MCAT Changes for 2003

[Guest DD]

An Updated MCAT Is Coming!

In 2003, minor changes will be made to the MCAT. A few organic chemistry questions will be replaced by questions on DNA and genetics, the Verbal Reasoning (VR) section will have five fewer questions, it will be possible to achieve a 14 or 15 on the VR, and a total score will be reported (e.g., 45T). PS will become the first section of the day, followed by VR.

[Guest OOP]

Organic chemistry (OC) questions blow chunks. I doubt any medical student (or physician) could remember how to do them anyway. Questions on DNA and genetics are cool since that's the direction medicine is heading now. Although without the OC questions, it may be more competitive to get top marks. It seems every student is really strong in genetics/biology. I'm not sure what difference five fewer questions is going to make on the VR section. They really need to remove one of the 9 passages or increase the time by 5-10 minutes. Quick readers definitely have an advantage on this section. More than half of the test takers can't finish this section in the first place. What's the point of that? Last point: personally, I'd like to get the VR section finished with first, although some argue that the PS should be first because of all of those dam formulas you have to memorize. Nothing like a little math first thing in the morning.

[Guest medicator007]

You make some very valid points with respect to the removal of some organic chemistry questions, which i never really liked anyways. As well the direction of medicine does indeed seem to be moving towards the direction of genetics and proteomics. Though I don't think the MCAT is, nor does it intend to be representative of the information required for success in medical school.

 

On the point you make for VR: While it certainly is frustrating for those who are unable to finish the section, I don't think you can write it off as pointless. It tests the ability of the candidate to take in information (in this case a passage), quickly understand it and respond accordingly. These skills would seem to me rather useful in medical school.

 

Lastly, I disagree that there are many formulae to be memorized for the PS section. Certainly one must be comfortable with the manipulations of all formulae as well as understand where they came from and how to use them. Other than a few BASIC formulae and constants, nearly everything you would need to memorize is given in the passages. Though you are dead-on when it comes to mental math early in the morning, bloody hell!

 

Cheers :-)

Medicator007

[Guest OOP]

I look at the VR section differently. Although I've heard that argument before, an additional 5 minutes is not a substantial amount of time but can mean the difference between finishing the last passage or not. In the global picture, the MCAT is not the determining factor to get into Med schools as evident by the way Med schools in Canada use the scores (or not) in their admissions formulae. However, I do believe in being fair to those taking the exam. The VR section as it currently stands favors the fast reader and punishes the slow (and average) one(s). I think the MCAT office has finally realized this and are removing 5 questions from this section in order to address this issue. Ideally, you are correct: med school candidates must be able to take in information, understand it quickly and respond accordingly. However, there is a big gap between reading performance and clinical performance, where quick thinking can either save lives or lead to mistakes. Maybe in order to simulate the medical residency, they should make test writers stay up the night before their exam. Yeah right! There needs to be balance in everything. These revisions are a good move in the right direction.

[Guest m]

So how will med schools compare the scores of those taking the revamped test, and those of us with older scores? Will there be different scales, or all lumped together?

 

I certainly hope that they won't require us to retake the new test. I could see that happening within 2 or so years, which isn't fair to those of us who may end up doing a masters before reapplying and who otherwise would have MCAt scores that would be valid up to that point (if just barely).

[Guest OOP]

Most schools only allow you to use your most recent MCAT scores, providing that they are not older than 2-3 years. This can affect some people, especially if they write during 2nd or 3rd year and then take several years before applying to (or getting into) medicine. The current format of the exam is circa 1992, the year of the last major revision to the MCAT.

 

So to answer your question, med schools will probably not scale the two exams differently although the VR scores are likely to go up slightly (see first post above). In 2-3 years time, it won't matter. Only the newest format will be used. Most schools use the MCAT as a guide or flag system and don't put any real weight to it. Just a few schools (Queens, Manitoba, maybe one or two others) use the MCAT as a screening tool.

[Guest Liana]

Hmm,

 

Theoretically, some of the schools should look at the two tests differently, given that they put a lot of weight on that part of the application, but given the necessity for simplicity, it probably won't happen. Specifically, the schools might be Queen's (where you have to meet the VR cutoff of 10, and it seems unfair to eliminate one stellar applicant who has a VR 9 score on the old test, but possibly admit someone with a VR 10 on the new test) and Western (I think it's Western?), where your VR score is actually factored into the equation used to directly determine whether or not you are admitted.

 

Probably won't happen, though.