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BY ROSARIO PAZ

In print | September 28, 2006

Pre-medical students armed and ready to conquer their upcoming Medical College Admission Test won’t necessarily be carrying their usual weapon of choice — a pencil. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has decided to do away with the traditional paper-and-pencil test and institute a more formidable, computer-based approach to the logistics of the examination. This has brought about an inevitable string of both advantages and disadvantages for pre-med students.

Pre-med students who have already registered for examination will experience the first administration of the newly implemented, computer-based MCAT starting in Jan. 2007.

This will be the first of about 22 test dates throughout the year on which students can choose to take the exam, up from a mere two times a year in previous years.

This is one of the biggest benefits the new MCAT will be offering test-takers from now on.

Gigi Simeone, Swarthmore’s health sciences advisor, said that this modification will be very constructive. “I think it will be a tremendously positive change,” she said. “If someone feels they need to retake the test, they can do it in a more timely manner.”

Other benefits packaged with the new MCAT’s arrival include a much shorter test time, cut down from approximately eight and a half hours to five and a half hours.

Additionally, it will be a shorter test in itself, with about a one-third reduction of test questions. There will also be a shorter number of apprehensive and restless pre-med students, since the waiting period for scores will be reduced from 60 days to 30 days.

Patricia Kelly ’08, who plans to take the new MCAT in April 2007, said that she liked that the new test allowed her more flexibility. “You can prep when you feel ready and I like that there are more options,” she said. “It seems like a plus all around.”

On the other hand, some apprehension has arisen among the pre-med students since the changes may cause an increase in the difficulty of the problems and a lack of time, which is already spread thin. “My only fear is that they will make it even more challenging within those five hours,” Kelly said.

Mu Yang ’07, who took the “old MCAT” this past summer, said that the issue of time might be particularly problematic. “This could be especially inconvenient since you will not be able to draw on the diagrams printed on the paper when making calculations anymore, making a problem take more time to complete,” she said. “Time is one of the biggest issues in taking the MCAT.”

Aside from the implications the change may have on the actual difficulty of the test and whether it may be used as a springboard for more drastic changes, limited seating in designated Prometric testing centers may become an obstacle students will have to work around.

If some students find that taking the MCAT in a certain place or time is inconvenient, Matt Fidler, MCAT program manager at Kaplan TestPrep and Admissions, advised that students register early. “Don’t wait around and don’t let registration and test dates become an issue,” he said. “Hopefully, with students registering early, they should get the time slots and test dates that they are looking for.”

Similar computer-based changes to other tests have been implemented on several occasions in the past, including the Dental Admissions Test and the Graduate Record Examination.

Lydia The ‘08, a pre-dental student, has positive expectations for the use of computer testing on DAT’s sister exam. “It’s reasonable to expect that the MCAT will be going computer-based considering how well that happened for the DAT,” she said. “A transition period always comes with chance and I’m sure they’ll eventually sort out all the kinks.”

The DAT has been a computer-based exam since 1999, during the initial peak of personal, work-related and educational use of computers and other technologies. Its administration adapted to the early change with ease and little dispute. Students and faculty alike generally remain hopeful and positive about the new change to the MCAT.

“They’ve tried to work into the system the benefits of a paper-and-pencil test,” Simeone said.

Fidler explained that the purpose of the change of the MCAT has been to “improve testing conditions, alleviate security concerns and insure more uniformity to the test”.

If pre-med students want to test the waters of the new MCAT, more practice and information can be found at www.kaplantest.com/mcat. In addition, Kaplan will provide a ‘Test is Changing’ Open Q & A Seminar on Oct. 17th at 6 p.m. at the Kaplan Center at Bryn Mawr College.

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