Health Professions

Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)

The Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) has four sections. The first section tests verbal reasoning, and it is followed by a physical sciences test. The physical sciences portion is comprised of questions from physics and general chemistry. The third section consists of two essay questions which assesses your writing and analytical skills. The last section focuses on the questions. The MCAT Student Manual describe the topics that will be covered on the MCAT.  It is available on the AAMC website at: http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/studentmanual/start.htm. Practice test sets - paper and web versions - may be ordered from the AAMC. The cost of test sets varies. The cost of the MCAT in 2004 was $190. 

The MCAT is eight hours long and very difficult both intellectually and physically. Be sure that you are prepared for this exam. We strongly advise that, at a minimum, you take 3 practice tests before you take the exam. At best, you would be well advised to prepare extensively, either by using a rigorous self-preparation program or one of the commercial programs offered by Kaplan, Princeton Review, or others. (Commercial preparation programs cost approximately $1,500.) We also strongly recommend taking the spring MCAT before the beginning of the admissions cycle. Since many medical schools have rolling admission, many fill the majority of their interview slots with early applicants. Scores from the fall MCAT administration are not usually reported until mid-October, putting your application 6 - 8 weeks behind the competition. Also, once you have received your results from the spring MCAT, it may be easier for you to decide which medical schools to apply to.

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