Students taking the Medical College Admission Test, or MCAT, will see major changes to the test format for the first time in 21 years after the American Association of Medical Colleges approved revisions to the exam.
A section focusing on behavioral sciences will be added, while the writing sample section will be removed. The test length will extend to about seven hours, according to Jeff Koetje, Kaplan Test Prep’s director of pre-health programs.
The new section and modifications to existing content will increase test time from about five-and-a-half hours to seven, meaning students’ endurance will play a bigger role during the exam, Koetje said.
Koetje said this is only the fifth time the test has been modified since its introduction in 1928.
While most of the changes won’t be effective until 2015, the writing sample section will be removed by 2013.
“It’s not good news for students,” he said. “The changes to the test are fairly dramatic.”
Older students may avoid the new and potentially more difficult test, but Koetje said students on pre-med tracks need to be aware of the changes and how they will affect required coursework.
BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE SECTION (changes effective by 2015):
A section focusing “on the psychological, social and biological foundations of health” will be added to the test, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges. A section like this has never been featured on the test.
Koetje said the section will emphasize the importance of pre-med students taking basic-level psychology or sociology courses. It could also yield new classes for pre-med students at colleges that are adapting curriculum to the test changes.
A STRONGER FOCUS ON UPPER-LEVEL BIOLOGY (changes effective by 2015):
More difficult coursework like biochemistry and molecular biology will be incorporated into the exam. This is one change that will add to the difficulty of the MCAT, Koetje said.
REMOVAL OF WRITING SAMPLE (changes effective by 2013):
Added in 1991, the writing sample section requires students to write two essays in response from prompts provided on the exam. The section will be removed because medical schools have struggled to find use of the section during the admissions process, Koetje said.
 
 
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Contact Brian Sibille at [email protected]