MCAT & OMSAS
UWO Pre-Medical Society
Academic Information Session #3
Mar. 16, 2010
Sung Ho Um, Academic coordinator
Outline
• MCAT
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Introduction
Preparing for MCAT
Test day
Post-exam
• OMSAS
▫ Preparations
▫ Filling out the application
▫ Application processing
MCAT
• Register at
http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/
• Seats fill up fast! Try to register the day
registration opens.
▫ Feb. 23rd for the summer test dates
MCAT
• Medical college admissions test (MCAT)
• A standardized test to assess prerequisites for
success in medicine
• All American medical schools and most
Canadian schools require MCAT
• More than 70,000 exam is written each year
▫ Closer to 80,000 in 2009
MCAT Exam content
• Not just an exam of memorization
• Tests your capacity to solve problems and
critically think
▫ As well as your ability to formulate a written
argument
• Medical schools want undergrads with broad
academic capabilities
MCAT Exam content
• Consists of 4 sections:
1.
2.
3.
4.
•
Physical Sciences (PS)
Verbal Reasoning (VR)
Writing Sample (WS)
Biological Sciences (BS)
Diverse sections to identify students that is
most likely to be successful in medical school
Exam overview
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
~20 min for tutorial + examinee agreement
PS: 70 min for 52Qs
Break (10 min)
VR: 60 min for 40Qs
Break (10 min)
WS: 60 min for 2 prompts. (30 min/prompt)
Break (10 min)
BS: 70 min for 52Qs
Option to void
Survey
Total seat time: ~5 hours 30 min
Section analysis
• PS and BS
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PS consists of general chemistry and physics.
BS consists of biology and organic chemistry
Problem-solving ability
7 passage (each with 4-7 Qs) and 13 free standing
Qs
▫ Be able to apply your knowledge of the basic
concepts and information from the passage.
▫ NOT intended to test your ability to memorize
Section analysis
• VR and WS are the two sections that most
science students rewrite for.
• VR
▫ Tests your ability to understand, evaluate, and
apply information/argument presented.
▫ 7 passages (each ~600 words long); 5-7 Qs per
passage
▫ Topics can be from humanities, social sciences,
and natural sciences
Section analysis
• WS
▫ Two 30 min essays.
▫ Topics require an expository response
▫ Be able to develop a central idea, synthesize
concepts/ideas, present your ideas cohesively and
logically.
▫ Write clearly with university-level grammar,
syntax and punctuation.
▫ Note that you have limited time and no time for
careful editing. (First-draft composition)
Preparing for MCAT
• Commercially available MCAT prep books
▫ Kaplan, Examkracker, etc
• Prep courses (ie. Princeton or Kaplan)
• Individual tutoring
• Purchase practice exams on AAMC website
Preparing for MCAT
• Essential to become comfortable with the basic
science material
• Practice, practice, practice
• Keep up with current events and/or historical
events relevant to the WS prompts
▫ Hundreds of example prompts at:
http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/preparing/
writingsampleitems.htm
Preparing for MCAT
• How about VR?
• Active reading!
• Become comfortable adapting to different
writing styles, tone and topics.
• If you are having trouble, get access to as many
practice material as possible and practice!
(Princeton, Kaplan, Examkracker, AAMC)
▫ After each practice, figure out how you can
improve.
Test day
• You probably prepared for weeks, months, or in
some cases a whole year!
• Some tips:
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Make sure you know where you need to be
Plan on arriving 20 min early
Pack the night before (ID, snack, etc)
Know what you are going to wear; be comfortable
Relax the day prior to the exam. You are ready!
Writing the exam
1. Arrive early. You don’t want to be doing VR
when everyone else is doing WS
2. Try to be calm. Remember, you are ready for
this!
3. PS is your first section, it is normal if it seems
more difficult than you are used to.
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Keep your regular pace. Keep moving!
4. If you feel you did bad on a section, don’t let
that drag you down for the rest of the exam
▫
Everyone else probably thought it was hard too
Writing the exam
5. Take advantage of 10 min breaks!
6. Bring snacks for the breaks. (Fruit, gronola
bars, water/juice)
7. Focus on what’s coming up; not trying to figure
out how you did on the previous section
8. It is okay if you take a bit longer than 10 min
breaks.
9. Bring unopened ear-plugs. You can use them.
10. Do not try a new strategy on the actual exam.
This is not the time to experiment!
Post-exam
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Scores are released after 4-5 weeks
Raw score is converted to a scaled score
Minimize variability affecting your performance.
Based on percentile rank ranges on the
performance of all students this year, and also
reflective of the previous year
• PS, VR, BS: 1-15 (8 is 50th percentile)
• WS: J-T (P is 50th percentile)
Post-exam
• What kind of scores do you need?
• Western cutoffs for 2010: PS9/VR11/BS10; 30P
• A balanced 30+Q score is sufficient for many
schools
▫ Depends on schools and applicant pool each year
▫ Aim higher 35+Q if you are considering top tier
schools in the US
Scores are out, now what?
• Rewrite? Don’t worry, many successful applicant
write MCAT more than once.
▫ Preparing for a subsequent rewrite is not as bad as
the first time
▫ For most Canadian schools you can rewrite as
many times as you need to. (max. 3 times/year)
▫ For US, rewrites are not okay beyond 3 times.
Must show consistent improvement.
• Congratulations if you got a satisfactory score!
▫ Lets apply to medical schools! 
OMSAS
• Ontario medical school application service
(OMSAS)
• http://www.ouac.on.ca/omsas/
• All Ontario medical schools use this service
▫ Western, McMaster, Northern, Ottawa, Queens,
Toronto
Preparations
• Few things you need to do before filling out your
application:
1. Which schools you can/want to apply for.
2. 3 references
3. List of extracurriculars and their verifiers
•
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Application begins mid July
Create an account on OMSAS before mid Sept.
Filling out the application
• Autobiographical sketch:
▫ Activities since age of 16
▫ 7 categories: max. 48 entries total
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Formal education
Employment
Volunteer activities
Extracurricular activities
Awards and accomplishments
Research
Other
Filling out the application
• Verifier are required for all entry except those
with official documents (ie. Transcript)
▫ Name, address, telephone number
• References: Confidential assessment form +
Letter
Filling out the application
• Supplementary sections:
▫ University of Toronto requires a personal essay.
▫ McMaster requires short answers to five Qs.
OMSAS
• Due Oct 1st. Strict deadline.
• MCAT scores released by mid Oct
• References due no later than Dec. 1
▫ To avoid any delay, ensure OMSAS receives them
ASAP. (References can be submitted before your
application goes through).
Application processing
• You will hear back from medical schools in
Dec~Mar by email
• Interviews are held Mar~April
• Offers are made mid-May. All Ontario schools
release results on the same day.
• Waitlist moves throughout the summer until all
spots are filled
Resources
• MCAT:
▫ http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/
• OMSAS:
▫ http://www.ouac.on.ca/omsas/
Questions?
• Good luck with MCAT and medical school
applications this summer!