The new MCAT has an intimidating reputation.It is now nearly twice as long as it used to be, and for the first time, it has added questions on psychology, sociology, and more advanced biochemistry concepts. Furthermore, in order to promote critical thinking over cramming, the test-makers have changed their question format, pushing students to combine their knowledge of different scientific fields to find the correct answers.
Yet with the proper curriculum and study, and a plan to maximize your test-day stamina, you have no reason to fear the new MCAT.
Planning Your Coursework for the New MCAT
Ideally, students will take the following classes before their first MCAT.
- Biology courses covering cellular and molecular biology, genetics, and human or animal physiology. No plant biology should be necessary.
- Chemistry courses including the year-long introduction to chemistry, a year of organic chemistry, and biochemistry. Biochemistry taken in one semester should be sufficient if it includes metabolic pathways as well as amino acids, carbohydrates, and lipids.
- A semester of physics, possibly two. Momentum, solids, waves, and periodic motion (pendulums) are excluded on the new test.
- You’ll also want a semester each of introduction to psychology and introduction to sociology. You’ll need to pay special attention to the theories and also the theorizers. Famous names like Freud frequently appear, but lesser-known names and theories do as well.
How to Prepare for the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Section
For this section, which makes up about 25% of the score, you want to do some specialized preparation, using the Association of American Medical Colleges’ (AAMC) released materials on your own or working through them with a tutor. Verbal Reasoning sections of the pre-2015 MCAT can augment your study materials if you run through the available, officially released 2015 MCAT materials, and so can reading comprehension passages from GRE preparation materials.
The AAMC has promised to release official new MCAT preparation materials in November 2015. These will include both paper and computer-based materials, and we urge all students to use both. Students should start with preparation on paper to get used to the types of material and questions. As they get closer to their test date, they should move to the computer-based format to practice with the strategies and feel of their actual test.
Raise Your Stamina: Practice and Planning for An 8 Hour Test Day
Even if students plan their coursework and study schedule, they may feel uneasy about test day. To counteract these fears, we recommend that students take more than one full-length MCAT practice test, carefully replicating the test’s timing and conditions as closely as possible.
The total content time of the new test is six hours and 15 minutes, but including breaks and initial processing, students should plan on being at the testing center for close to eight hours.
For this reason, it is vital that you are well rested. Make sure to get adequate sleep for several nights before the test, at the very least. Eat well beforehand, and pack a lunch, snacks, and beverages that can keep you going. For some students, this will mean bringing Gatorade or a drink with caffeine. Also, you won’t be allowed to leave the building, so make sure to bring your food and drink with you when you enter.
While the new MCAT is certainly a challenge, preparation and planning will help reduce stress and maximize scores. If you’d like to schedule a free, thirty-minute consultation with us to discuss your preparation for the new MCAT, or simply pose a question for us, please e-mail us. We’d also be happy to hear about your experiences with the new MCAT if you care to comment below.