The MCAT is Changing – What this Means for You

Feb 20th, 2015 | announcements, MCAT

The new version of the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) will be administered starting on April 17, 2015. As we’ve covered before, there are some important changes to the MCAT that will change the way students prepare for the exam.

One of the most significant changes consists of the addition of a new section called “Psychological, Social and Biological Foundations of Behavior.” Also, the Biological Sciences section will change to focus more on biochemistry. The entire test is increasing in length, with each section allowing for more time.

The new MCAT will increase in overall duration from 5 hours, 10 minutes to 7 hours, 30 minutes. Individual sections will use a scoring scale from 118-132 with a median score of 125, and the cumulative score will range from 472-528 (median 500).

There are some added benefits of taking the new MCAT exam in the first offering. First, students can still submit their completed application through the AMCAS to medical schools at the same time as those who took the previous version of the exam. Test results will be sent in early July. Second, students are able to learn more about their scores much earlier in the application process. Preliminary estimates of score ranges are sent to you about three weeks after the test. Third, if you take the April exam, you’ll be sent an Amazon gift card worth half of your registration fee. More information is available here.

Sandweiss Test Prep offers free seminars to learn more about the changes to the MCAT and about our revised MCAT course. The next MCAT seminar will be Thursday, February 26th at 6:30 in our Seattle office, located at 444 NE Ravenna Blvd. Suite 108. Attendees will receive $100 off the tuition for any of our 2015 MCAT courses. Our next course begins on February 28, 2015.

Feel free to contact us to see if we’re offering any MCAT courses, and how you can register.