New sections, length set for 2015 MCAT

The MCAT, the national medical school entrance exam, is undergoing its fifth revision since it was first developed in 1928, said Dr. Jeff Koetje, director of Pre-Health Programs with Kaplan Test Prep.

“There have been such significant advances in the last 20 years,” Koetje said. “It’s no longer about just treating the organ that ails the patient. Doctors are going to have to treat the patient holistically.”

Changes in the MCAT exam will start in 2015. The exam will be expanded by one hour, pushing its current five-and-a-half-hour completion time to
about seven.

Some additional requirements, such as an upper-level biology component, which includes biochemistry, have been added, Koetje said.

“Most pre-med students will wait until their late junior year or early senior year to take biochemistry, but with these new changes, students will want to have had biochemistry before they take the MCAT, late junior or even early sophomore year,” he said.

A behavioral and social sciences section, which will test introductory knowledge of psychology and sociology, will also be included.

Rachel Tolen, assistant director and premedical advisor with IU’s Health Professions and Prelaw Center, said the office is taking the MCAT changes into account.

“We are preparing information for this fall’s incoming freshman class that will include additional coursework that we will recommend students complete in biochemistry, psychology, sociology and other areas.”

The center’s MCAT prep course will be revised to meet the new requirements, Tolen said.

Tolen said a number of the students from fall’s incoming freshmen class will be the first to take the revised MCAT test. Marisha Miskus, who will pursue a biology major at IU this fall, said she intends to plan her schedule accordingly.

“I’m definitely going to have to structure my schedule around more psychology and sociology classes if I know that these specific changes are going to be made,” Miskus said.

“I guess I’m going to have to be selfish and study a lot more than I would if they weren’t making these changes. I want to go into the test prepared and knowing that I have an advantage.”

The writing portion will also be removed from the test in 2015.

“Med-school admissions officers told the AAMC that they did not use the writing sample as a significant portion of the admissions process,” Koetje said. “Most people, such as med-school admissions officers, pre-health advisers and those of us at Kaplan, believe these are the right changes to make because these changes are going to help them to be trained holistically.”