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The Medical College Admission Test, commonly known as the MCAT, is a computer-based standardized examination for prospective medical students in the United States and Canada. It is designed to assess problem solving, critical thinking, written analysis, and writing skills in addition to knowledge of scientific concepts and principles. The exam is offered 25 or more times per year at Prometric centers. The number of administrations may vary each year. Ever since the exam's duration was shortened to 4.5-5 hours, the test may be offered either in the morning or in the afternoon. Some test dates have both morning and afternoon administrations.

The test consists of four sections, listed in the order in which they are administered on the day of the exam:

* Physical Sciences (PS)
* Verbal Reasoning (VR)
* Writing Sample (WS)
* Biological Sciences (BS)

The Verbal Reasoning, Physical Sciences, and Biological Sciences sections are in multiple-choice format. The Writing sample consists of two short essays that are typed into the computer. The passages and questions are predetermined, and thus do not change in difficulty depending on the performance of the test taker (unlike, for example, the Graduate Record Examination).

The Physical Sciences section assesses problem-solving ability in general chemistry and physics and the Biological Sciences section evaluates these abilities in the areas of biology and organic chemistry. The Verbal Reasoning section evaluates the ability to understand, evaluate, and apply information and arguments presented in prose style. The Biological Sciences section most directly correlates to success on the USMLE Step 1 exam, with a correlation coefficient of .553 vs .491 for Physical Sciences and .397 for Verbal Reasoning. Predictably, MCAT composite scores also correlate with USMLE Step 1 success.


Administration

The Physical Sciences section is administered first (prior to the April 2003 MCAT, Verbal Reasoning was the first section of the exam). It is composed of 52 multiple-choice questions related to general chemistry and physics. Exam takers are allotted 70 minutes to complete this section of the exam.

The Verbal Reasoning section follows the Physical Sciences section and an optional 10 minute break. Exam takers have 60 minutes to answer 40 multiple-choice questions evaluating their comprehension, evaluation, and application of information gathered from written passages. Unlike the Physical and Biological Sciences sections, the Verbal Reasoning section is not supposed to require specific content knowledge in order to perform well.

Prior to the computerization of the MCAT there was a 60 minute lunch break after the Verbal Reasoning section followed by the Writing Sample. With the new Computer-Based Testing format the 60 minute lunch break has been substituted by an optional 10 minute break. The Writing Sample gives examinees 60 minutes to compose responses to two prompts (30 minutes for each prompt, separately timed). Each essay is graded on a scale of 1 to 6 points twice. The scores from individual essays are added together and then converted to a letter scale of J, the lowest, through T, the highest.

After the Writing Samples, there is an optional 10 minute break followed by the Biological Sciences section. Examinees have 70 minutes to answer 52 multiple-choice questions related to organic chemistry and biology.


Scoring

Scores for the three multiple-choice sections range from 1 to 15. Scores for the writing section range alphabetically from J (lowest) to T (highest). The writing section is graded by two different readers. Each essay is scored twice - once by each reader - and the total writing sample score is the sum of the four individual scores. The total raw score is then converted to an alphabetic scale ranging from J (the lowest) to T (the highest).

The numerical scores from each multiple-choice section are added together to give a composite score. The score from the writing sample may also be appended to the composite score (e.g. 35S). The maximum composite score is 45T but any score over 30P is considered fairly competitive, as this is the average for matriculants to medical school. There is no penalty for incorrect multiple choice answers, thus even random guessing is preferable to leaving an answer choice blank (unlike many other standardized tests). Students preparing for the exam are encouraged to try to balance their subscores; physical, verbal, and biological scores of 12, 13, and 11 respectively may be looked upon more favorably than 14, 13, and 9, even though both amount to the same composite score.

The standard deviation is 2.0-2.3 depending on the year and form of the exam. For example, if a student received a 10, the mean being an 8 and the standard deviation being 2, then that student tested better than 84% of the students on that section.


Policies

Like some other professional exams (e.g. the Law School Admission Test (LSAT)), the MCAT may be voided on the day of the exam if the exam taker is not satisfied with his or her performance. The decision to void must be made before leaving the test center and before seeing the exam results.

The AAMC prohibits the use of calculators, timers, or other electronic devices during the exam. Cellular phones are also strictly prohibited from testing rooms and individuals found to possess them are noted by name in a security report submitted to the AAMC. The only item you may bring into the testing room with you is your photo ID. If you wear a jacket or sweater, it may not be removed in the testing room.

It is no longer a rule that students must receive permission from the AAMC if they wish to take the MCAT more than three times total. The limit with the computerized MCAT is three times per year, with no lifetime limit. An examinee can register for only one test date at a time, and must wait two days after testing before registering for a new test date.

MCAT exam results are made available to examinees approximately thirty days after the test via the AAMC's MCAT Testing History (THx) Web application. Examinees do not receive a copy of their scores in the mail. MCAT THx is also used to transmit scores to medical schools, application services and other organizations (at no cost).


Preparation

Like most standardized tests, there are a variety of preparatory materials and courses available. The AAMC itself also offers a select few tests for purchase at their website www.e-mcat.com and one free sample test on their main website at www.aamc.org/mcat.

Approximately half of the students taking the MCAT use a test prep company. Prices for these courses are usually from $1500 - $2000. Students who do not use these courses often rely on material from university text books, MCAT preparation books, sample tests, and free web resources, such as MyMCAT (A mediawiki powered, open community project to provide free mcat resources for all students).