What to Do When Your Full-Length MCAT Scores Plateau

You’ve been studying hard. You’ve reviewed the content. You’ve taken multiple full-length exams. But now your score won’t budge. Maybe it’s stuck in the same five-point range. Maybe it’s hovering just below your goal. No matter what you do, the score stays the same.

Welcome to the plateau.

It’s frustrating, but it’s also normal. Almost every serious MCAT student hits one. And it doesn’t mean you’ve peaked. It just means it’s time to change your approach.

Quick Version

Score plateaus happen when your current study methods stop producing gains. They’re part of the process, not a sign of failure. To break through, you need to diagnose what’s holding you back, vary your inputs, tighten your review, and sometimes step away long enough for improvement to take hold. Progress comes when strategy changes.

Why Plateaus Happen

Skill learning almost always includes a plateau phase. One study on learning performance found that after an initial period of rapid improvement, progress often stalls unless there’s variation in input or proper rest built in¹. You see the same pattern in MCAT prep. Early on, you learn fast. Then you hit a wall. More practice stops helping. That’s your sign that what worked before won’t keep working.

Another study that modeled long-term academic performance showed similar growth curves. Test scores tend to climb at first, then level off unless new strategies are introduced². That flatline is common in high-effort, high-content testing like the MCAT.

Plateaus also develop when repetition outweighs reflection. One paper on testing performance suggested that when students repeat practice without adjusting how they study, progress stalls⁴. Taking more tests won’t help if your review process hasn’t evolved.

Step One: Pause and Diagnose

If your score has stayed flat across two or three full-lengths, it’s time to step back. Stop taking new exams for now and look hard at the last one. Not just the score, but your timing, your breakdown by section, and especially your mistakes.

Where are the patterns? Are you making content errors or misreading questions? Are you running out of time in a specific section? Are your scores dropping toward the end due to fatigue?

This type of diagnostic work is the first step out of a plateau. One study on test optimization emphasized how plateaus often result from failure to shift focus⁴. You’re not doing less, you’re doing the same thing too often.

Step Two: Vary Your Inputs

Practice only works if it challenges your brain in new ways. When your prep looks the same every day, your brain starts coasting. One study on gamified learning showed that plateau effects appear when learners repeat tasks with fixed difficulty⁵. Performance levels off, not because students aren’t trying, but because the brain needs new stimulus to grow.

Switch your format. If you’ve been doing full-lengths every weekend, try timed sections instead. Focus on one subject or one type of reasoning error. Try explaining your logic aloud. Teach concepts to yourself. Work on hard questions without time pressure, then rebuild speed later.

New formats create new growth. And when your brain is actively engaged, you get sharper, faster, and more accurate.

Step Three: Tighten Your Review

Surface-level review won’t move your score. Reading the explanations and moving on doesn’t fix the problem. You need to go deeper. That means identifying the root cause of each mistake. Asking yourself: was it timing, misreading, miscalculation, or a weak understanding of the concept?

Track your misses in a review log. Categorize them. Then revisit those patterns weekly. If you keep missing graph questions in Chem/Phys, that’s a signal. If you’re consistently eliminating the right answer in CARS, that’s another.

One study on learning plateaus pointed to repetition without reflection as the root cause of stagnation³. Without a clear look at what’s going wrong, you’ll keep reinforcing the same habits. Targeted review gives you the information you need to make real changes.

Step Four: Take a Strategic Step Back

Not every plateau is mental. Some are physical. One study found that performance gains often happen after rest due to a process called offline consolidation¹. That means when you’re stuck, the best move might be to back off for a few days.

You don’t need a week off. Even two or three light days can restore focus, reduce mental clutter, and let your brain actually process what you’ve been learning. If your last few practice exams felt heavy or foggy, this might be what you need.

Rest isn’t laziness. It’s part of progress.

Final Thought

Plateaus are normal. They don’t mean you’ve hit your ceiling. They mean your brain has adapted to your current routine, and now it needs something new.

The students who push through are the ones who pause, reflect, and shift strategy. They get curious about their mistakes. They change what they practice and how they review. And they trust that progress returns when effort gets smarter.

If your score is stuck, don’t double down on what’s already not working. Make it work differently.

If you want a boost in your scores or just some good tips for taking the MCAT and doing well in class, sign up to our Newsletter! If you'd like a professional MCAT tutor, either online or local to East Lansing, check out our offerings today!

Sources

¹ Bönstrup, M., Iturrate, I., Thompson, R., Cruciani, G., et al. “A Rapid Form of Offline Consolidation in Skill Learning.” Current Biology, vol. 29, no. 8, 2019, pp. 1346–1351.

² Lee, J. “Tripartite Growth Trajectories of Reading and Math Achievement.” American Educational Research Journal, vol. 47, no. 4, 2010, pp. 800–832.

³ Kitchener, K. S., and Fischer, K. W. “A Skill Approach to the Development of Reflective Thinking.” Fostering Critical Thinking through Reflective Skill Development, 1990.

⁴ Shipilov, S. A. “Solving Key Failure Analysis Problems Using Advanced Testing.” Engineering Failure Analysis, 2007.

⁵ Eng, C. M., Tsegai-Moore, A., and Fisher, A. V. “Gamification and Performance Plateaus in Cognitive Assessment.” Brain Sciences, vol. 14, no. 5, 2024, Article 451.