MCAT - Medical College Admission Test*

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The Medical College Admission Test, commonly known as the MCAT, is a computer-based standardized examination for prospective medical students. It is designed to assess problem solving, critical thinking, written analysis, and writing skills in addition to knowledge of scientific concepts and principles.

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), in conjunction with its member U.S. medical schools, develops and administers the MCAT exam and owns all aspects of it. All U.S. medical schools require applicants to submit MCAT scores and consider them an important part of their admission process. Many schools do not accept MCAT scores that are more than three years old.

The cost of the MCAT is $210. It is offered 22 times per year on 19 different testing dates at Thomson Prometric centers. The test may be offered either in the morning or in the afternoon. Some test dates have both morning and afternoon administrations.

To register for the MCAT, please visit Association of American Medical Colleges Registration usually opens 120 days befor the test date and end 14 days before the test date.

Structure

The test consists of four sections: Physical Sciences (PS), Verbal Reasoning (VR), Writing Sample (WS) and Biological Sciences (BS). The Verbal Reasoning, Physical Sciences, and Biological Sciences sections are in multiple-choice format. The Writing sample consists of two short essays that are typed onto the computer. The passages and questions are predetermined, and thus do not change in difficulty depending on the performance of the test taker (unlike, for example, the Graduate Record Examination). The entire test procedure takes about 4.5 hours.

The science sections (PS and BS) test analytical and logical cognitive abilities. The Verbal Reasoning section was implemented to test understanding of various subtleties involved in human communication and understanding. The Biological Sciences section most directly correlates to success on the USMLE Step 1 exam.

Scoring

Scores for the three multiple-choice sections range from 1 to 15. Scores for the writing section range alphabetically from J (lowest) to T (highest). The writing section is graded by three different readers: a proprietary computer program (Intellimetric) developed by Vantage Learning which analyzes creative writing and syntax and two human readers who generally look at the overall impact rather than spelling and grammar.

The numerical scores from each section are added together to give a composite score. The score from the writing sample may also be appended to the composite score (e.g. 35S). The maximum composite score is 45T but any score over 30P is considered fairly competitive. There is no penalty for wrong multiple choice answers, and thus even random guessing is preferable to leaving an answer choice blank. Students preparing for the exam are encouraged to try to balance their subscores; physical, verbal, and biological scores of 12, 13, and 11 respectively may be looked upon more favorably than scores of 14, 13, and 9, even though both tests amount to the same composite score.

Test scores are available online through the MCAT Testing History (THx) System as soon as the AAMC releases them. The scores may be sent, at no charge, to podiatry, veterinary and public health programs. Official Score Reports can also be printed and sent to whomever the examinee wishes (the recipients can verify the accuracy of the reports online). First-year entering-class allopathic medical school applicants have their scores submitted automatically to AMCAS, a centralized application processing service of the AAMC.

Preparing

The AAMC offers numerous articles on preparing for the MCAT. They state that "If you have taken the requisite science courses, as well as classes in the humanities and social sciences you should be skilled at reading a wide range of material. Rigorous coursework and extracurricular reading expand your vocabulary, develop your reading pace, and increase your familiarity with texts and arguments in various disciplines." and go on to say that enrollment in commerical courses is unnecessary and that "any gains from commercial review courses are small".

We're not going to argue with them; however, we know that many will want to take some type of review course anyway. Here is our recommendation:

Examkrackers

Examkrackers offers relatively inexpensive books, audio CD's, DVD's, internet forums and live classes. Their Comprehensive Review "runs for 9 weeks beginning exactly 10 weeks before the MCAT. It covers absolutely everything on the MCAT. It includes four 2-hour classes each week and 5 full length simulated CBT MCATS. Although classes are 2 hours, lectures are only 50 minutes. A class lecture is followed by a 10 minute break, a 30 minute practice exam in the MCAT format, and a complete review of that exam."

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