Since The Association of American Medical Colleges announced its decision to change the Medical College Admissions Test from a paper exam to a computer-based one, many students have expressed concerns about the new method of assessment.
The move from a paper test to a computer-exclusive exam, which was decided over the summer, is projected to take place in the spring of 2007 and will bring many changes.
Students taking the MCAT will have a shorter test with one-third the number of questions in the original test. The exam, taken by 60,000 students each year, now will be administered in small, climate-controlled computer classrooms where students must present photo identification as well as undergo an electronic fingerprint identification process, said Ellen Julian, AAMC vice president and director of the MCAT.
The exam will be administered more frequently -- up to four clusters of five days per year -- and will offer registration up to the day before the test. In addition, turn-around time for results is expected to be significantly reduced, according to Julian.
Unlike other exams such as the GRE, University Pre-Health Advisor Kendra Nelsen said the MCAT computer exam will allow students to move around within a section and answer questions in the order they prefer.
In addition to the other benefits, the new exam will be more secure for the AAMC, and the testing conditions will be more standardized and controllable, Julian said.
University pre-health students are anxious about taking a computer-exclusive exam, but they are relieved that they will have more options and a shorter test time, Nelsen said.
"The best thing that they can do is to stay in very close contact with our office so we can help them plan," she said.
University students are not alone in their apprehension about taking a computer exam, according to a Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions survey.
The survey data showed that 80 percent of the 3,858 respondents had not taken a college-level computer exam, and 82 percent felt they would do worse if they took the computer test.
The computer-test interface is simple, but there is a free full-length exam available at the MCAT Web site, Julian said.
"I don't think that the computer is going to end up being a major issue for people," Julian said.
The new MCAT exam already is being administered in some cities, but all students currently have the option of taking the paper exam. Students wishing to take the paper exam may do so in April and next August, said Justin Serrano, vice president of graduate programs for Kaplan.
Serrano said Kaplan strongly recommends that students who have completed their course requirements and have prepared themselves to take the paper version of the test do so before it is phased out.
He said he cautions students who have not filled the basic science requirements to wait and prepare themselves.
"Don't rush to take the test before you are prepared," Serrano said. "It's a grueling exam that requires preparation."
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