MCAT 2015 TIPS
Important Consideration
• While almost all schools will accept the old MCAT
in the 2016 applicant cycle, there are many
schools that do not plan to accept it in the 2017
cycle and another set that will accept either but
prefer the 2015 exam starting in 2017.
• Schools that many UMD students apply to not
accepting old exam starting 2017 cycle include:
EVMS, Icahn (Mt. Sinai), NYU, Penn State, Rush,
Temple, U of South Florida
The 2015 exam:
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Shifts from testing what applicants know to testing how well they
– use what they know,
– apply what they have learned,
– and solve problems that call for scientific reasoning;
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Asks applicants to think and learn like scientists;
– Asks students to read detailed passages from scientific research papers that students have
likely never seen before, then answer questions with respect to
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Basic chemistry and chemical structures in passage
Basic physics and mathematics involved
Biological processes involved
Critique of experimental design and statistical analysis
Critique of interpretation
Asks students to reason about research designs and results, and to interpret data
and draw conclusions from them.
Expects students to work across disciplinary boundaries,
– to solve problems by bringing together theories, methods, and findings from different fields,
– to solve scientific problems that call on concepts from biology, chemistry, physics,
biochemistry, psychology, and sociology.
– To solve complex problems by integrating concepts from different disciplines.
The Basics
• Exam will cost $300;
• Test time 6 hrs and 15 mns over 7:30 with breaks
–accommodated testers will take the exam over
two days. More time per each question is built
into the exam;
• Fee assistance will be available;
• Registration will open in December
• There will be 14 test dates across the year, APRSPT this year and including January in 2016.
Fewer dates but not fewer seats and most on
Fridays and Saturdays
MCAT 2015 DETAILS
SCORING
• The old and new exams are so different, it is not
possible to compare the current scoring to the
new scoring scale;
• The total score is the sum of the four individual
sections;
• Each section has a 15 point scale from 118-132
with 125 being the midpoint that should indicate
a student is likely to succeed in medical school.
This is consistent with holistic review practices;
SCORING CONT’D
• The goal is to emphasize the center of the
scale with a round number at the midpoint;
the top of the curve is 500; the range is 472528
• Historically, examinees scoring in the middle
of the scale have been successful by future
measures in medical school
SCORE REPORTS
• New score reports will contain features designed to enhance
interpretability such as:
– Percentile rank
– Confidence bands*
– Score profile highlighting an examinee’s strengths and weaknesses by section
*a score of 506 has a zone of confidence of plus or minus 2 (504-508).506 is most
accurate but the other two scores are also plausible so schools are encouraged
not to over-emphasize small differences
SCORE REPORTS CONT’d
• Initial score reports will take longer than the
typical 32 days but before AMCAS 2016
opening date;
• Preliminary percentile ranks will be released
prior to the score release;
• April examinees will be offered $150 Amazon
card incentive
Resources
• Official Guide to the MCAT 2015that includes an
interactive tool to help students drill down to the
concepts. Includes 120 practice questions and solutions
- $35 for book and online practice questions;
• Partnerships with Khan academy and iCollaborative –
will cover all natural and social science content;
• In the fall – full length test representative of the new
exam
• Goal to make many resources available at a low cost.