AAMC Releases Preliminary Recommendations for New MCAT Exam

[iicii]

https://www.aamc.org/newsroom/newsreleases/2011/182652/110331.html

 

an excerpt:

 

Included in the preliminary recommendations are key changes to the content and format of the current MCAT exam. The proposed changes aim to balance the exam’s focus on the natural sciences with the testing of critical analysis and reasoning skills, and direct attention to the behavioral and social sciences by:

 

Updating the exam’s two natural sciences sections to reflect current science and test how examinees solve problems in a way that helps demonstrate their scientific thinking and research skills;

Adding a new test of the behavioral and social sciences concepts that lay the foundation for medical students’ learning about the human and social issues of medicine;

Revising the current verbal section to test the way examinees reason through passages in ethics and philosophy, cross-cultural studies, population health, and other subjects to communicate the need for students to read broadly in preparing for their medical education.

Other differences between the current exam and the proposed new version would be the deletion of the Writing Sample test section. The more comprehensive content in the new recommended exam would increase testing time by approximately 90 minutes.

 

 

...well well well...lots of changes to come...sounds good to me...too bad it won't be implemented it until 2015 (if it passes)

[Erk]

Hm, it's a shame they want to get rid of the writing sample. I think a good written passage is the hallmark of an organised mind.

 

Then again, I've been a writer for a long time, so perhaps I'm biased.

[thatonekid]

Hm, it's a shame they want to get rid of the writing sample. I think a good written passage is the hallmark of an organised mind.

 

Then again, I've been a writer for a long time, so perhaps I'm biased.

I agree with you. I'm not a fan of writing, but I think the writing sample is useful as a testing tool (on more of a pass/fail basis).