Who administers the MCAT?
The MCAT is administered by the Association of American Medical Colleges, a nonprofit organization composed of accredited U.S. and Canadian medical schools, major teaching hospitals, and professional medical societies.

What is the format of the MCAT?
The MCAT consists of four sections: Verbal Reasoning, Physical Sciences, Writing Sample, and Biological Sciences, which appear in this order during the administration of the exam. The format of each section has remained essentially unchanged since 1991:

• Verbal Reasoning: This section, designed to test your critical reading skills, contains approximately nine passages of 500-600 words each, followed by a series of 6-10 multiple-choice questions. In total, there are 65 questions to be completed in 85 minutes.
• Physical Sciences: You will have 100 minutes to complete the 77 multiple-choice questions in this section. Sixty-two of the questions will relate to a series of 10-11 passages, and 15 questions will be independent questions.Among the topics addressed are chemistry, physics and data interpretation.
• Writing Sample: Following a lunch break, you will be tested on your ability to construct coherent and well-organized essays. You will be given two statements that you will need to address in an essay format in one hour (thirty minutes for each essay).
• Biological Sciences: As with the Physical Sciences, you will have 100 minutes to complete 77 questions, 62 of which will be related to passages and 15 of which will be independent. Both biology and organic chemistry concepts are included.

When can I take the MCAT?
The MCAT is only offered two times each year: in April and August. The test dates for 2001 will be April 21 (with a registration deadline of March 16) and August 18 (with a registration deadline of July 13). It is recommended that you take the test in the year before your planned entrance into medical school. In other words, if you plan to attend in the fall of 2002, you should take the MCAT in April or August of 2001.

Where can I get information about the test and registration?
Your advisor should have an information and registration packet available for you. However, you can also receive additional information from the MCAT Program Office at P.O. Box 4056, Iowa City, IA 52243, or by calling (319) 337-1357.

How is the MCAT scored?
The scores you receive are scaled scores, ranging from 1 to 15 for the Verbal Reasoning, Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences sections, and from  J to T for the Writing Sample. The average score is approximately an 8 on the three multiple-choice sections and an "O" on the Writing Sample. However, to be a competitive applicant, you'll need scores in the 10-11 range (or 12 and above for the top schools in the country).

At the end of the exam, you will be allowed the option to release your scores to the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS), a nonprofit centralized application processing service. You'll receive your own copy of your scores approximately 60 days after your test date.

Why do I have to take the MCAT?
Why --  the eternal question. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the MCAT provides schools an objective measure of your ability to process and analyze information, and presumably predict your future success in medical school. While not the sole determining factor in acceptance decisions, it does provide admissions officers with a basis of comparison for the thousands of applications they review.