Survey: Med schools focus on tests, GPA

When it comes time to apply for medical school, only two things really matter, according to a new survey from Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions.\nOn Monday, Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions announced the results of a recent survey conducted concerning the Medical College Admission Test revealed that of 83 medical schools questioned, 77 percent rank MCAT scores as either the most important or second most important factor for admission, while 75 percent rank grade point average as one of the top two factors. \nAccording to the survey, only 14 percent of admissions officers feel that relevant experience is the leading factor, while another 14 percent consider how well a student performs during an interview with the admissions committee. \nRachel Tolen, assistant director and premedical adviser with the Health Professions and Prelaw Center, said she does not find the survey results surprising.\n“I think that it is predictable that the academic record and MCAT are what schools look at when making decisions,” Tolen said. “Of course they don’t only look at those factors.”\nAmjed Mustafa, MCAT Program Manager for Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, said that the test is long and tiring for test-takers; however it can provide medical schools with important information needed to admit students.\n“In the end the goal is to ascertain how well students will do in medical school,” Mustafa said. “Schools can predict how students will do based on their MCAT scores.”\nWith GPA and MCAT scores being the leading determinates of a student’s admission to medical school, students with weaker GPAs may find themselves searching for redemption in the MCAT alone, Mustafa said.\n“Because GPA is something you nurture from your freshman year, it makes the MCAT the big unknown and the best way for students to shine and improve their application,” Mustafa said.\nThe survey summarized what many test-takers and administrators alike have noticed. According to Kaplan, 60 percent of admissions officers report that the medical school admissions process has become more competitive while 24 percent claim it has become much more competitive.\n“It’s very clear to see how overwhelming that statistics are,” Mustafa said. \nIn 2007 there were more than 40,000 medical school applicants compared to about 34,000 in 2004, Tolen said. These numbers hold true in spite of the fact that only 1,900 more medical school spots have opened.\n“It’s objectively more competitive,” Tolen said.\nThe survey’s results come after the Association of American Medical Colleges, who administer the MCAT, made changes once again to procedures surrounding the test. In the past, two test dates were available, one in April and one in August. This year, test-takers could choose from 21 test dates and in 2008 they will be able to choose from 28 dates.\n“It’s causing students a little bit of uncertainty,” Mustafa said. “(For the survey) we looked at a combination of things and we came out with interesting statistics; we looked at what students want to hear about.”\nThe AAMC also made the transition in 2007 from an eight-hour exam to a five-and-a-half-hour computerized exam, Tolen said.\nMustafa said that students normally begin preparing for the test four months in advance and recommends going through a computer-based practice test as part of the preparation process.\n“Students have said that practice with a computer is almost more important than learning the content on the test,” Mustafa said.\nTolen finds that aside from completing normal course work and keeping up an academic record, students who plan on taking the MCAT focus on their reasoning skills.\n“We really emphasis that students go beyond the course work required,” Tolen said. “The MCAT is not a test of the knowledge in course areas, it tests (students’) reasoning skills.”\nIU students can visit the Kaplan Testing Center of Bloomington or visit www.kaptest.com for more information on how to prepare for the MCAT.