Guest MDHopeful04 Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 To those who have previously written the MCAT at GTA locations, how did you find the exam-room conditions? Was it too noisy, too crowded, too hot/cold, etc? Which locations are considered the best? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 Hi there, I wrote in both, UofT Sir Sanford Fleming Building and the Holiday Inn on King (HIoK). Although there are a number of factors that could have changed since those writings, I preferred writing at the latter. Not only were they very timely (the UofT location ended up starting the exam at 10:15am or so, as opposed to 9:15am at the HIoK) but the rooms were very comfortable. (They even provided water and sweeties at the back of the room, to help keep us hydrated and energized. ) Lastly, I found that the HIoK location was much more relaxed than the UofT location. The preceptors seemed more at ease, as did the exam writers. It must have been the filters that they had on the fluorescent lighting, which was, incidentally, on in full glare in the UofT rooms. I'm sure other folks will have some alternate opinions based on their own personal experiences with each of these locations, and hopefully they'll list those here for you. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest therealcrackers Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 I wrote in the Airport Bristol Place Hotel (renamed since) on the hottest day of the summer in 1999. You had natural light in the rooms (which was great). They ran the air conditioning fine, but the fans were so noisy you really had to block them out to concentrate on your work. It was well-administered, but we still finished close to 6 pm because one of the other ballrooms had a disturbance of some kind so we all had to sit for about 20 minutes after the writing sample... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve U of T Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 I also wrote at the Holiday Inn on King, although my experience wasn't great (still, I'm quite happy with every aspect of my scores). There was one registration line (the one I happened to be in) that was moving terribly slowly, with 50 people still waiting in line when everyone else was ready to go. I don't think we started until after 10:30. Also, there was something going on in the meeting room next door that was incredibly noisy. I think it was a Nikken conference. During the physics section, there was an eruption of cheers every 10 minutes that was really quite impossible to ignore. I think there must have been a bunch of complaints about that, although I didn't bother. I think only my meditation skills from years of studying martial arts got me through that section with the same score I received on recent practice tests. On a positive note, it was really nice that they provided water. I also think it's a more comfortable environment than Sanford Fleming, where I've written several exams in the past (not the MCAT though). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MDHopeful04 Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 Thanks everyone for your input. Seems like there are a few good places in the GTA. I once heard that, MCAT writing locations are quieter and less crowded in smaller cities. Would any of you be able to comment on this? Would it be worth it if I wrote the MCAT in Guelph or Waterloo? How are the writing rooms at these locations? Does the AAMC make available a list of all writing locations on their website, prior to registration? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 0T6 Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 I plan on writing this April, and have filled in part of the application and the only GTA choices were YorkU and UofT.. did I miss something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aneliz Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 I wrote the MCAT at Mac and found it fine. There were about 6 different rooms that they were using and none had more than 40 people. Each room did it's own registration so things moved pretty quick. We were ready to start writing within 45 minutes of the time that you were supposed to show up, there were no long delays after breaks/lunch and I was out of there by about 5:15. The Guelph test site wasn't available when I wrote...otherwise I would have gone there! I imagine it is similar in set up to Mac...I think that they were using the MacKinnon building as the test site this summer...so there wouldn't be more than about 40 people in a room there either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MDHopeful04 Posted January 9, 2004 Report Share Posted January 9, 2004 Hi everyone, I had recently sent the AAMC an email regarding MCAT locations for the August 2004 writing. I was told that the list is not available until registration for the August MCAT commences. I guess the list changes a bit between MCAT writings. Thanks for all the feedback! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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