Beginning in April, there will be no second chances for students taking their MCATs.
The MCAT, or Medical College Admission Test, switched to a “full disclosure” policy this year, meaning students’ complete test history automatically will be reported to their prospective medical schools. In previous years, students had the choice of withholding an unwanted test score.
Ellen Julian, director of the MCAT, said the change was made to ensure that all schools are working from the same information in making their admissions decisions. The policy will take effect when the first MCAT of 2003 is administered April 26.
“More of the schools have been moving to full disclosure policies themselves,” Julian said. “We were just trying to simplify things.”
Julian said the move was prompted by students who were wasting too much time and energy trying to work out the most strategic way to release their best scores.
Test preparation officials praised the move.
“We’ve always recommended that that students fully disclose their scores,” said Albert Chen, executive director of graduate programs at Kaplan, a test preparation company.
Failing to release an MCAT score actually could backfire and work against a student, Chen said. When medical schools see that a student chose not to release a score, they might assume the student’s test results were lower than the marks they actually received.
Both Chen and Julian said they would discourage students from taking the test as practice, especially with the policy change.
Christopher Burnett, co-president of the Northwestern Undergraduate Premedical Society, said he was not aware that withholding his score was an option when he took the test last year. Preparing for the MCAT was a big ordeal, said Burnett, a Weinberg senior.
“You start studying several months in advance and try to take the test kind of when you are at your peak,” he said.
Michael Schacht, who will take the test next year, said the change could be an incentive to try harder the first time.
“It does add some pressure because you just get one shot and they all hear that score,” said Schacht, a McCormick sophomore.
