On October 29th Noah Gold and Nicholas Grice, our club officers, gave information about the MCAT's content and what they experienced when they took the lengthy and demanding exam. 

The exam is approximately eight hours with intermittent breaks. Noah emphasized the clever the use of these breaks throughout his presentation so that the test-taker stays energized and does not waste test-taking time.

The first section of the MCAT asks about the “Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems”. This part deals with biochemistry, general chemistry, organic chemistry and physics. The section has 59 questions and is 95 minutes long. It is recommended that a test-taker spends eight minutes per passage and one minute per discrete question.

The second section is called the “Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills” section. The content in this section asks the test-taker about “reasoning within the text”, “reasoning beyond the text” and “foundations of comprehension”. It features 53 questions for 90 minutes. It is recommended that you spend 10 minutes per passage for the 9 passages in the section. Both Noah and Nicholas did not fail to mention that these passages can be about anything, like history, culture, geography or even farming.

“Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems” is the third section. The content features biochemistry, introductory biology and a small amount of general and organic chemistry. The section features 59 questions for 95 minutes. It is recommended that you spend eight minutes per passage with one minute per discrete question.

Lastly, the “Psychological, Social and Biological Foundations of Behavior” is the final section of the MCAT. This features content about psychology, sociology and a small amount of introductory biology. This section has 59 questions that you must complete in 95 minutes. It is recommended you spend eight minutes per passage and one minute per discrete question.

Also, when studying for the MCAT, both Noah and Nicholas used the Kaplan book sets.

Much more information about the MCAT can be found in the presentation slides. They are attached to this post.