MCAT Changes (Again!)

Every testing system has to undergo periodic reassessments and revisions to be effective. The MCAT is no exception. After a three-year comprehensive review, the AAMC finally reveals significant changes in the MCAT format and focus.  

The Writing Sample Removed by 2013

The Writing Sample has been part of the exam for quite some time but according to a research conducted by the MCAT review committee, “scores on this section of the test are used for only a very small group of applicants.” Furthermore, results on this section are said to be less informative hence less predictive of an applicant’s readiness and or performance in medical school. This has prompted the change in the MCAT beginning January 2013: the test will no longer include the Writing Sample section. 

In lieu of the Writing Sample, a voluntary, unscored trial section will be added to the MCAT exam. These 32 trial questions – which include psychology, sociology, and biochemistry topics – aim to test content that will form part of the new MCAT.  They will be administered as the last section in the test, with a 45-minute time limit.

The AAMC hopes that the eventual revisions in the MCAT will better prepare medical students in becoming tomorrow's doctors "having a wider understanding of the social and cultural aspects of health" thus leading to improvements in patient care.

MCAT Changes: A Summary

The last significant changes in the MCAT were in 2003 (less organic chemistry and more molecular biology and genetics) and 2007 (from a paper test to a computer based test or CBT). Now by January 2013, the MCAT will no longer have a Writing Sample (a section that few medical schools currently take seriously). In its place, a voluntary, unscored trial section covering psychology, sociology and biochemistry will be added. By 2015, the MCAT will further change with the addition of sections in the natural sciences, social and behavioral sciences, and critical analysis and reasoning skills.

MCAT Changes in 2015

The skeptic might chime that by the time the stats show that the MCAT, on its own, is not shown to correlate strongly with clinical performance nor the ability to successfully obtain licensure, it is not time to ditch the test, rather it is time to modify the exam and study the result for the next 20 years or so. The last major change was in 1991 (followed by minor adjustments in 2003 and 2007). It is as it is so we shall move on.

Among the current suggested changes to the new post-2014 MCAT: redividing the test into four new sections—molecular and cellular biology, biochemistry, behavioral and social sciences, and critical analysis and reasoning; (2) adding approximately 90 minutes to the current exam thus the total test time could be estimated at seven hours. The most recent report - released by the MR5 Committee of the AAMC - also suggests the removal of the only written part of the exam: the Writing Sample. This is no surprise to current applicants since very few medical schools ever took the score for the Writing Sample as an important aspect to admissions.

By apparently removing physics and de-emphasizing organic chemistry, everyone will have greater choices in undergraduate course selection which is a positive development. Without having said it blatantly, the other consequence is that the amount of material that must be memorized for the new MCAT will be cut in half at least. Why? Because the current MCAT requires little biology knowledge to answer the molecular and cellular biology questions (most of the information is in the passage) but physics requires the memorization of equations, etc. This may be a shift to more reasoning, less memorization.

For students getting ready for the current or "old" (!!) MCAT, here are a couple of pages that would be helpful to memorize: MCAT physics equations sheet, MCAT organic chemistry mechanisms, and MCAT biochemistry review.