A memory device includes a memory array configured as quad-level cell (QLC) memory and a control logic operatively coupled to the memory array. The control logic identifies a first two bits of particular pages of a QLC logical state. The control logic causes memory cells of the memory array to be coarse programmed with a threshold voltage distribution of a multi-level cell (MLC) logical state corresponding to the first two bits. The control logic reads the MLC logical state from the memory cells and a second two bits from a cache buffer to determine the QLC logical state. The control logic causes the memory cells to be further coarse programmed with a QLC threshold voltage distribution corresponding to the QLC logical state.