MCAT
The MCAT is administered by the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC).
From the official MCAT website:
The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is a standardized, multiple-choice examination designed to assess problem solving, critical thinking, and writing skills in addition to the examinee's knowledge of science concepts and principles prerequisite to the study of medicine.
Scores are reported in each of the following areas: Verbal Reasoning, Physical Sciences, Writing Sample, and Biological Sciences. Medical college admission committees consider MCAT scores as part of their admission decision process.
Almost all U.S. medical schools require applicants to submit MCAT scores during the application process. Many schools do not accept MCAT scores if taken more than three years ago.
Applicants should refer to the Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR™) to determine specific MCAT requirements. The MSAR may be reviewed at many premedical advising offices or purchased from the AAMC Publications Web site.
The MCAT is taken on a computer and lasts approximately 5 hours. It is offered 22 times per year, from January through September. See the official schedule.
The breakdown of the test is as follows:
Physical Sciences: 52 questions, 70 min.Chemistry and physics concepts included in the Physical Sciences section are considered basic; at the vast majority of undergraduate institutions they are taught at the introductory level. While passages may discuss advanced-level topics, the questions accompanying the passages will not require knowledge of these topics. Advanced coursework in chemistry and physics is not needed for the test. Sixty-two of the questions are based on passages, each about 250 words in length, that describe a situation or problem. The test contains 10 or 11 of these problem sets, each containing 4 to 8 questions. An additional 15 questions are independent of any passage and of each other.Verbal Reasoning: 40 questions, 60 min.The Verbal Reasoning section of the MCAT is designed to assess your ability to understand, evaluate, and apply information and arguments presented in prose texts. The test consists of several passages, each 500 to 600 words long, taken from the humanities and social sciences and from areas of the natural sciences not tested on the MCAT Physical and Biological Sciences sections. Each passage is accompanied by 5 to 10 multiple-choice questions based on the information presented in the passage. Since the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences include a vast range of subjects and since courses in these areas differ greatly in content, test questions will not cover a specific set of topics. You will not be tested for specific subject knowledge in the disciplines covered on the test.Writing Sample: 2 essays, 60 min.The Writing Sample is designed to assess skill in the following areas:
Writing Sample topics are selected from areas of general interest such as business, politics, history, art, education, or ethics. Topics will not pertain to the content of biology, chemistry, or physics; to the medical school application process or reasons for the choice of medicine as a career; to social and cultural issues not in the general experience of college students; or to religious or other emotionally-charged issues. You will not need specific prior knowledge about the topic in order to complete the Writing Sample.
- Developing a central idea
- Synthesizing concepts and ideas
- Presenting ideas cohesively and logically
- Writing clearly, following accepted practices of grammar, syntax, and punctuation, consistent with timed, first-draft composition.
Biological Sciences: 52 questions, 70 min.Like the concepts in the Physical Sciences section, biology and organic chemistry concepts included in the Biological Sciences section are considered basic; they are taught at the introductory level at the vast majority of undergraduate institutions. As on the Physical Sciences test, passages may discuss advanced level topics, but the answers to the accompanying questions will not depend on knowledge of these topics. Multiple-choice questions test reasoning in biology and organic chemistry; the test includes 10-11 problem sets of 4 to 8 questions each and 15 questions independent of any passage and of each other. Passages are approximately 250 words long. Some questions require you to interpret information found in graphs, tables or figures. Questions do not assess rote memorization of scientific facts; instead, they test knowledge of basic biological sciences concepts and problem-solving ability in biology and the biologically related areas of chemistry.
Read our MCAT FAQ's for more information.