Students looking to apply to medical school next year will face a different test than this year's seniors.
Starting next August, students will take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) on computers, as opposed to on paper.
The change was announced this summer by the Association of American Medical Colleges - the group that runs the MCAT.
The number of test dates is also being increased, from two a year to 22, and the length of the test is being shortened. The computer tests can be graded more quickly, as well. Results will be available after 30 days instead of after 50.
Carol Baffi-Dugan, the health professions advisor, said the changes should alleviate students' stress.
The computer tests are also designed to increase security and prevent fraud. "This is really a big deal," Amjed Mustafa, a representative from Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, said. "The MCAT is taken by approximately 60,000 students."
Students in the pre-med program, though, have begun expressing anxiety and suspicion about the changes.
With the computer tests, students will have to copy diagrams and tables onto scratch paper to work out problems, Mustafa said. Students will not be able to highlight or underline passages.
Kaplan will soon offer courses on strategies designed for the new test format - leading some students to complain about the test's bias.
"It sends the message that if you have the money you will have a greater chance of doing well on the exam," pre-med sophomore Andrea Thoumi said. "It's specifically geared to the mechanics of the exam."
The new MCAT "is weeding out people based not on their intelligence but on their financial background," pre-med sophomore Laura Uwakwe said. This is a common criticism of standardized testing preparation courses.
A recent Kaplan survey of 3,858 pre-med students found that 82 percent felt they would perform worse on the computer-based test than on the current paper MCAT.
Kaplan will offer a free seminar this fall on the changes to the test. "We're educating students to try to explain to them exactly where they fit in and what their options are," Mustafa said.
Some students also said they were afraid of computer malfunctions, and that paper tests were more reliable. "If my screen froze," Uwakwe said, "I would throw my computer at the proctor."
Baffi-Dugan said the shift to computer-based testing for the MCAT is positive. "I think it's a shift in the direction that all standardized tests are taking," she said. "It's all plusses from my perspective."
She said some students have taken a pilot version of the computer test and liked it. "If they look at the plusses they'll be a lot less stressed."
