The medical college acceptance test (MCAT), alongside GPA, is the most important factor in determining if a student will be admitted into a medical school. Like my first post about GPA, this post will be the first of many about the MCAT.   

The MCAT, until 2015, is a 4.5 hour test (including 30 minutes worth of breaks).  The test consists of three sections:  physical sciences (physics and chemistry), verbal reasoning, and biological sciences (biology and organic chemistry).  In its entirety, it consists of 144 questions, all of them multiple-choice.  You can learn more about the MCAT on http://www.aamc.org

The best score one can attain is 45 (around five people per year earn a perfect score).  Through my perspective, the only scores that matter are 30-36.  A 35 or 36 will allow you to apply to any school, including top tier elite, with a strong competitive edge.  A 33 or 34 won’t give you a strong chance of getting into a top elite school, but definitely a good chance for other highly ranked schools.  A 31 or 32 won’t give you a shot at a high ranking school, but a strong chance of getting into any other medical school.  A 30 gives you a decent chance of getting into a medical school.  I don’t mention 37-45 because less than 2% of people score that well.  I have come across schools recommending students reallocate any efforts towards raising their score past 36, towards something else; probably because a score of 36 is already exceptional.  For scores below 30, it would be unlikely for an application to be accepted by the majority of medical schools.  There are always exceptions, perhaps if a student has impressive qualifications to compensate for his or her low score. 

Compared to the many other obstacles set for every pre-med student to overcome, the MCAT is considered the one that filters out the most potential applicants; only approximately 33% earn a score that gives them a good likelihood of being accepted into medical school.  Hard working students who had been doing exceptionally well in their classes, have been known to fail to meet the expectations necessary to score well.  You will come across students who are convinced that the MCAT is keeping away potential doctors; a poor performance on a single test should not prohibit a student from becoming a doctor.  Unlike applying for undergraduate programs that allow students to take their preference of the SAT or ACT, applying for medical school only has the MCAT. 

The MCAT shows things about a student which their GPA cannot.  For one, everyone takes the same MCAT.  What I mean is that the level of difficulty for every MCAT is relatively the same; there is no way for students who found easier ways to boost their GPAs, such as by finding easier professors for their courses, to do the same for getting past the MCAT.  In addition, this test does a fine job assessing mental analytical skills expected in a potential physician.