The Medical School Admission Test (MCAT) has four sections, including two for scientific knowledge, one for reasoning and critical thinking, and one for written communication skills. Successful completion of the MCAT requires significant college-level science courses. The test covers topics such as chemistry, physics, biology, organic chemistry, and verbal reasoning. The final section requires an essay to assess grammar, structure, and organizational skills.
The Medical School Admission Test (MCAT), a required part of the admissions process at most medical schools in the United States, includes four separate sections. Two of the sections of the MCAT are used to assess the examiner’s factual knowledge of the physical and biological sciences, respectively. A third section assesses the participant’s reasoning and critical thinking skills. The fourth and final section of the MCAT assesses the participant’s written communication skills.
Successful completion of the two scientific knowledge sections of the MCAT typically requires significant college-level significant courses in the sciences. In fact, many undergraduates interested in applying to medical school specifically choose science courses that cover topics included in the MCAT sections. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the body that oversees the MCAT exam, most test takers have completed at least one year of biology courses, one year of physics courses, and two years of chemistry courses, all in the university level.
The first section of the MCAT covers the physical sciences, specifically general chemistry and physics. To prepare for the chemistry questions, test takers should have a thorough understanding of the periodic table of elements and the principles of chemical processes and molecular bonding, among other topics. Physics questions require knowledge of fundamental physical laws and a firm understanding of things like motion, energy, light, and atomic structure.
The next section of the MCAT assesses knowledge of the biological sciences, including organic chemistry. Topics included in this section range widely from enzyme structure to evolution. Test participants require a thorough understanding of molecular biology, including the structure and function of DNA; and microbiology, including knowledge of the characteristics of viral, bacterial and eukaryotic cells. In addition, test participants must have knowledge of all major biological systems of larger animals. Finally, organic chemistry topics range from covalent bonds to the characteristics of biological molecules.
The third of the four sections of the MCAT assesses the examiner’s verbal reasoning skills. In this section, no specific factual knowledge is required. Rather, the questions aim to assess reading comprehension, critical appraisal, logical thinking, and analytical skills. Typically, test takers prepare for this section of the MCAT primarily by taking the MCAT practice tests.
The final section of the MCAT requires the test taker to write an essay that is used to assess grammar, structure, and organizational skills. Each MCAT recording section includes a topic statement followed by three recording tasks. All three writing tasks should be clearly addressed in the body of the essay as they relate to the topic statement. The official MCAT website includes an index of over 100 sets of example topics and assignments for examiners to use in practicing this section of the MCAT.
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