DarkGhost Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 For those who are interested and don't already know. Dr. Walker (Admissions @ UofC) just announced that the new MCAT will be scored from 472-528, with a mean of 500. Also Khan Academy is working on developing prep materials, and a full-length practice exam will be released fall 2014. I'm a little surprised by the new scoring system as it was rumoured it'd be similar to the current MCAT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 Oh marvelous... So that makes comparing the two tests even MORE difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cw2lu Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 It's also going to be longer and more difficult. I'm pumped to write this new one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 Where's the source for this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkGhost Posted April 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 I suppose each individual section will likely be out of 14, but why start at 472? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amichel Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 For those who are interested and don't already know. Dr. Walker (Admissions @ UofC) just announced that the new MCAT will be scored from 472-528, with a mean of 500. Also Khan Academy is working on developing prep materials, and a full-length practice exam will be released fall 2014. I'm a little surprised by the new scoring system as it was rumoured it'd be similar to the current MCAT. He said 2015 in the tweet... Don't know if that's a mistake. Where's the source for this? https://twitter.com/UCMedAdmissions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 All the more reason to REALLY hope I get in on my first cycle because I do not want to have to rewrite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkGhost Posted April 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 He said 2015 in the tweet... Don't know if that's a mistake. I double checked AAMC, so yes, it was a mistake. I don't know if it'd help anyone being released fall 2015. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 Thanks for the link amichel! Wow, this is a REALLY interesting development. Like I said initially, this makes comparing the two permutations of the test nearly impossible. I'm curious how each school will handle it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peachaso Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 Not sure why everyone thinks it will be so hard to compare - they can do percentiles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amichel Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 I double checked AAMC, so yes, it was a mistake. I don't know if it'd help anyone being released fall 2015. Since the practice exams are made up of old exams, I wouldn't put it past the to release in 2015. Good to know its 2014 though. Thanks for the link amichel! Wow, this is a REALLY interesting development. Like I said initially, this makes comparing the two permutations of the test nearly impossible. I'm curious how each school will handle it. You're welcome! I don't know how the heck they came up with 472-528. So random. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 Not sure why everyone thinks it will be so hard to compare - they can do percentiles. I thought of that, but I don't think it works that neatly. If there's a total of 57 possible scores, the percentile score range for each section will be really small compared to the current MCAT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkGhost Posted April 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 I thought of that, but I don't think it works that neatly. If there's a total of 57 possible scores, the percentile score range for each section will be really small compared to the current MCAT. They also can't really compare percentiles accurately when the BS section has been essentially divided between the BBLS, PSBB and CPBS sections. The only section they may be able to that with is the VR and CARS, but we'll have to wait to find out the scoring differences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarvish Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 So will you have a total score out of 528 with just percentiles for each individual section? Or a score out of 528 for each section? I think it's nice to have some more percentile divisions, especially for verbal where there's a huge drop off after 11. A mean of 500 is also odd since there haven't been any set averages for individual sections and the percentile ranges have varied slightly over the years. The completely new scale might also lead to fewer schools grandfathering the old test which makes the people currently in 2nd/3rd year being in an odd spot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cw2lu Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 Would it be wise to wait a little before purchasing MCAT study books? Or will the old ones suffice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarvish Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 Looking back, it looks like it's still 4 sections marked out of 15 each. 1's in each would give you 472 and 15's in each would be 528. So I guess the whole point is the normalization since the mean for each section would be fixed at an 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkGhost Posted April 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 Would it be wise to wait a little before purchasing MCAT study books? Or will the old ones suffice? Honestly, at this point, I might wait. The only school I've heard make an official statement is the UofC, and they won't be accepting the current MCAT. Has any other school made a decision yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkGhost Posted April 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 Looking back, it looks like it's still 4 sections marked out of 15 each. 1's in each would give you 472 and 15's in each would be 528. So I guess the whole point is the normalization since the mean for each section would be fixed at an 8 Actually, if they decide to score this way, each section would be out of 14, with a mean of 7 respectively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarvish Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 Actually, if they decide to score this way, each section would be out of 14, with a mean of 7 respectively. It would only be 14 if the lowest possible score in a section is 0, they could stick with the current scoring scale from 1-15 and add 468 to your score out of 60. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peachaso Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 Honestly, at this point, I might wait. The only school I've heard make an official statement is the UofC, and they won't be accepting the current MCAT. Has any other school made a decision yet? UAlberta recently posted a similar policy to the UofC. Only MCAT 2015. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amichel Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 UAlberta recently posted a similar policy to the UofC. Only MCAT 2015. UBC has said they'll accept it for a couple years. Check their website, I can't remember exact details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwyhan Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 UBC has said they'll accept it for a couple years. Check their website, I can't remember exact details. Wouldn't that put those writing this year at an advantage.. ? (even the January'15 writers..) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amichel Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 Wouldn't that put those writing this year at an advantage.. ? (even the January'15 writers..) No?... The MCAT is scored based on how you rank against other takers (all of them, not just your particular test date). So, in theory, the number of people falling in each percentile shouldn't change on the new MCAT (although it seems there will be smaller percentile brackets for each score). Therefore, there is no disadvantage, per say. It will be tough for the schools to figure out how to compare, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaybird Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 What's with that arbitrary range? Is it uncool for test scores to start at 0 or whatever nowadays? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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