MCAT® Test

Anyone hoping to become a medical doctor will, among other requirements, have to score well on the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT). This all important test is given twice a year; once in spring and once in late summer. The MCAT test is arguably the most difficult academic test out there, and doing well on it requires a high level of native intelligence, mastery of many different subject areas, and intensive preparation. Of course, there's a strong emphasis of scientific knowledge and principles on the test.

It consists of a Writing Sample, which requires the writing of two essays, in addition to Verbal Reasoning, Physical Sciences, and Biological Sciences. The essays will not be on subjects directly related to the scientific area, and will be on assigned topics. You'll be given a written statement, and asked to do three things-explain it, present and explore some exceptions to it, and then show how these two can be reconciled. Two of these assignments make up the Writing Sample. In Verbal Reasoning you'll have 85 minutes to answer 60 questions demonstrating your ability to comprehend, interpret, and apply written materials. In Physical Sciences you'll have 100 minutes to answer 77 questions about physics and chemistry. Many people regard this as the most difficult part of the MCAT test. The Biological Sciences portion consists of another 100 minutes to answer 77 questions in biology and organic chemistry. All questions in these three parts of the MCAT test are multiple choice.

If you feel like you did badly, you are allowed to void your score before leaving the facility. But keep in mind that you're only allowed three attempts at the MCAT test over the course of a lifetime, and voiding your scores will use up one of them. Scores range from 3 to 45 on the three parts, and J-T on the writing portion. The average person accepted into medical school has a 30P score on the MCAT test. Your score will be mailed to you around two months after taking the test.

StudyGuideZone.com offers an exclusive free, downloadable study guide to the Internet community for the MCAT test. The guide is in PDF format, so you'll need Adobe's free Reader (already installed on most computers) to view it. Anyone is free to link to this page or the study guide on our server to let students know about this resource.

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