What Do You Get on the MCAT^® Noteboard?

The AAMC's noteboard rules describe nine wet-erase pages, each 14 by 8.5 inches. Pearson VUE's test day guide calls it a white laminated booklet with a fine point marker. MCAT^®-Prep.com, which sells a practice copy, describes spiral binding, graph-paper pages and a Staedtler Lumocolor non-permanent marker.

There's no calculator on the MCAT^®, as MedSchoolCoach notes, so every bit of arithmetic happens on those pages. The guide to MCAT math without a calculator covers the estimation tricks that keep your work short.

Between them, the AAMC and Pearson VUE pages set six rules.

• You can't erase. The booklet is wet-erase, so wiping it with a finger or sleeve isn't allowed.
• It stays in one piece. No tearing out pages, and it stays on your desk.
• It stays in the room. Pearson VUE calls removing it from the testing area an act of misconduct.
• No writing before the exam starts. You can use it once the test administrator starts your exam.
• No writing during breaks. That includes any time your exam is paused. End the break before you pick the marker back up.
• Need more space? Raise your hand. The administrator exchanges your full booklet for a clean one.

If you're halfway through your last clean page, ask for the new booklet between passages, so you aren't waiting on it in the middle of a calculation.

Before Chem/Phys, you get an optional 10-minute tutorial on the testing interface. Blueprint suggests using that time to write down formulas, constants and mnemonics before the first section's timer starts.

Keep the list short. A page of equations you'll never use eats space you'll want for calculations later. The formulas worth memorizing are a good place to start, and the PurpleCAT formula sheet keeps them in one place, so you can practice writing your list from memory and time how long it takes.

The MCAT^® runs about 7.5 hours of seated time, and the booklet can be replaced, so space isn't the real limit. Speed and legibility are. A few habits help.

• Practice with the same tools. A laminated sheet and a fine-point wet-erase marker at home will show you how small you can write and still read it.
• Number your work. Write the question number next to each calculation, so you can find it when you come back to a flagged question.
• Keep CARS notes short. Blueprint suggests noting each paragraph's main idea and tone on confusing passages, and a few words each is enough to find your way back. If CARS is your weak section, the CARS plateau article covers what moves the score.
• Cap the marker. MCAT^®-Prep.com warns that an uncapped marker can dry out. If it does, raise your hand for a new one.

Use the booklet on every full-length you take, the same way you'll use it on test day. The four MCAT sections each call for something different on the page: equations and sketches in the science sections, and a few words per paragraph in CARS.

Last verified October 30, 2026, against the AAMC's noteboard booklet rules and Pearson VUE's MCAT test day guide.