MCAT predicted to become harder
DNA — A Liberty student, Noor Taher, prepares to look at some DNA he extracted in a class project. Photo credit: Ruth Bibby
Aspiring medical school students will take an updated and more difficult medical school entrance exam (MCAT) beginning in 2015.
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) recently approved significant changes to the MCAT, according to a press release by the Washington Post Company. The changes include adding a behavioral and social sciences section and more advanced biology and biochemistry content. The AAMC also approved the removal of the writing section. These changes will make the test last 90 minutes longer, the release said.
According to Kaplan Test Prep’s Director of Pre-Health Programs, Dr. Jeff Koetje, the AAMC is a group that represents all medical schools in the United States and Canada. They formed a committee in 2008 to review the MCAT and to survey medical schools, medical students and doctors to find out what needed to change and what worked.
“The goal is to bring the MCAT into alignment with the current state of medical education and expected future of medical education for the next 15 years,” Koetje said.
Since the updated MCAT will not be administered until 2015, it does not affect current Liberty University students as much, according to the Department Chair of Biology and Chemistry Dr. David DeWitt. Liberty is in the process of converting the pre-med concentration into a major in biomedical sciences.
“At Liberty University we have a quick process for curricular change, which allows us to adapt rapidly to changes like this. We will be able to modify our program so that students will be able to complete all of the classes they need for the MCAT by the end of the junior year when most students take the test and, importantly, do so in time for the 2015 MCAT,” DeWitt said.
Liberty pre-med student Robert Blanding was not easily concerned over the new coursework required like other students.
“In regards to the added classes, most people already take sociology, statistics and psychology. So I don’t see these classes being an issue. As for the other classes, I am either already in core classes related to those types of study or will be taking them as core electives that I am required to have anyway,” Blanding said.
The last update to the MCAT was in 1991 and there have been many changes in healthcare practice in the last 21 years, according to Koetje. In a Kaplan Test Prep survey of medical school admission officers, 73 percent of respondents agreed that the right changes are being made to the MCAT, Koetje said.
According to Koetje, the new MCAT will prepare students in a well-rounded way, but there is concern over the short timeline before the updated test comes out. Some universities say they will make changes to their curriculum, as this will add more coursework for students.
The updated MCAT will require students to take courses in psychology, sociology, philosophy, ethics and cross-cultural studies, according to the release. Currently, the test takes 5.5 hours to complete and the changes will carry the test to around 7 hours.
DeWitt encouraged students taking the MCAT in 2015 to prepare well ahead of time.
“It will not be enough to just memorize everything, you have to be able to apply what you know,” DeWitt said.
Blanding’s advice for pre-med students taking the MCAT in the future was to take a MCAT prep course and practice tests often.
According to Koetje, Kaplan may provide enrichment programming to better prepare future MCAT takers. Pre-med students should stay updated on new information to come about the new MCAT. More information can be found at kaplanmcat.com and the Kaplan MCAT Facebook and Twitter pages.