“Q:A” What is the CBT (Computer Based Test) for the MCAT, and what will the new CBT MCAT be like?
If you will be taking the MCAT in April or August 2006, you will have the option in certain cities of taking it either on a computer (CBT) or via the normal, pen-and-paper way. Beginning in 2007, all MCATs will be administered on a computer. This will obviously create some changes in the test itself, as well as in the strategies needed to perform well on it. We will continue to post further updates about the CBT over the next year, but here is some basic information about the MCAT CBT:
1) The CBT will (obviously!) be taken on a computer, but it is NOT adaptive. What that means is that the test questions do not get harder if you answer a question correctly, nor easier if you answer a question incorrectly. The CBT will work analogously to the DAT, in that every question is worth the same as every other question, and the test-taker has the option to skip around within a section and review earlier questions until time is up for that section. In contrast, the GRE (standardized exam for graduate school applicants) is an example of an adaptive test; on such a test, the harder questions are weighted more heavily, so that you earn more points for answering them correctly than you do for answering easier questions correctly. The test-taker must answer the questions in the order they are presented, and s/he is penalized for wrong answers.
2) The CBT will basically be just like the pen-and-paper MCAT and cover the same subjects, but it will be significantly shorter in length. Starting in 2007, it will no longer take a full day to take the MCAT, and test-takers may even have the option to schedule the test in either the morning or the afternoon. There will also be more dates to choose from; instead of just the two dates (April and August) that we have now, there may be as many as 20 test date options. The four sections will apparently stay the same, including the WS, but students may only have to write one essay instead of the two that current test-takers must write.
You can find more answers to CBT FAQs on the AAMC FAQ page.
