The MCAT, the test taken by prospective medical students, is to change radically with the impending new year. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) announced these changes in July 2005, but they’ll be going into effect very shortly. The most significant change involves doing away with paper-based testing, and switching to a computer-based format. This will allow the turnaround for scores to be much quicker, going from 60 days to 30 days. They hope to get it down to 14 days, eventually.
The test day will be shortened as well, with the entire test taking only 5 hours, instead of 8.’ The number of questions will be cut by a third. In addition, computerized tests can be conducted more quickly. With the changes to the content come improvements to the testing experience as well. There will be much more flexibility when it comes to when the test can be taken, with sessions available in the mornings and afternoons on weekdays and Saturdays. There will also be 22 test sessions across 7 months, offered per year, up from 2 sessions per year. However, it may only be taken 3 times per year.
Check-in for the test will be streamlined, in part through the use of fingerprint scanners. The computer labs in which the tests will be given are small, having only up to 16 stations, and are climate-controlled. According to Pre-Professional Academic Advisor Joanie Maniaci of the Melville Library’s Academic & Pre-Professional Advising Center, schools tend to look at grades, and then MCAT scores. She also reminds students that a particular score is not a ‘brick wall cutoff’ for medical school admission. She adds that students have more freedom than before with the changes, and she hopes less stress.
One pre-med student soon to take the new MCAT said that the old test was like ‘running a marathon,’ but feels that the new one will be much better. Students will not be without preparation for the changes, though. Maniaci says, ‘Test prep companies have been getting ready for this move for some time, and students are reading what the AAMC makes available about the new MCAT.’ She is also hopeful that things will run smoothly, despite the inherent potential for problems when a large organization makes a change on this scale, but says to ‘fasten your seatbelts.’
One example of a potential problem is people getting on the wrong testing computers after breaks. One student who has taken a computerized test like this told a story where the ‘victim’ had to retake the test at a later time.
The GRE, which is to graduate school what the SAT is for undergraduate admissions, will undergo a major overhaul in Fall 2007. Where the GRE is offered almost every day now, it will only be offered around 30 times a year, and questions will no longer be repeated on future tests. Analogies and antonyms will be replaced with more critical reading and thinking. Quantitative math questions will now feature more word and data interpretation problems, replacing some of the geometry. The 200 to 800 grading scale will be replaced by a 110 to 150 scale.
The changes were delayed from this Fall for a myriad of reasons, including too few test centers. The ABA, which accredits many law schools, has changed their policy on LSAT scores. They prefer to have the LSAT reported. Whereas previously, the average scores of all completed exams were reported, they will now ask schools to report their highest score. This is a major benefit to students who may have had a bad day the first time, but did very well the second time. Under the old system, the two scores would’ve ”washed out’ to an average score.
In June 2007, they will also add a comparative reading section, and only offer a decision prompt for the writing section, instead of either an argument or a decision chosen at random. The writing section had been based on the random-choice prompt for two years.
‘
