A Kaplan survey of test-takers of the first online MCAT exam revealed a majority of students found the newly formatted test to be harder than they expected, according to Matt Fidler, Kaplan director of premed programs.
"A lot of these folks had not spent a lot of time working at a computer-based interface," Fidler said. "Everybody is familiar with working with a computer, but we're talking about five and a half hours. It's an MCAT-based marathon."
Around 80 percent of the students surveyed said they had never taken an exam of this magnitude on a computer, Fidler said.
The online MCAT was first introduced in August 2006, and has since replaced paper administrations of the exam, he said.
Those taking the exam Jan. 27 ran into a test-publishing error in the verbal section, in which the questions printed did not match up with a reading selection, according to a press release from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
About one-third of those taking the test encountered the error, the release stated.
"All but a very small number of people did complete the test and because of this we are able to provide a score for them," AAMC Senior Vice President Robert Jones said.
Because of the online format, the error was recognized quickly and test supervisors at centers across the country were able to inform the students of the mistake, Jones said.
He asserted that Prometrics, the company administering the test online, was not responsible for the error.
"They were really instrumental in helping us address as best we could the problem we found that day," he said.
AAMC has given those who encountered the error two options: They can either have their tests scored with the part in question omitted, or they can request a cancellation of scores and a full refund, Jones said.
The University Medical School does not plan to alter its admissions process because of the changes to the testing procedure or the recent error, Assistant Dean for Admissions Beth Bailey said.
"It really isn't going to change how the medical school views scores," Bailey said. "Those glitches will be corrected before we even see the scores."
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