Pre-Health Club

What it Takes
• Medical School
• Dental School
• Optometry School
• Nursing School
• Veterinary School

Home

The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is required by almost every medical school (Johns Hopkins being a notable exception) and is offered only twice a year, in April and August.  In other words, you have to choose between taking the test at the end of the academic year (when you should be studying for your final exams) or at the end of the summer (after you've forgotten everything during summer vacation).  Either way, I recommend that you take a test-prep course to help you review the important material (I took a course from Kaplan, but I've heard good things about Princeton Review as well).  The helpfulness of the course itself will depend greatly on the quality of your teacher, but the books will be a great source of study material.  What I found most helpful about Kaplan's course was that they had numerous practice tests I could take whenever I wanted and the answers (with explanations) were available on tape.  Also, Kaplan offered a practice MCAT that was given in actual test-conditions, so that you could get an idea of what the real MCAT experience was going to feel like.
 

So, what is the MCAT? It's very long test (I arrived at 8:00 in the morning and left around 6:00 pm) made up of four sections:

• Verbal Reasoning  You read essays on various subjects and then answer questions
• Physical Sciences  Physics and general chemistry questions
• Writing Sample  You write two essays on assigned topics (30 minutes per essay)
• Biological Sciences  Organic chemistry and biology questions

When I took the test (September 1993) we were given 85 minutes for the verbal reasoning section (65 questions), a half-hour for each of the two essays, and 100 minutes each for the physical sciences and biological sciences sections (77 questions each). As if the length of the test itself isn't enough, the AAMC has devised a unique grading system for the MCAT.  The biological sciences and physical sciences are graded an a scale from 1 to 15 points (15 being the best score). Verbal reasoning is graded on a similar scale, except that scores of 13, 14, and 15 are lumped together (13-15) for some reason.  Even more confusing, the writing samples are graded (together) on a letter scale from J (the lowest score) through T (the highest).  Bizarre.... Another thing worth mentioning is that schools can request copies of your actual essays if they are interested.  I didn't realize this when I took the MCAT and I may have written different essays had I known.
 

So, what can you do to make the MCAT less unpleasant?  Obviously you should study and take practice tests.  However, I have a few tidbits of advice that may be of use:

• Choose your site wisely.  One of the most important things you can do is make sure you take the MCAT at a good site.  Ask people who have taken the test recently about their site.  Some sites have poor lighting and uncomfortable chairs.  You want to be somewhere with good lights and big counter-tops on which to write.  I took the test at Bentley College (outside Boston) and highly recommend that site.  The only other site I have heard anything about is Tufts, and what I heard was bad.  Basically, you're going to spend over eight hours at your site, so you want it to be somewhere comfortable.

   

• Check out the site.  If you're taking the test at a place which is the least bit unfamiliar, you will be a lot happier if you drive to the site a few days before the exam to make sure you know how to get there.  You want to make the day of the exam as relaxing as possible.

   

• Arrive early.  The last thing you want on the day of the exam is to be running late.  Being early will allow you to choose your own seat (if there is no assigned seating, which there may be).  I like to sit in the back (I hate the feeling that people can see me without me seeing them) and it was really nice to get the seat of my choice on the day of the test.

   

• Bring food.  I seem to recall that the official rule was "no food or drinks in the test site" (and at least one person has informed me that some proctors are strict about enforcing this rule).  However, I brought several cans of Sprite and a few Powerbars to keep me going and nobody gave me a hard time (another reason I liked Bentley).  I also know that after a meal I tend to be tired and more sluggish.  Since the essay section is right after lunch, I wanted to avoid that at all costs.  Thus, I brought a small lunch and just snacked all day long as I took the test.

   

• Earplugs!  My teacher at Kaplan suggested these, and they were an excellent idea.  I hate hearing other people turn the page before I do (it makes me feel like I'm behind).  However, the earplugs allowed me to tune out this and any other distracting noises.  I recommend getting the earplugs several weeks in advance and taking some practice tests with them in, just to make sure they won't distract you during the real thing.  One warning:  earplugs are officially against the rules and I have heard from at least one student who was not allowed to wear her earplugs during the exam.  I had no such problems myself and my advice is to bring them if you think they will help and just try not to draw attention to yourself.

   

• Kleenex!  This may sound ridiculous, but a box of tissues can be a life-saver for two reasons.  First, if your nose starts to run, you're all set.  Second (and more important), if the jerk next to you starts to sniffle and snort, you can quietly shove a few tissues in his face and shut him up (this, by the way, is another reason to bring earplugs).

   

• Bring a large supply of #2 pencils.  This one is pretty self-explanatory.

   

• Have a relaxing lunch.  Bring something to relax yourself during the lunch break.  Some people will invariably break up into small groups and whisper about which questions they thought were hard.  Don't do that!  Read a book or magazine or listen to your walkman during lunch.  If you're relaxed and in the "mental zone", you don't want to risk losing that during the lunch break.

Go to Terry Bronson's Main Page
This was taken from this web address http://members.aol.com/TerryBrons/mcat.htm

bronson.terry@umassmed.edu