you are deciding what deserves attention during the final month.
How I Would Adapt the Tracker for Kaplan
Kaplan was the organized content-review backbone I personally used during MCAT preparation, so this is the first conversion I would make if I were setting the spreadsheet up for myself.
I would replace the TBR chapter and subsection labels with the chapters from my Kaplan books. I would keep individual subject categories for Biology, Biochemistry, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, and Behavioral Sciences, while separating Psychology and Sociology if I wanted more detailed progress data.
Within each chapter, I would create smaller rows for topics that were large enough to need individual attention. If a Biochemistry chapter contains amino acids, protein structure, enzymes, and enzyme kinetics, those could become separate subsections rather than allowing one checkmark to imply that every part of the chapter is equally strong.
I would not spend several days perfectly transferring every sentence from the Kaplan table of contents before studying. Start with the major chapters and important subtopics, then refine the spreadsheet as you actually encounter the material.
The tracker is allowed to evolve while you study.
How I Would Pair the Tracker With MileDown Anki
MileDown was the Anki deck I relied on most during my own MCAT preparation because I liked the balance between broad coverage and a manageable review burden. If I were using this tracker with MileDown, I would add an optional column indicating whether I had activated or reviewed the corresponding Anki material.
My complete guide to the deck is here: MileDown MCAT Anki Deck. Because MileDown is much smaller than comprehensive decks such as Aidan, I found that it left me enough room to keep doing practice questions rather than making Anki the only thing I could accomplish during a study day.
I would not make the Anki column overly complicated. Something as simple as Not Started, Active, or Reviewed can tell you whether you have begun reinforcing the material after reading it.
For example, after completing a Kaplan chapter on amino acids, I could mark the content row Reviewed and then activate the corresponding MileDown cards. My content tracker tells me I have encountered the material, while Anki takes responsibility for repeatedly bringing it back into memory.
How I Would Use the Tracker With JackSparrow or Aidan
If you choose a much larger Anki deck such as JackSparrow or Aidan, I would be even more careful about connecting the tracker with your content-review pace. You do not want to activate thousands of detailed cards simply because your spreadsheet says you reached a new chapter.
I used some JackSparrow during my own studying because I appreciated its additional comprehensiveness, but I found many of the longer cards much more strenuous than MileDown. That experience taught me that a study system can look excellent on paper and still create an unrealistic workload when every resource begins demanding hours of your day.
With a large deck, I would use the tracker to pace content and selectively activate cards corresponding to subjects I have actually reviewed. I would also be comfortable leaving some cards suspended when they duplicate information I already understand well.
The spreadsheet should help you control your resources rather than allowing your resources to control your schedule.
How I Would Use Khan Academy With the Tracker
Khan Academy was especially helpful to me when a concept did not fully click from another resource. I used its MCAT videos to clarify topics, listened to familiar videos while driving when I wanted low-pressure review, and completed the available practice questions.
I would therefore add Khan Academy selectively rather than making “watch every video” another mandatory checklist. If a Kaplan Physics explanation makes sense to me, I probably do not need to watch three additional videos simply because the tracker has an empty video column.
If electrochemistry or renal physiology still feels confusing, that is where I would add a Khan Academy video or another explanation to the topic row. The tracker can then remind me exactly why I added the resource rather than sending me into an endless YouTube search.
I have my complete guide to the free collection here: Free Khan Academy MCAT Course. I would use those videos as targeted teaching tools while the spreadsheet keeps track of which content areas still need clarification.
How I Would Track Psychology and Sociology
For Psychology and Sociology, I would create separate categories or at least enough subtopics that I could tell whether one part of Behavioral Sciences was being neglected.
During my own MCAT preparation, I used the detailed Khan Academy 300-page Psych/Soc document during my broader review and paired it with MileDown cards. About two weeks before my MCAT, I used the much shorter 86-page document as a final refresher because I already had the larger framework and wanted something faster.
That experience is a good example of why the tracker should record what stage a resource is serving. Early in studying, my row might point toward a detailed content resource. Later, the same topic may simply need a quick review from a condensed document.
I keep those resources together here: Khan Academy 86-, 100-, and 300-Page MCAT Psych/Soc Documents. If you use Mr. Pankow or another dedicated Psych/Soc deck, you can add that to the same subject without rebuilding your entire tracker.
How I Would Track CARS
CARS deserves a row in your study plan, but I would not treat it like Physics or Biochemistry because there is not a finite set of factual chapters you can memorize and declare complete.
During my own MCAT studying, I used Jack Westin CARS passages daily. For CARS, I would therefore change the tracker from a content-completion system into a consistency system.
Instead of rows such as “CARS Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3,” I might track weekly passage goals, timing, recurring error types, or whether I completed my planned daily passage practice.
The distinction matters because seeing “CARS 100% complete” does not really mean anything. Your goal is developing a reasoning process that becomes more reliable through repeated practice.
Add Practice Questions Before Content Review Reaches 100%
I would not wait until every row is green before beginning practice questions. The AAMC describes the MCAT as assessing science knowledge alongside critical thinking and scientific problem-solving, and its preparation guidance emphasizes learning through practice.
This matches what I learned during my own preparation. Practice questions did more than test what I had studied because they showed me what I only thought I understood.
You may read a chapter on fluids and feel comfortable with everything on the page, then immediately miss a passage because you cannot recognize when continuity or Bernoulli’s principle applies. That question has given you information that another reread of the chapter probably would not.
I would therefore begin questions while content review is still underway and allow those questions to send topics back into the tracker as Needs Review. The spreadsheet becomes a living system rather than a checklist that is abandoned as soon as the first pass is complete.
How I Would Pair the Tracker With UWorld
UWorld was my primary question-bank resource during MCAT preparation, so I would eventually add a simple practice column to the tracker that shows whether I have completed relevant questions for a topic.
I would not obsess over perfectly matching every UWorld question to a row. If I complete a block containing several electrochemistry questions and realize electrochemistry remains weak, that is enough information to mark the corresponding topic for review.
What matters is the feedback loop. Content review introduces the material, Anki helps retain it, UWorld tests application, and the tracker records which areas need another pass.
If your UWorld performance shows that a topic is strong, I would spend less time rereading it simply because a study schedule says I should. If another topic continues producing mistakes, I would allow the tracker to redirect more time there.
That is how the spreadsheet becomes a decision tool rather than a decorative progress bar.
How I Would Use Blueprint With the Tracker
Blueprint was another resource I used during my own preparation, particularly for full-length exams and additional question practice. I eventually completed five Blueprint full-lengths, which gave me repeated opportunities to find subjects that still needed work.
After reviewing an exam, I would take the important content weaknesses and put them back into my study plan. If the test showed that acid-base chemistry, optics, or a particular Psychology concept was still weak, that topic no longer deserved to look “finished” just because I had read the chapter several weeks earlier.
That is why I like adding a Needs Review status. The tracker should be able to move backward as well as forward.
A topic returning to your review list is not a failure. It means your practice system found a weakness early enough for you to fix it before test day.
Turn Full-Length Mistakes Into New Review Priorities
This is where I think the tracker becomes more valuable later in your preparation than it was at the beginning.
During one phase of my own studying, I took a full-length on Friday and spent much of Saturday reviewing it. As I identified content gaps, those topics became part of what I needed to revisit rather than disappearing into the explanation page after I closed the exam.
You can recreate that process directly inside this spreadsheet. Add a column called something like Flag From Practice, Weak on FL, or Priority Review, and mark topics that repeatedly appear in your errors.
I would give much more weight to a weakness that appears across several practice exams than a topic that simply feels uncomfortable because you have not looked at it recently.
Your practice data should gradually become more important than your original content schedule.
I also have a separate Free MCAT Full-Length Review & Error Log Spreadsheet for tracking the individual questions themselves. I would use the error log to diagnose the mistake and the content tracker to decide which broader subjects deserve another review.
The Tracker and Error Log Should Do Different Jobs
I would resist the temptation to turn one Google Sheet into a giant database containing every chapter, every Anki card, every UWorld question, every full-length answer, every hour studied, and every score you ever receive.
The content tracker should answer What have I reviewed, and what content still needs attention? Your error log should answer Why am I missing questions?
Those are related questions, but they are not identical.
If your error log shows ten mistakes related to experimental reasoning, the solution may not be adding ten new content topics. If it shows repeated misses because you genuinely do not understand amino-acid charge, however, the amino-acid row in the content tracker should move back toward the top of your priority list.
Keeping those tools separate makes both easier to use.
How the Daily Pace Tab Works
The Daily Pace portion of the spreadsheet is designed to compare the number of subsections you intend to complete with the amount of material you should have finished by a particular date. You enter a start date and a daily goal, and the sheet creates cumulative targets so you can see whether your actual progress is roughly on pace.
I like this much more than telling yourself, “I need to finish content review sometime in March.” A vague deadline gives you no information until March is almost here and you suddenly realize half of Physics is still untouched.
A daily or weekly target tells you that the plan is drifting while there is still time to change it. If you consistently complete less than expected because classes are busier than you anticipated, you can reduce the scope of your content plan, increase study time, adjust your test date if necessary, or decide which resources are actually worth continuing.
The important part is using the pace as feedback rather than punishment.
Your Daily Goal Should Fit Your Real Life
The default page currently gives examples of lighter, medium, and heavier subsection goals, but I would not treat any of those numbers as a rule because the amount of work represented by one subsection can vary dramatically.
A subsection on a concept you remember well from prerequisite courses may take twenty minutes, while a difficult Physics area you have not seen in years could take several hours once videos, Anki, and practice questions are included.
This is why I would calibrate the tracker during the first week. See how much content you can complete while still doing your Anki reviews, CARS, questions, classes, and other responsibilities.
Then adjust the goal to something you can actually sustain.
A study plan that looks ambitious in Google Sheets but falls apart after ten days is less useful than a slightly slower schedule you can consistently maintain for three months.
I Would Track Weekly Progress More Than Daily Perfection
There will be days when MCAT studying does not go according to plan. A class exam may take priority, your work shift may run late, or a difficult chapter may simply require more time than you expected.
I would not rebuild the entire schedule every time one day goes poorly.
Instead, look at weekly movement.
If your goal was roughly twenty content chunks for the week and you completed eighteen while keeping up with Anki and practice, your overall plan may be perfectly fine.
If you planned twenty and repeatedly complete eight, the tracker has identified a real planning problem that needs adjustment.
That is much healthier than treating every missed daily checkbox as evidence that you are falling apart.
Do Not Let the Spreadsheet Become Procrastination
There is a particular kind of MCAT procrastination that looks extremely productive. You can spend three hours adjusting colors, rebuilding formulas, choosing fonts, creating twelve status categories, and designing a beautiful dashboard without learning a single scientific concept.
I would customize this tracker enough that it matches your resources and then start studying.
If a new column would genuinely answer a question you keep having, add it. If you are changing the spreadsheet simply because you enjoy making the spreadsheet prettier, there is probably a practice passage waiting for you.
The goal is organization that saves time later, not organization as another full-time MCAT resource.
A Simple Status System I Would Use
If I were making my own 2026 version, I would probably use five statuses: Not Started, In Progress, Reviewed, Needs Review, and Strong. That gives enough information to distinguish first-pass progress from actual confidence without creating an overly complicated scoring system.
A topic could initially move from Not Started to Reviewed after I finish the chapter and related active recall. Later, UWorld or a full-length might move it to Needs Review, while repeated successful practice could eventually move it to Strong.
I would not require everything to reach Strong before test day. Your time should increasingly go toward the subjects that are still producing mistakes, while areas that consistently perform well need less attention.
This is one reason a dynamic tracker is more useful than a static checklist.
Add a Resource Column if You Use Several Study Tools
If you are mixing Kaplan, Khan Academy, Anki, UWorld, and another video resource, I would add a Primary Resource column so you know where you intend to learn each topic.
This prevents the common problem of forgetting which source you preferred and then searching the same concept from scratch every time it returns.
For example, I might use Kaplan for my initial overview of thermodynamics, MileDown for active recall, and Khan Academy only if part of the explanation remains unclear.
For Psych/Soc, the primary content source might be the 300-page document, while the active-recall source is a dedicated Anki deck.
You do not have to use the same resource for every subject, and the spreadsheet gives you a place to make those decisions intentionally.
Add a Weakness Column Instead of Highlighting Everything
I would also create one very simple Weak Topic or Priority column.
When a topic repeatedly causes trouble, mark it.
Do not mark fifty percent of the spreadsheet as high priority because then the label stops providing useful information.
I would reserve that designation for concepts that repeatedly appear in practice errors, remain difficult after review, or are important enough that I want another deliberate pass before the exam.
Over time, that column becomes the beginning of your final-review plan.
What Should Count as “Completed”?
I would define completion before you start so the checkbox means something consistent.
For me, completing a content subsection would generally mean I have intentionally reviewed the concept and can explain the major idea in my own words. Depending on the subject, that might include reading the relevant material, watching a video when needed, and completing some form of active retrieval.
I would not require complete Anki maturation or perfect question performance before marking the initial content row complete because then nothing would ever leave the first stage.
Think of the completion box as first-pass content exposure completed.
Later columns and practice data can tell you whether that knowledge actually held up.
Should You Track Every Anki Card?
I would not.
You can certainly record which deck or tags correspond to a topic, but Anki already contains extensive statistics about your individual cards.
Duplicating every card into Google Sheets creates a tremendous amount of administrative work without giving you much additional information.
I would track Anki at the topic level instead.
A simple indication that the corresponding cards have been unsuspended or activated is enough for the content tracker, while Anki itself handles review scheduling.
This keeps each tool focused on what it does best.
Should You Track Every UWorld Question?
I would not duplicate every question into this sheet either.
Use your question-bank analytics and error log for individual questions, then bring patterns back into the content tracker.
If your UWorld results suggest that acid-base chemistry is consistently weak, mark acid-base chemistry for review.
You do not need forty spreadsheet rows documenting forty individual question numbers to know that the broader content area deserves attention.
Your tracker should condense information into decisions.
How I Would Use the Tracker With a Three-Month Study Plan
With roughly three months available, I would spend the early portion moving systematically through the major content areas while beginning Anki, CARS, and practice questions at the same time.
I would use the spreadsheet to make sure every major subject is receiving attention, but I would not insist that all content review be finished before the first practice-heavy phase begins.
As the weeks progress, I would gradually make practice results more important than the original chapter sequence.
If I had planned to review Physics Chapter 8 next but my recent questions showed a serious weakness in enzymes, I would be comfortable moving enzyme review forward.
The tracker is there to keep you organized, not to trap you inside a schedule you made before you had any performance data.
By the later weeks, I would expect fewer new content rows and more topics returning because of practice.
That transition is normal.
How I Would Use It With a Six-Month Study Plan
A six-month timeline gives you more room to move through content gradually, which can be helpful if you are studying alongside a full course load or job.
I would still avoid spending four or five months exclusively reading books.
The AAMC emphasizes scientific reasoning and application alongside content knowledge, so practice should begin well before your first pass reaches completion.
The tracker can help you prevent a long timeline from turning into endless content review.
Give the first pass an actual target end point, then allow the later months to become increasingly focused on questions, full-lengths, error review, and targeted content repair.
Without some kind of finish line, it is very easy to tell yourself that one more chapter reread will finally make you ready to start practicing.
How I Would Use It With Only Six Weeks
With six weeks remaining, I would not try to complete every possible row simply because the spreadsheet contains it.
I would immediately identify major weaknesses, high-priority AAMC topics, and content areas that your diagnostic or practice questions show are still limiting you.
Strong subjects may only need condensed review and Anki maintenance.
Weak subjects may need deeper work.
You should also be doing a substantial amount of practice by this point, so the tracker becomes much more of a targeted weakness list than a traditional chapter checklist.
I would rather see you leave some low-priority rows unchecked while completing meaningful AAMC practice than reach 100% on the spreadsheet with almost no time left to learn how the exam asks questions.
How I Would Use It With One Month
With only a month before the MCAT, I would use this almost entirely as a triage tool.
I would take whatever practice data I already have and identify the content gaps that are repeatedly costing points.
Those become your priority rows.
At that stage, I would not restart Biology Chapter 1 simply because you want the psychological satisfaction of working from top to bottom.
Official AAMC material, full-length review, CARS, targeted content repair, and maintaining the information you already know should take much more of your attention.
The tracker is still useful, but its job has changed from “cover the curriculum” to “make sure my remaining content weaknesses are visible.”
How to Use It After a Diagnostic Exam
A diagnostic gives you one of the first opportunities to personalize the tracker.
During my own preparation, I took Blueprint’s diagnostic before beginning my more serious study period. That gave me a sense of which sections were relatively stronger and which ones needed considerably more work, allowing me to direct content review instead of assuming every subject needed exactly the same amount of time.
After a diagnostic, I would not delete subjects that scored well. I would simply mark weaker areas as higher priority and allocate more of my early study blocks there.
The first test is not a final verdict on your ability.
It is information that makes your plan smarter.
How to Use It After Every Full-Length
After each full-length, I would review your errors first and then update the tracker.
If one question exposed a tiny factual gap, you may only need one Anki card.
If several questions show that you fundamentally do not understand fluids, move the fluids topic into Needs Review and schedule a larger study block.
If the mistakes come from timing or passage reasoning, do not falsely label the content itself as weak.
This is why I would use an error log alongside the tracker.
One identifies the cause of the missed question, while the other helps organize the content response when content is actually the problem.
Should You Ever Reset a Topic From Completed to Needs Review?
Absolutely.
That is not going backward.
The first checkmark means you completed the planned review, while the later status reflects what practice taught you about retention and application.
If anything, being willing to move a topic back into review makes the spreadsheet more useful because you are prioritizing evidence over your original plan.
The worst version of a content tracker is one where every box stays permanently green even while your practice scores tell you that several of those topics are not actually strong.
What If the Tracker Says You Are Behind?
First, determine why.
If you underestimated how long the material would take but your studying is productive, you may simply need a more realistic pace.
If you are spending hours making perfect notes or watching several redundant videos for every concept, you may be able to make your study process more efficient.
If school, work, or life has significantly reduced the time available before your exam, you may need to reduce the scope of your initial content review or reconsider whether your testing timeline is realistic.
I would not respond to being behind by automatically doubling your daily goal.
A plan only helps when the new plan can actually be sustained.
What If the Tracker Says You Are Ahead?
Being ahead is useful, but I would not automatically fill the extra time with more passive content review.
Ask whether you can begin more practice questions, add a full-length, improve CARS consistency, or go deeper on a genuine weakness.
Finishing a chapter list quickly is valuable because it creates room for application.
I would use that extra time for the parts of MCAT studying that a content checklist cannot capture, particularly passage reasoning and careful review of mistakes.
Use My MCAT Study Hours Calculator With the Tracker
If your bigger question is whether your overall weekly study schedule gives you enough time to reach your planned content and practice goals, I also built an MCAT Study Hours Calculator. It estimates the total study time available before your exam based on your test date and weekly hours, while emphasizing that no single number of study hours is correct for every student.
I would use that tool for the time budget and this spreadsheet for the content budget.
Together, they help answer two different planning questions: how much time do I realistically have, and what am I going to accomplish with that time?
How This Tracker Fits With My Other Free MCAT Spreadsheets
I have several MCAT spreadsheets now because I think different stages of preparation benefit from different types of organization.
This content tracker is for planning and monitoring the material you are reviewing.
My Free MCAT Full-Length Review & Error Log is designed for diagnosing individual mistakes from practice exams.
My MCAT Full-Length Review Template provides a broader structure for tracking scores, missed questions, and progress across exams.
I would not use every spreadsheet simply because they are free.
Choose the tool that solves a problem you actually have.
If content feels disorganized, start here.
If you know what you need to study but cannot understand why your full-length scores are stuck, your error log probably deserves more attention.
Frequently Asked Questions About the MCAT Content Review Tracker
Where can I download the free MCAT content review tracker?
You can open the free Google Sheet here: MCAT Content Review Tracker Spreadsheet. The shared template is designed so you can make your own copy and customize the chapter list for the resources you actually use.
I recommend renaming your copy with your MCAT date or study period and then modifying the default TBR categories before you begin filling in progress.
Is the MCAT tracker free?
Yes. I created the tracker as a free Google Sheets resource, and you can make your own editable copy without purchasing a study course or spreadsheet template.
I keep it free because MCAT preparation already has enough potential expenses, and organization is not something I think you should have to buy from Etsy or another template marketplace just to get started.
Did you create this MCAT tracker?
Yes. This is an AspiringMD tracker that I created to help students organize content review into smaller, trackable pieces rather than keeping everything mentally or across several disconnected notes. My broader free-resources hub also identifies the content tracker as one of the tools I created.
The current blank version is based on a TBR chapter structure, but I intentionally recommend editing it because your study system should reflect the resources you actually use.
What does the MCAT content tracker include?
The current template contains a Summary dashboard, a detailed TBR chapter and subsection checklist, and a Daily Pace component. It tracks completion counts and automatically calculates percentages so you can see progress overall and by subject.
The downloadable blank sheet currently contains 50 major sections and 232 subsections. Those totals can change after you customize the sheet for Kaplan, Khan Academy, or another resource.
Is the spreadsheet based on Kaplan?
No. The downloadable version is currently based on The Berkeley Review, or TBR.
I personally used Kaplan as my organized content-review backbone, so if I were setting up the sheet for the exact approach I used, I would replace the existing TBR chapter names with Kaplan chapters while preserving the progress formulas.
Can I use the tracker with Kaplan?
Yes. Replace the existing subject, chapter, and subsection names with the Kaplan chapters you plan to complete while preserving the completion and summary structure.
I would also explicitly add Biochemistry as its own subject so that you can see its progress independently instead of grouping everything under Biology.
Can I use it with Khan Academy?
Yes. You can replace chapter rows with Khan Academy topics or use Khan Academy as a secondary-resource column beside your main content source.
I personally found Khan Academy most useful when I needed clarification rather than automatically watching every video, so I would probably record it only for topics where I actually planned to use the videos.
Can I use it with Anki?
Yes, and I think content review plus Anki is one of the most natural ways to use the tracker.
I personally relied mostly on MileDown during MCAT preparation. I would mark the content as reviewed after learning it, then activate or complete the corresponding Anki material so the information continues returning through spaced repetition.
Can I use it with MileDown?
Yes. MileDown is particularly easy to combine with a content tracker because it covers the major MCAT subjects while remaining relatively manageable.
You can add a simple Anki status column beside each topic rather than trying to track every individual MileDown card in Google Sheets.
Can I use it with JackSparrow or Aidan?
Yes, although I would be more selective because those resources are substantially larger.
I used some JackSparrow myself and appreciated the extra detail, but the longer cards could become strenuous. I would therefore use the tracker to control how much detailed Anki content becomes active at one time instead of automatically unsuspending everything.
Can I use it with UWorld?
Yes. I would use UWorld to test whether the material you marked as reviewed can actually be applied.
When UWorld exposes a recurring weakness, move that topic back into Needs Review or add it to your priority list rather than allowing an old completion checkmark to override new performance data.
Should I wait until the tracker reaches 100% before doing practice questions?
No. I would begin practice while content review is still underway because the MCAT is testing application and scientific reasoning in addition to knowledge. The AAMC itself describes the exam in those terms and emphasizes practice as part of preparation.
Your practice results should gradually influence which content rows deserve the most attention.
What percentage of content review should I complete before taking a full-length?
I would not use one universal percentage because your baseline knowledge matters more than an arbitrary spreadsheet threshold.
A diagnostic can be useful very early, while later full-lengths become more informative as your content foundation develops. I would not postpone all full-length experience simply because several rows remain unchecked.
Is 100% content review the goal?
It can be a useful goal for your planned first pass, but it should not be confused with perfect mastery.
A topic can be marked complete and still return to Needs Review after practice exposes a weakness. I actually think allowing topics to move backward makes your tracker much more useful.
How should I track weak topics?
I would add a simple Status or Priority column and reserve the highest-priority designation for subjects that repeatedly appear in your practice errors.
You can also include a Last Reviewed column if you want to distinguish a topic you revisited yesterday from something you have not seen for several months.
Should I track every MCAT resource in the spreadsheet?
No. I think excessive tracking becomes counterproductive.
I would record the primary resource and perhaps one important secondary resource for a topic. You do not need to document every YouTube video, Reddit comment, Anki card, and practice question you encounter.
How often should I update the tracker?
Update completion information when you finish a planned topic and review the broader dashboard about once a week.
You should also update priorities after significant practice sets or full-length reviews when new weaknesses emerge.
How often should I check my percent complete?
Once or twice per week is usually enough for planning purposes.
Checking the percentage after every individual subsection can make the tracker feel more important than the actual studying, and that is not the relationship I want.
Should CARS be included in a content tracker?
I would include it so you do not forget to practice it, but I would track it differently from science subjects.
During my own studying, I did Jack Westin CARS passages daily, so I would track CARS consistency, passage practice, or weekly goals rather than pretending there is a finite content syllabus that eventually reaches permanent completion.
Should I add the AAMC content outline to the tracker?
I think that is one of the best upgrades you can make. The AAMC describes its content outline as the complete description of the competencies students are responsible for and organizes it around foundational concepts, content categories, and reasoning skills.
You can use my AAMC MCAT Topic List guide alongside the tracker so the official outline determines the scope while the Google Sheet manages your progress.
Is this an official AAMC spreadsheet?
No. This is a free AspiringMD planning tool that I created, while the AAMC content outline is the official source for the exam’s content framework.
I recommend using both together rather than presenting a personal study tracker as though it defines what the AAMC can test.
Can I use this if I am working or taking classes?
Yes, and this is one of the situations where I think a tracker is especially useful because your MCAT preparation may happen in shorter blocks rather than one uninterrupted dedicated period.
The Daily Pace section can help you see whether the plan you created actually fits the amount of time your other responsibilities leave available.
What if I fall behind on my MCAT content schedule?
First determine whether the original schedule was realistic.
If your study method is working but everything consistently takes longer than planned, revise the pace rather than responding with an unsustainable daily workload.
If the problem is spending too much time passively rereading, rewriting notes, or duplicating resources, make the process more efficient and protect more time for active recall and practice.
What if I finish content review early?
Use the extra time for practice questions, CARS, full-lengths, and targeted weakness review rather than repeatedly rereading strong topics because the content phase ended sooner than expected.
Finishing the checklist is valuable because it gives you more time to practice using the information.
Final Thoughts: How I Would Use This MCAT Content Review Tracker Today
If I were preparing for the MCAT again, I would still want one central system showing me what content I had covered and what remained. I used Kaplan as my structured content backbone, MileDown as my primary Anki deck, Khan Academy when I needed another explanation, UWorld as my main question bank, Blueprint for additional practice and full-lengths, and AAMC resources increasingly as test day approached.
The biggest lesson I would bring to the tracker today is that content review should become progressively more responsive to practice.
At the beginning, the spreadsheet can look orderly and linear. You may move through Kaplan chapters, activate matching MileDown cards, complete related questions, and gradually watch your initial completion percentages rise.
As practice increases, that orderly sequence should become less important.
UWorld may tell you that enzymes need another pass. A Blueprint full-length may reveal that circuits are still weak. An AAMC passage may show that you understand metabolism facts but struggle to reason through experimental data involving those pathways.
At that point, I would let the evidence change the spreadsheet.
Move the topic to Needs Review. Add a short note explaining what went wrong. Return to the content at the depth the mistake actually requires, then test yourself again.
That is much more useful than preserving a beautiful dashboard where every row remains green because you technically read it once.
I would also keep the tracker simple enough that it saves time. You do not need a perfect productivity system to score well on the MCAT, and a complicated spreadsheet cannot substitute for actually learning the material. The value comes from never having to wonder what you studied, what you still need to cover, or which weaknesses your recent practice has exposed.
Most importantly, I would not make reaching 100% on this spreadsheet the final goal.
The real goal is getting to the point where the information you reviewed can be retrieved and applied when the MCAT presents it inside an unfamiliar passage. The tracker gets you through the content systematically, Anki keeps important information accessible, practice questions test whether you can use it, and full-length review tells you what still needs to change.
That is the study system I would build around this tool.
You can make your own copy of the Free MCAT Content Review Tracker Spreadsheet, then customize it for Kaplan, Khan Academy, your Anki deck, UWorld, or whichever resources you are actually using.
If you want the official content framework beside it, use my AAMC MCAT Topic List PDF guide. If you want to connect your content progress with practice performance, pair it with my Free MCAT Full-Length Review & Error Log.
I also keep all of my free MCAT spreadsheets, Anki decks, study documents, trackers, and other resources together in my Free Premed and MCAT Resources hub. My goal with all of these tools is the same: make the organizational side of MCAT preparation easier so you can spend more of your energy doing the studying that actually improves your score.