FireWarden Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 Its a little ways away but still...my my my "The committee is charged with recommending changes that are likely to increase MCAT's value to medical school admissions committees. Members will consider the knowledge, skills, and other characteristics that admissions committees look for in their applicants, the full range of information that already is available in student selection (through transcripts, letters of recommendation, interviews, and other sources), and the state of the art and professional standards in admissions testing. In conducting their review, committee members will consider recent calls for new information about applicants' mastery of natural sciences content; behavioral and social sciences and humanities content; and professional competencies like cultural competence, communication skills, and professionalism." from http://www.aamc.org/mr5 Personally I am not a fan. Just keep it the way it is so we can master it already...lol. And I kinda like the science content.....it shows that although my GPA isnt a 4.0.....I know my ****. I think if they take away more of the science component and make it competence based....schools will count the GPA higher for acceptance...and GPA's are a terrible way to test how good of a doctor you may be...IMO What ya'll think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayven Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 I think GPAs should be done away with period. Unless of course they come up with a standardized premed program. I don't even understand why schools still use the GPA system itself. What's wrong with percentages? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slashsev01 Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 I think GPAs should be done away with period. Unless of course they come up with a standardized premed program. I don't even understand why schools still use the GPA system itself. What's wrong with percentages? I cannot agree more...everything in that comment was perfect. There needs to be some sort of standardization for schools, without that marks mean nothing..... Undergrad programs need to be ranked... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 Its a little ways away but still...my my my "The committee is charged with recommending changes that are likely to increase MCAT's value to medical school admissions committees. Members will consider the knowledge, skills, and other characteristics that admissions committees look for in their applicants, the full range of information that already is available in student selection (through transcripts, letters of recommendation, interviews, and other sources), and the state of the art and professional standards in admissions testing. In conducting their review, committee members will consider recent calls for new information about applicants' mastery of natural sciences content; behavioral and social sciences and humanities content; and professional competencies like cultural competence, communication skills, and professionalism." from http://www.aamc.org/mr5 hmmm I wonder if they means science will get cut, or just that the test will be longer(?). It was 8 hours long in the past when I first wrote it, then down to about 5. Looks more and more likely arts degrees will be useful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireWarden Posted September 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 I am applying for the first time this cycle...I just wrote my MCAT this summer.....so hopefully ill be in before this hits....even if it takes 3 times (please lord do not let this happen....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
takashi Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 I am re-writing for the first time because of my writing sample. Hopefully I can get in and don't have to rewrite 3 more times lol... I wonder how schools are going to adjust their cutoffs with the new mcat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PastaInhaler Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 If it ain't broken, don't fix it. Not that you can fix something that isn't broken anyway...can you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supafield Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 Lol I feel sorry for anyone writing in 2012 that may have to retake in 2013 and take an entire different test.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a41 Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 They're trying to make the MCAT more meaningful as a tool for medical school admissions. Everybody wins, unless you don't have the knowledge/skills/characteristics that admissions committees are looking for. But then you probably wouldn't get into med school anyways. I cannot agree more...everything in that comment was perfect. There needs to be some sort of standardization for schools, without that marks mean nothing..... Undergrad programs need to be ranked... That's stupid. First off, if you're going to standardize everything you won't need rankings. How would you even go about ranking programs anyways (if you could even get to every single undergrad program)? Do you honestly think that one can objectively compare two different programs? Which is harder, Queen's chemistry program or UWO's physics program? McMaster electrical engineering? Biology at York? Business at Toronto? What about Chemical engineering with an English minor at Queen's vs. Classics with a Biology minor at U of T? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
takashi Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 The only way they could potentially "rank" programs (btw I am not saying this is what should be done) is to find the average GPA of students enrolled in each program and compare your GPA to the rest of the class. Programs that are more difficult would likely have a lower average gpa. What if the I was in the top 1% of my program and yet only had a 3.7 because my program is relatively more difficult compared to other programs? Would it be far that I missed some cutoff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Jan Intor Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 The only way they could potentially "rank" programs (btw I am not saying this is what should be done) is to find the average GPA of students enrolled in each program and compare your GPA to the rest of the class. Programs that are more difficult would likely have a lower average gpa. What if the I was in the top 1% of my program and yet only had a 3.7 because my program is relatively more difficult compared to other programs? Would it be far that I missed some cutoff? That would be a solid system but it would be way to complicated to put into practice. Considering that even within set modules there's still a lot of room for differences due to the wide choice of electives etc. But overall I think the MCAT is fine the way it is (I wrote this summer), but the GPA system is terrible. Specially because the way certain schools chose to calculate it, like Mcmaster which considers everything in calculating its GPA. Its like - oh sorry you did ****ty in grade 9 sciences you cant get into university anymore. Which I believe is not representative of your abilities at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a41 Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 That would be a solid system but it would be way to complicated to put into practice. Considering that even within set modules there's still a lot of room for differences due to the wide choice of electives etc. Plus then the med schools would have to get EVERYONE'S marks because your percentile isn't usually reported on your transcript. Except in the case of engineering where they usually indicate class rank on the transcript. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted September 3, 2009 Report Share Posted September 3, 2009 Plus then the med schools would have to get EVERYONE'S marks because your percentile isn't usually reported on your transcript. Except in the case of engineering where they usually indicate class rank on the transcript. It also assumes that the average student in each program is exactly the same, which just isn't the case. Some programs by design or by interest attract students of different abilities. This is a confound that messes up with any program ranking scheme, or at least requires subjective evaluation of each program still to occur. In any case the amount of work required and chance for error is still very high. I think the only way to obtain consistent reliable measuring of peoples ability is with standardized testing. Unfortunately that sort of testing is also limited in many of its own special ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBP Posted September 4, 2009 Report Share Posted September 4, 2009 Who cares, we'll all be in med school by that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted September 5, 2009 Report Share Posted September 5, 2009 Its a little ways away but still...my my my "The committee is charged with recommending changes that are likely to increase MCAT's value to medical school admissions committees. Members will consider the knowledge, skills, and other characteristics that admissions committees look for in their applicants, the full range of information that already is available in student selection (through transcripts, letters of recommendation, interviews, and other sources), and the state of the art and professional standards in admissions testing. In conducting their review, committee members will consider recent calls for new information about applicants' mastery of natural sciences content; behavioral and social sciences and humanities content; and professional competencies like cultural competence, communication skills, and professionalism." from http://www.aamc.org/mr5 Wow, thanks for posting this. This sounds like my type of test. Too bad it's only in the works for 2013! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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