AAMC Reporter: February 2005

Computer-Based MCAT Planned for 2007

Students taking the paper-and-pencil MCAT

Aspiring medical students will soon say goodbye to the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT®) as they know it. The new test will have them putting down their pencils and sitting in front of a computer.

Through April 2006, a computer-based test will be available in more than a dozen sites in the United States and internationally. Implementation of the computerized version is scheduled to be complete by 2007, and the written version will be eliminated. Upcoming changes are designed to make the test more convenient.

With the computerized version, prospective students will take the test in smaller, climate-controlled rooms and receive their scores much more quickly, said Ellen Julian, Ph.D., AAMC's associate vice president and director of the MCAT examination.

"Our initial promise is to reduce score reporting time from 60 days to 30 days, with the ultimate goal of reducing the waiting time to two weeks," Dr. Julian said. "We hope this will facilitate the medical school application process for both examinees and admissions officers."

The biggest benefit for examinees, however, may be the revised length of the test. According to Dr. Julian, MCAT researchers have determined how to shorten the test while ensuring that it remains reliable, valid and useful. By waiting to implement the computer-based test until 2007, MCAT administrators can reduce test length at the same time. Timesaving measures inherent in converting a paper-and-pencil test to a computer version have already cut two hours off the test day, and with the planned reduction in test length, the test day should shrink to less than five hours.

Prospective Medical Students

Examinees will have more opportunities to take the MCAT exam as well. Instead of choosing a test date from only one weekend in the spring and fall, potential students could choose from possibly 20 testing days per year. More testing days could benefit medical schools, Dr. Julian said.

"We could better feed into the rolling admissions process if we administer tests throughout the year," she said. "We asked medical school admissions officers if more testing dates would impact their processes for better or worse, and the majority said the impact would be positive."

The AAMC is in contract negotiations with a vendor to switch to the computerized test over the next two years.

According to Cynthia Heldberg, Ph.D., associate dean of admissions at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine, switching the MCAT exam to a computer-based format will benefit the school in several ways. Once the MCAT is electronic, all the major medical tests and services, including medical boards and the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS), will be computerized.

In addition, receiving MCAT scores throughout the year, rather than in two busy reporting periods, will help the admissions staff process more applications in a timely manner each year, Dr. Heldberg said.

"VCU is very enthusiastic about a computer-based MCAT. It will get rid of the huge backlog of MCATs we have every year in August," she said. "When the tests come in more routinely, we'll be able to work seamlessly."

MCAT administrators are debating whether to limit the number of times an examinee may take the test during a calendar year.

"Taking the test multiple times each year would play into the 'lottery' philosophy of test taking, where if you buy enough tickets, you'll eventually get the numbers you want," Dr. Julian said.

But there is still an acknowledgement that examinees who were not sufficiently prepared for their first attempt at the MCAT may study hard and increase their understanding of the content and then want to retake the test. This need will certainly be accommodated.

One student who completed the computerized MCAT last August sent positive comments to the program about the experience. Each section of the computer-based test was easier to navigate and manage, according to the student's comments.

"My testing experience was good overall. I prefer the computer-based testing over the paper due to the relative ease of typing rather than writing in the essay section," said the student, who offered comments anonymously. "Multiple choice problems were easier too. I liked the fact that the questions were right next to the passages which made it easier to revert back than if the questions continued on the following page."

The security of the test is paramount. To ensure the identity of the examinees, the MCAT examination will use a biometric identification system with electronic photos and fingerprints in place of a test taker's photograph and ink thumbprints. Electronic records will be used to identify previous or ineligible test takers. Medical schools will continue to receive a copy of these records to compare as they see fit with the applications of examinees who enroll.

Computerization, a shorter test and more test dates present numerous challenges. Eliminating the written test pushes students out of university lecture halls and into commercial testing centers. More test dates means more questions must be written. Each change incurs an increased cost, but Dr. Julian said the rising costs will be partly offset by savings in printing and shipping test books and that the AAMC is committed to minimizing the impact on MCAT examinees.

-- Whitney L.J. Howell, whowell@aamc.org

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