As most of you know, a new version of the MCAT is launching in April 2015. Different medical schools are handling the new MCAT different ways – some are requiring all applicants to take the new exam, while others will continue to accept older versions of the exam along with MCAT 2015. We have decided to join the latter group and will accept three versions of the exam for the 2015/2016 application cycle: the exam with VR, PS, BS & WS sections; the exam with VR, PS and BS sections (no WS); and MCAT 2015. Many applicants to our program will already have MCAT scores that meet our requirements and we did not want to force these applicants to incur the extra financial burden of retaking the MCAT. Our decision was also influenced by the fact that the first MCAT 2015 test date is not until April, thus limiting the number of months available to write the exam before our August 31 test-taking deadline.
However, since MCAT 2015 is new and improved and is the exam version all applicants will transition to eventually, we have decided to use MCAT 2015 exam scores in our evaluation if they are available. This means that if you take MCAT 2015, we will use your MCAT 2015 scores no matter what – even if your MCAT 2015 scores seem lower than your previous scores, and even if your MCAT 2015 scores do not meet our minimum requirements but your previous scores do. We will continue to use the highest score for our purposes if only the older versions of the MCAT have been written.
Our minimum score requirement for MCAT 2015 is a 124 in each of the four sections. The 7/M requirement remains for older versions of the MCAT. For more information please see our Notes for Applicants page, the MCAT sections of our Admission Requirements and Evaluation Criteria pages, and the FAQs. It is important to review this information carefully before making a decision about which version of the MCAT to write or re-write.
Does having greater than 124 affect your chances of getting in?
Higher scores on the MCAT are better, but we keep exactly how the MCAT is used in evaluation confidential. It does come in to play as part of the holistic evaluation process, and the admissions selection committee will likely be concerned if you have straight 124s and no additional science coursework in biology, chemistry, biochemistry and organic chemistry.