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The MCAT
The MCAT (medical college admission test) is an all-day long exam covering the topics of biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, verbal reasoning and a writing sample. The test is available twice a year, in April and August. Many people choose to write it after their second year of university because they have then completed the same material in school and it is fresh in their minds. I think of this as a "naked exam". You cannot bring in any type of aid including calculators (and there is a fair degree of physics requiring math). You don't even get scrap paper, if you want to work something out you have to do it in the margins of your test.
There are many different routes you can take to prepare for the MCAT. There are practice books filled with sample questions, practice tests available on the official web site, plus a multitude of commercial courses. I am sure many people have prepared for the MCAT in a variety of ways with varied degrees of success. Personally, I took the Kaplan course and found it quite helpful, mostly because it forced me to sit down and practice. It also gave me the opportunity to write mock exams in a testing type environment, paying attention to the clock. What ever you do, I would do something to prepare, it is a long test and I suspect it takes more than just mastery of the material to make it through, it takes endurance.
The purpose of the MCAT is to help identify students who have the problem solving skills, in both science and arts, needed to succeed in medical school. Right now it is a pencil and paper test, but in 2007/2008 it will be converted to a computer-based test. Currently, McMaster, Ottawa, and the Northern Ontario Medical school do not require the MCAT to be considered for admission. McMaster will require the Verbal Reasoning portion of the MCAT starting in the 2007/2008 cycle.
The MCAT, as stated before, is a full day test. You write for a total of 5 3/4 hours, with a one-hour lunch break in the middle. The schedule is as follows:
Physical Sciences, 77 questions in 100 minutes
10 minute break
Verbal Reasoning, 60 questions in 85 minutes
Lunch, 1 hour
Writing Sample, 2 questions in 60 minutes
10 minute break
Biological Sciences, 77 questions in 100 minutes
The Physical Sciences Section consists of multiple choice questions covering physics and non-organic chemistry. You will be required to know conversions between imperial and metric measurements, physics to a first year university level, and non-organic chemistry. Your math skills have to be reasonably strong as you are often required to perform functions such as logs without the use of a calculator. Many answers are "rounded", and therefore do not require an exact answer, just the most correct. University courses that prepare you for this section of the MCAT are first year general chemistry, first year physics, and a first year calculus or other math may be beneficial.
The Verbal Reasoning section is again made of multiple choice questions, but this time from the social sciences, humanities and natural sciences. You are not required to have past knowledge of the subject areas discussed to answer the questions, as you are being tested on your ability to comprehend and analyse the passage you are presented with. The topics can be as diverse as an essay on Victorian dress to the social implications city planning to the history of a specific musical instrument. Courses that force you to read critically such as history, politics and English, as well as courses in logic may help prepare you for this section, but there is no specific course selection needed as long as you have developed some skill in analytical reading.
Lunch: This is the easiest section of the MCAT as long as you remember to actually eat something healthy (not a good time for indigestion) have something to drink to keep yourself hydrated, and use the bathroom.
The Writing sample does not require any previous knowledge to complete this section. You will be given a statement, and then usually asked to prove and then disprove it, followed by resolving the conflict.
For example, the statement might be "winners are made, not born". You must first explain the statement (eg. Winners are people who succeed and success comes from hard work, therefore winners are made, not born), then give an example when this is not so (eg. Sometimes there are tasks, such as Olympic level track and field, that require such an extent of natural ability that you require the correct genetic endowment to compete at such a level and become a winner) and then resolve the two statements (generally, winning, or success, comes through hard work, but there are situations, at the extremes of competition, when only those with the correct set of natural abilities are able to be winners, albeit with a great deal of hard work.)
You can find a list of practice writing sample statements here.
Taking a course that requires essay writing at a university level may help to prepare you for this section, but as with the Verbal Reasoning section there is no specific course selection needed as long as you have the writing skills needed for this task.
The Biological Sciences section covers material from first year biology and organic chemistry. This section requires a basic understanding of genetics, embryology, cell biology, physiology and principles of organic chemistry. Taking a first year course in biology and taking organic chemistry (often offered as a second year course) will have you generally well prepared for this section.
MCAT scoring: What Does It All Mean?
Verbal Reasoning, Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences scores are converted from a "raw score" to a number from 1-15. The number you receive corresponds to a percentile score, with 15 being in the highest percentile and 1 in the lowest. In this way, you are really being scored against all the other people who are writing the MCAT, so if it was a particularly hard or easy MCAT that year the people who did the best will still have the highest score and can compete fairly with those who wrote it at a different sitting. Most medical schools require MCAT scores above 9 to be considered. These numeric scores are sometimes added together to give a total MCAT score, eg 28 or 31.
The Writing Sample is given a letter score from J to T. Each of the 2 writing samples are given a score out of 6 by 2 different people. These scores are all added together to give you a final numeric score which is converted to the letter score. This means that if you do really well on one essay and poorly on the second, you would get the same score as if you did moderately well on both.
Re-writing the MCAT
Generally, your MCAT scores are valid for 5 years. Different schools use re-written MCAT scores in different ways. Some take your best score, some your most recent, and some average them. You should call each school directly to find out about their MCAT policy.
Official MCAT website
The day before the MCAT, I did the following:
1) Didn't study (at this point, there is nothing more to learn)
2) Drove out to my test site and found the room so I wouldn't be late looking
for room 4A2300 the next day
3) Made a lunch plus snacks and drinks and put it in the fridge, (can't rely
on cafeteria food)
4) Laid out my clothes for the next day (I have these very comfortable stretchy
pants with dragons on them) plus brought an extra sweater just in case.
5) Packed a bag with pencils, my MCAT registration package plus ID (even with
all that you will be finger printed when you enter the room)
6) Watched a funny movie
7) Set my alarm clock so I could show up half an hour before registration if the
traffic was ? and hour longer than my practice drive (nothing makes people
panic like being late for something important)
8) Went to bed early enough to get enough sleep but not so early that I
couldn't get to sleep
Day of the exam:
1) Got up with alarm (DO NOT HIT SNOOZE) (you should set a second alarm clock across the room, or get someone else to check to make sure you are up if you have to.)
2) Took a shower to wake up
3) Put on dragon pants
4) Ate breakfast
5) Double checked contents of bag, took my lunch out of the refrigerator
6) Drove to site
7) Wrote first half of the exam
8) Ate lunch, outside, enjoyed the sunshine and did not allow myself to be
caught up in the conversations of either "oh, that was way too easy" or
"well at least I can write it again if I fail".
9) Wrote second half of the MCAT
10) Went to red lobster, put on a bib and ordered the lobster feast.