About Progress Note

Board prep that studies you back.

Progress Note is a free, evidence-based study platform for the MCAT, USMLE Step 1 and NCLEX-RN. It learns what you know, schedules what you're about to forget, and shows the source behind every answer.

Open the question bank Take the free diagnostic
Free to start No credit card A cited source on every answer
What Progress Note is

A study partner that remembers for you

Most question banks hand you thousands of questions and leave the hard part — deciding what to study next — to you. Progress Note does that part. Every answer you give updates a model of what you know, so your next session is built around the material you're most likely to forget, at the difficulty that actually stretches you.

Around the question bank sits a free library of study guides, interactive exam roadmaps, calculators, and a two-minute diagnostic — so you can go from "where do I even start?" to a focused plan in one sitting.

“Stop studying what you already know. Spend your hours on the things that will actually move your score.”

What we stand for

Four commitments behind every question

Evidence you can check

Every answer shows where it comes from — published literature and standard clinical references. When the source is freely available, we link straight to it so you can verify the claim yourself.

Your time is the scarcest resource

Spaced repetition and adaptive difficulty exist for one reason: so the hours you put in go to the material that needs them, not the material you've already mastered.

Access before paywalls

Good preparation shouldn't depend on who can afford the most expensive subscription. The question bank, study guides, roadmaps, and diagnostic are free to use — no credit card required.

Honest progress

We show your readiness as an estimated range, or a mastery stage for pass/fail exams, never a single flattering number. We name the topics most likely to raise it and say plainly how it’s calculated. No hype, just where you actually stand.

What makes it different

Question banks are everywhere.
Knowing where you stand isn't.

Six things that work together in Progress Note.

Automatic spaced repetition

Questions resurface right before you'd forget them. No decks to build or manage — review is scheduled for you.

Adapts as you go

Weak areas and due reviews rise to the top, and difficulty shifts with your recent performance, so each session meets you where you are.

Cited explanations

Every explanation carries its source, so you learn the reasoning and can trust what you're memorizing.

Confidence calibration

Rate how sure you are before you see the answer. The things you're confident about and wrong about are the gaps that cost points — this finds them.

Error-pattern analysis

Tag a miss as a knowledge gap, a misread, a rushed answer, or a second-guess — because each needs a different fix.

Study with no signal

Download question packs and study offline — in a hospital basement or on the train. Answers sync when you reconnect.

Choose your path

Built for the exam in front of you

Each track has its own questions, study guides, and roadmap. Pick yours.

Pre-med

MCAT

The full MCAT curriculum as a guided roadmap — Chem/Phys, Bio/Biochem, Psych/Soc, and CARS — with rapid-review cram sheets and a score-percentile calculator.

Practice MCAT questions The MCAT path → MCAT roadmap →
Medical students

USMLE Step 1

System-by-system Step 1 review with high-yield guides, a guided roadmap, and board-style questions with cited explanations.

Practice Step 1 questions The Step 1 path → Step 1 roadmap →
Nursing students

NCLEX-RN

NCLEX-style questions across the client-needs categories, with prioritization practice and a roadmap from fundamentals to test day.

Practice NCLEX questions The NCLEX path → NCLEX roadmap →
How it works

From first question to test day

Find your starting point

A two-minute diagnostic shows your strongest and weakest areas before you spend a single hour studying.

Practice what matters

Adaptive sessions put your weakest, most-forgettable material first — with a cited explanation after every answer.

Watch the gaps close

Track mastery by topic, see your readiness estimate, and let spaced review bring material back right before you'd lose it.

Start your first session
Our story

Built in the margins

Progress Note was built by two residents, one in surgery and one in anesthesiology — between overnight calls and journal clubs — out of frustration with study tools that treat every learner the same.

The idea was simple: the best study session is the one that knows exactly what you're about to forget. Everything in Progress Note — the adaptive engine, the spaced review, the cited explanations — follows from that.

Before it was a product, the idea was put through MIT's startup-validation process and shaped by conversations with learners at every stage of training. The questions are checked against peer-reviewed literature and specialty-society references, so what you study holds up.

It's still built the same way: by people who have sat these exams, for people who are about to.

FAQ

Common questions

Is Progress Note free?

Yes. You can create an account and use the question bank, study guides, roadmaps, and the diagnostic for free — no credit card required.

Which exams does it cover?

Question banks for the MCAT, USMLE Step 1 and NCLEX-RN, plus free study guides across medicine, nursing, and pre-med.

Where do the questions come from?

They're written from published literature and standard clinical references, and every answer shows its source so you can check it.

How is it different from a regular question bank?

It schedules review automatically, adjusts difficulty to your recent performance, and shows where you stand — including an estimated score range (or, for pass/fail exams, a mastery stage) and the topics most likely to raise it.

Can I study offline?

Yes. Download question packs, study with no connection, and your answers sync when you're back online.

Do I need an account?

The study guides, roadmaps, and diagnostic are open to everyone. A free account saves your progress and unlocks the full question bank.

Your next session is ready

Start where it counts.

Open the question bank and your first adaptive session builds itself. Free, no credit card.

Open the question bank Take the free diagnostic