MCAT Prep - Top Seven Little-Known Details About the Big Day

If you're one of the thousands of aspiring doctors out there, the MCAT can be your biggest hurdle between you and medical school. A thorough MCAT prep schedule is essential, as is familiarizing yourself with the requirements of the test day itself. Here is a quick list of seven things you may have been wondering about, but not known the answer to:
1.        Bathroom breaks are permitted during the MCAT. However, you must sign in and out every time you leave the MCAT testing area. And don't leave the testing room without your ID, you'll need it to get back in.
 
2.       MCAT centers scan your fingerprints, and use them to determine that you are who you say you are. It sounds very James Bond, but the MCAT examining centers are determined that no underhanded business mars the propriety of the testing.
 
3.       There is a timer on your computer monitor. This timer gives you a countdown to time-out. Get used to test-taking this way. It'll make the actual MCAT day a little less stressful.
 
4.       You can't bring in earplugs with you. Each MCAT examining center does, however, provide "industrial ear covers" for each test taker. Practice wearing these while you go through MCAT samples, so you'll be used to the feel on the big day.
 
5.       Don't dress too warmly. If you think wearing several layers to the MCAT center is a good idea to ward against a chilly room, think again. If you have to take off your sweater, you can't just leave it at your seat. Each center provides a secure area for personal effects. You'll be expected to take your jacket or sweater out to the secure locker and the time will be lost from the section you were working on.
 
6.       If you finish one MCAT section early, you can move onto the next section. This only applies to the section immediately after the one you've done, however. You can't carry over extra time to use on sections where you think you may have more difficulty.
 
7.       As soon as the MCAT examination begins, you are considered to have taken the test. No matter what. So if, one minute into the test, you vomit on your table and have to leave, you are considered to have done that sitting of the MCAT.
 
Knowing all the minutiae of the MCAT testing day isn't going to ensure you ace your test. Only slow and steady MCAT prep will do that, and getting very strong in all MCAT subject areas. But having an idea of what to expect on the big day can ease your anxiety somewhat, and make it easier for you to do what you set out to...ace the MCAT. Good luck!

Author, Kell Laurence: "If you're looking for tips and tricks for MCAT Prep, then stop by http://www.mcatprep.info and see if there's anything new there you haven't read. Best of luck"

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This MCAT Scoring Info Could Help You Get Into Med School

Because pre-med students come from a number of different undergraduate programs and areas of the country, it is understandable why there was the development of a standardized way to compare individual students wishing to gain entrance into medical school. While GPA is one determinate, it is not the only consideration.  Moreover, GPAs are not offered on a countrywide standard, various classes will present differences and well as grading systems from separate schools will vary. In a search for a standardized way to test potential students the MCAT was developed. MCAT scoring allows medical schools to look at various students based on the same criteria.
The five and three-quarters of an hour test is divided into four sections. The first section is the physical sciences test, composed of seventy-seven multiple choice questions and allotted one hundred minutes to complete. While the second section focuses on verbal reasoning allowing eighty-five minutes to finish.  Following a lunch break the third section will be offered. Section three requires the student to write two thirty minute essays that will be given two grades one by a human and the other by a computer. The final section tests the biological sciences covering questions related to biology and organic chemistry, leaving the student to wait for their MCAT scoring.
Each section of this test is scored individually; however, physical sciences, verbal reasoning and biological sciences are given a 'raw' score that is then translated into the MCAT scores. The score is reported on a scale from 1 to 15, 15 being the highest. In addition, the writing exam's score is initially based on a scale from 1 to 6, which is then translated into a letter grading scale of J to T, T being the highest. Most medical schools are looking for a grade of at least 30 and a letter grade of at least a P.
Most medical schools not only look for individuals that exhibit exceptional GPAs; they are also going to base their decision on the MCAT. Medical Schools have their own formulas for student selection, some place more importance on MCAT scoring while others feel GPAs are of greater value.  Regardless of the school or their formulas, one must understand that the MCAT is a very challenging exam and must be taken seriously with extensive preparation.

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