This section, helps you to get answer to various questions about MCAT registration, exams, scores and many more.
Candidates need not take any courses before the exam. The contents of the new MCAT are taught in almost all the introductory courses in many colleges, including general chemistry, introductory biology, physics, and organic chemistry. Topics such as research methods and statistics concepts are also used in introductory science labs, introductory psychology and sociology courses.
Yes. MCAT has multiple choice questions, which is different from most college science exams. Being a 7.5-hour exam, every section contains multiple choice questions, Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems (59), Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems (59), Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior (59) and Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (53).
Students mostly take their MCAT exam, a year before their intended entry into medical college. For example, if a student is applying for medical colleges in 2018, then he/she should take the MCAT in 2017. If they are eyeing medical college in 2019, then should take the MCAT in 2018 or before. When it comes to preparation, students should start the MCAT prep at least six months prior to their test date. Again, since there are no academic prerequisites for the MCAT, they can also take the MCAT as a freshman.
The candidate can register for one seat at a time. During the first year, the aspirant can take three times and in the second consecutive year, four attempts are allowed. A candidate is allowed to take the exam up to seven times in a lifetime. But absent in the exam is also counted as attempts.
Candidates can cancel or reschedule their exam. There are three kinds of registration zones for each exam date (Gold, Silver and Bronze). Deadlines are 11.59 p.m. (ET). While the Silver Zone registration deadline is the last day to reschedule, Bronze Zone registration deadline is the last day to cancel an exam.
If a candidate thinks that there is a scoring error, then he/she may request that your MCAT exam be re-scored by hand. They will receive the results of this rescoring in writing. The response letter will either confirm that the student‘s original scores were correct as reported, or inform him of the corrected scaled scores for each test section. But, raw scores will not be disclosed. For privacy and security reasons, the MCAT program and its independent reviewers do not disclose any information on score changes. However, scores might go up, down, or remain the same.
Scores are valid for two or three years, but it depends upon the policy of the medical college. Some colleges accept result for any test written within five years of the application.
Every college has its own set of rules regarding MCAT scores. Some colleges may take into account all test scores, few might take the highest or recent score. American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) recommends contacting the each college individually to find their criteria.
Computer-based MCAT will be given through Thomson Prometric testing sites around the world. Students can take the test at these sites, as they are specifically built for computer-based testing with climate and sound controlled systems, ergonomic chairs and state-of-art equipment.
Yes ! Students can cancel their score immediately after completing the examination at the test centre. Students are given five minute at the end, where they are given the choice to void the exam.
Yes ! Student must submit the details of the registration to the designated officer of the MCAT Program Office. The student is eligible for a part of the registration fee, which is $ 100. But additional fees paid for a Sunday test centre and late registrations are not refundable. Refund requests must be postmarked no later than 60 days after the test date on your Admission Ticket. You should receive your refund within 90 days after the test date.
Timers are not allowed inside the testing centre. The main reason behind the move is due to the availability of digital image capturing equipment. Except wrist watches, no electronic devices are permitted during MCAT.
Being an entrance exam for medical colleges, a large group of experts prepare questions. A group of new items is included in every administration of the MCAT. They are named as ‘field test’ questions, but they are not scored. They created for the sole purpose of assessing the performance of the student.
A good score depends on the medical college you are applying to and the strength of your application. Resources like the MSAR (Medical School Admission Requirements) which is an online database that enables to browse, search, sort, and compare information about U.S college admission requirements helps you compare your GPA and MCAT scores to the averages for the programs on your list. If you feel that you aren’t competing for most of the colleges you are applying to, then retaking the test will probably be the best interest. There are many reasons why you should retake the MCAT. Firstly, despite your thorough preparation, you could or may not see a big increase in your MCAT score. There could be a reason like allocation of proper time to study, or were surprised or overwhelmed on the day of the test despite your preparation. So the only option you could improve your score is by putting in additional MCAT test prep, especially in key areas like content review. GPA (Grade Point Average) is calculated by dividing the total amount of the grade points earned by the total amount of credit hours attempted. Grade point average (GPA) ranges from 0.0 to a 4.0.