For the first time in over 20 years, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is revising the MCAT to reflect changes in medical education and practice. The new MCAT will be released in the spring of 2015 in the United States, Canada, and select international locations.
How will the new MCAT differ from the current MCAT?
- The new MCAT will be longer, taking a total of approximately 6.5 hours to complete.
- There will be a new section: Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior. According to the AAMC, this section will test for concepts needed to understand the “behavioral and socio-cultural determinants of health and health outcomes”.
- There will be a wide range of questions on ethics, philosophy, cultural studies, and population health in the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills section, though no specific subject knowledge is needed.
- The natural sciences sections will reflect changes in scientific and medical education, including more questions on biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, research methods, and statistics.
- There will be no writing section (in fact, the writing section has already been discontinued).
- The maximum total score for the MCAT will be 60 rather than 45: a 15 point maximum per section.
A Quick Comparison
Current MCAT
Length: 5.5 hours
Maximum score: 45 (15 per section)
- Physical Sciences
52 questions, 70 minutes - Biological Sciences
52 questions, 70 minutes - Verbal Reasoning
40 questions, 60 minutes - Unscored Trial
32 questions, 45 minutes
New MCAT (2015)
Length: 6.5 hours
Maximum score: 60 (15 per section)
- Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems
67 questions, 95 minutes - Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems
67 questions, 95 minutes - Critical Analysis and Reasoning
60 questions, 90 minutes - Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior
67 questions, 90 minutes
*Number of questions and length are approximate.
More MCAT information
Read Part 2 of the new MCAT 2015
What role do MCAT scores play in admissions?
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