Pre-med students will soon face a new challenge for medical school admissions, with the release of a revised Medical College Admissions Test and possible additional pre-med requirements.
The Association of American Medical Colleges, which administers the MCAT, announced it will offer a revised exam starting April 17, 2015. The AAMC added content to the natural sciences sections, including biochemistry content, to reflect changes in medical education.
The exam also includes a new psychological, social and biological foundations of behavior section as well as a critical analysis and reasoning skills section, which will increase the test length from three hours and 20 minutes to just more than six hours.
“The inclusion of behavioral science speaks to an ongoing evolution of medical schools now more concerned with training backgrounds of psychology and sociology,” said Eric Chiu, executive director of pre-med programs at Kaplan Test Prep.
Chiu added that medical schools may soon change their prerequisite courses.
“In [Kaplan’s] survey, 27 percent of medical schools already require biochemistry, but we predict this may increase to 32 percent for the 2016 class,” Chiu said. “However, we did not see the same impact on prerequisite coursework with psychology and sociology.”
Each section on the 2015 exam will be scored using a 118 to 132 range, with a midpoint score of 125. Total scores will range from 472 to 528, with a midpoint score of 500.
“The newly included sociology and psychology are not that much of a factor other than slightly changing my electives,” said Matthew Druckenbrod, a second-year College student who plans to take the revised MCAT. “The biggest difference is the addition of a distinct biochemistry section. This adds a major core class that must be fit into my schedule and has changed how I approached completing all the pre-reqs for the MCAT.”
According to Kaplan Test Prep’s 2014 survey of 78 medical school admissions officers, 44 percent said it makes no difference which test score, current or new, is submitted, 28 percent recommend pre-meds take the current MCAT, and 27 percent recommend they take the new test.
“If students are prepared for the old exam, they should take it before it changes,” said Chiu. “The key question is whether they got through their prerequisites for the current exam.“
Fourth-year College student Mary-Kate Amato, who took the current MCAT last spring, said she agrees the updated MCAT may require a greater course load. Nevertheless, she said the changes may “lead to a more holistic approach of judging an applicant's readiness for medical school.”
Emily Wong, territory manager at Princeton Review, said she believes the increased length of the 2015 exam may actually benefit students, providing an extra “opportunity to show what you’ve learned.”
“You are setting the curve, so there could be some wiggle room as AAMC adjusts test scoring,” Wong said, noting a possible advantage of taking the 2015 exam early. “AAMC is trying to encourage you to get on board with [the exam].”
The University generated 353 medical school applicants last year, Kaplan Test Prep spokesperson Russell Schaffer said in an email.
But with the current MCAT exam set to expire in January 2015, pre-med students may find themselves finalizing timelines for the medical school application process earlier than usual.
“Pre-med students are self-motivated and used to hard work,” Chiu said. “The new test will require even more efficient use of their time.”
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