2008 Woodie Awards
New MCAT to be unveiled
Brittney Berget - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 11/28/06 Section: Metro
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Current pre-med students anxious to take their Medical College Admissions Test won't have to wait until April as in previous years. Starting in 2007, the test will be administered as early as Jan. 27.
And the new test date is just one of many changes for the exam.
The time needed to take the test, which used to be around eight hours, will be reduced to five, and for the first time, students will be able to take the exam online. Because the test will be available electronically, it will be given more times throughout the year, and students will be able to receive their test scores sooner. Additionally, the test must now always be given in smaller, climate-controlled rooms.
UI senior Adam Hedberg-Buenz said he will have to change how he studies in preparation for the electronic test.
"I'm taking the Kaplan course [to practice for the MCAT], and I hope it's geared toward teaching students how to successfully take this test," he said. "I know I'll have to cut down on the number of written calculations I'll do, because it'll waste too much time."
Catherine Solow, a UI Carver College of Medicine assistant dean, said the changes will greatly benefit students.
"Because students have more opportunities to take the MCAT, they will be able to retake it to improve their scores if they need to," she said, adding that the last date that students can take the test and still make the UI admissions cycle will be in early September.
The test was tweaked slightly in 2003, but these are the first major changes to the MCAT since 1991. Experts say the modifications have been in the works for a while.
"This has been a change that [the Association of American Medical Colleges] has been working on for several years," said Jeffrey Meanza, the director of graduate programs for the Princeton Review and an expert on the MCAT.
That the MCAT will now be offered 19 times annually - instead of twice, as in years prior - represents an advantage to students, he said.
And the new test date is just one of many changes for the exam.
The time needed to take the test, which used to be around eight hours, will be reduced to five, and for the first time, students will be able to take the exam online. Because the test will be available electronically, it will be given more times throughout the year, and students will be able to receive their test scores sooner. Additionally, the test must now always be given in smaller, climate-controlled rooms.
UI senior Adam Hedberg-Buenz said he will have to change how he studies in preparation for the electronic test.
"I'm taking the Kaplan course [to practice for the MCAT], and I hope it's geared toward teaching students how to successfully take this test," he said. "I know I'll have to cut down on the number of written calculations I'll do, because it'll waste too much time."
Catherine Solow, a UI Carver College of Medicine assistant dean, said the changes will greatly benefit students.
"Because students have more opportunities to take the MCAT, they will be able to retake it to improve their scores if they need to," she said, adding that the last date that students can take the test and still make the UI admissions cycle will be in early September.
The test was tweaked slightly in 2003, but these are the first major changes to the MCAT since 1991. Experts say the modifications have been in the works for a while.
"This has been a change that [the Association of American Medical Colleges] has been working on for several years," said Jeffrey Meanza, the director of graduate programs for the Princeton Review and an expert on the MCAT.
That the MCAT will now be offered 19 times annually - instead of twice, as in years prior - represents an advantage to students, he said.
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