Purpose and importance of MCAT^®

The MCAT^® was implemented over 60 years ago as a part of the medical school admission process.  Aside from medical colleges, many other healthcare related graduate programs accept MCAT^® scores instead of other standardized exams.  About 70,000 students take the MCAT^® each year. The MCAT^® requires a high level of natural intelligence, mastery of numerous subjects and intensive and extensive preparation.  Because physicians are entrusted with people's health and lives, medical schools strive to ensure that only the most qualified, committed and properly prepared candidates are accepted for admission.

The exact score that applicant must achieve on the MCAT^® for acceptance into medical school varies among programs.  Medical schools do not use the MCAT^® score as the only criteria for admission and incorporate several other factors (GPA, essay, research and extracurricular activities, etc.).  Medical school admissions is a very selective process and a strong MCAT^® score puts the applicant at the significant advantage and increases the overall chances of admission over other applicants with similar credentials. The MCAT^® is a standard test and allows medical school admission committees to balance factors such as GPA (differences among schools) and subjective letters of recommendation.

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Subjects and topics tested

The MCAT^® is comprised of four sections: Writing Sample and three sections of multiple-choice questions: the Physical Sciences, Verbal Reasoning, and the Biological Sciences.

The MCAT^® places a high emphasis on knowledge of scientific principles.  The Physical Sciences section tests 52 multiple choice questions in 70 minutes.  These questions are in Physics and General Chemistry with a tilt towards Physics.  Many students find the Physical Sciences section to be the most difficult.  Some common topics in Physics portion are: units, graphs, trigonometry, translational motion, forces, energy, work, power and momentum, fluids and solids, electrostatics and electromagnetism, capacitors, waves and simple harmonic motion, sound, optics and more.  General Chemistry topics include: atoms, elements, periodic properties, bonding, reaction types, balancing equations, reaction kinetics, thermodynamics, solutions and solubility, gases, phase changes, acid/base chemistry, electrochemistry and more.

The Biological Sciences section tests 52 multiple-choice questions in 70 minutes.  These questions are in Biology and Organic chemistry with a higher number of Biology questions (about two thirds Biology and one third Organic questions). Biology topics for the MCAT^® are: eukaryotic cells, DNA, reproduction, developmental biology, microbiology, biochemical pathways, systems of human body, heredity, evolution, populations, ecology and more.  Topics in Organic Chemistry include: carbon bonding, stereochemistry, hydrocarbons, alcohols, phenols and ethers, aldehydes and ketones, carboxylic acids and derivatives, amines, amino acids and proteins, carbohydrates, biological molecules, separation and identification of organic compounds and other related topics.

The essays for the Writing Sample section are not related directly to science. This section tests the applicant’s writing and reasoning abilities.  Students are given a statement and need to do three things: understand the statement, explore the statement and explain the meaning of the statement and by integrating these tasks. The purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate effective written communication skills.  In the writing section, there are two statement and the assignments must be competed in 60 minutes.

Verbal Reasoning assesses the applicant’s reading and comprehending skills, ability to interpret and ability to apply written information.  Verbal reasoning has 40 multiple-choice questions within a series of 500 - 600 word passages. These passages relate to different topics from humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.  Each passage then contains 5 to 10 questions about the passage and evaluates the applicant’s understanding of the passage, ability to relate key concepts, and the ability to identify and extract main ideas.  The verbal reasoning section on the MCAT^® must be completed within 60 minutes.

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Testing procedure

The exam is completed within 4 hours 20 minutes. Other than the Writing Sample, all questions are multiple-choice.  Since only correctly answered questions count towards the score, students should complete each question.  During the test, student will be answering questions one at a time but can return to the previous questions within the same section for review and to change answers before submission.  Question can be marked for review.  Once time for a particular section is finished, answers must be submitted and no further changes are allowed.

In addition to the 4 hours 20 minutes for the exam itself, there is an optional 10 minute tutorial, three optional 10 minute breaks, 5 minutes for a required non-disclosure agreement, 5 minutes for the void score option and 10 minutes for an exam survey.

At the end of the test, examinees not satisfied with their performance can void their score before leaving the testing facility.  This is the only time the score can be voided.  If the score is voided, the AAMC will not report the student’s participation on the MCAT^®.  Students are allowed to sit for the exam only 3 times per year.  Students need enough time to take the MCAT^® before applying to medical school.  Allow a minimum of two weeks to register for the test and about one month for the score to be available.

Preparation

MCAT^® is considered the most challenging standardized test.  A high MCAT^® score increases your success for admission into medical school.  The MCAT^® score is an important criteria used by admission committees to evaluate the applicant's qualifications for the intensive and rigorous program of medical school.  It would be a great mistake to try to maximize your score without intensive preparation.

It is a common mistake to think that the MCAT^® exam assesses only general knowledge, critical thinking skills and the ability to select the correct answer from the information provided.  While MCAT^® is targeting all of these abilities, it goes well beyond it.  Since it is mostly a science test, to succeed on the MCAT^®, a student must possess the knowledge and ability to apply this knowledge to physical and biological science questions.  Many students believe they are prepared to sit for MCAT^® if they took Biology, Physics, Organic and Inorganic Chemistry on a college level.

In fact, all the applicants competing for medical school admission completed these courses.  While these college courses are a prerequisite for medical school admission, unless a student majored in the subject and took many courses in physical and biological sciences, applicants need additional preparation in these subjects.  The main reason is that the MCAT^® tests questions that come from a wide range of topics for each of these disciplines.  Most college courses, due to time constrains and class sizes, can’t cover these subjects in the depth needed to ace the MCAT^®.

Students need to invest time and effort in studying to prepare for the MCAT.  Practice is one of the most important aspects of preparation for achieving a high MCAT^® score. Many students practice with some paper MCAT tests.  While practice with paper tests is helpful, simulated computer based tests dramatically will increase you performance and scores on the actual MCAT^®.

For a successful MCAT^® performance, practice tests in simulated conditions is the best way to increase your knowledge and overall increase your readiness for the exam.  Use our tests to determine which topics are your strong points and which topics you need to study more intensively.  It is well known fact that practice makes for the best performance.  By practicing simulated computer based tests, students get used to the time constraints of the actual MCAT^®.  With our system, you will learn at your own pace for the best individual MCAT^® result.  

Scoring well on the MCAT^® is important for your goal of admission into medical school.

We look forward to being a part of your preparation for the MCAT^®.