2015 MCAT Changes

The AAMCS approved some big changes to the MCAT this past February. 

Starting in 2013, the writing section will no longer exist. 

A totally new MCAT will debut in the spring of 2015. 

 

A new section will be added. It will be called “Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior,” which will examine concepts that provide a solid foundation for learning in medical school about the behavioral and socio-cultural determinants of health. 

But they are not stopping there! Another section, entitled "Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills," will be added. It will test students’ reasoning ability by having them analyze, evaluate, and apply information provided in passages from a wide range of social sciences and humanities disciplines, including ethics and philosophy, 

cross-cultural studies, and population health. 

The exam will have two natural science sections after the revision, covering biology, 

general and organic chemistry, biochemistry, and physics. 

The new MCAT will also be missing a writing section. Feedback from admissions officers and other data revealed that this section offered little additional information about applicants’ preparation for medical school, particularly relative to the insights gained from undergraduate grades and the other sections of the exam. 

With so many new changes and additions, the length of the exam will be extended from five and a half hours to almost seven hours. Whew! Talk about exhausting. That's a long test. 

The old MCAT: 

Biological Sciences - 70 minutes

Physical Sciences - 70 minutes

Verbal Reasoning - 60 minutes

Writing Sample - 60 minutes

The new MCAT: 

Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems - 95 minutes

Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems - 95 minutes

Psychological, Social and Biological Foundations of Behavior- 95 minutes

Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills - 90 minutes

A very extensive PDF guide for all the topics covered can be found HERE.

 Click here for a link to the MCAT website.

I'm glad  the writing section will be gone. But I definitely do not want to take the new MCAT. 

Longer, harder, and more expensive? No thanks.