The Kaplan MCAT team had the pleasure of attending the AAMC National Meeting in San Francisco last week. While we can’t recreate all of the inspirational and insightful lessons learned from the phenomenal speakers, we thought we would give you a glimpse into the trends we learned from the AAMC regarding applicants and MCAT test takers this year.
First off, a summary on the entering class of 2012! The number of applicants for entry in the fall of 2012 rose 3.1%, with an increase of 3.4% for 1st time applicants. The AAMC also reports that they saw in the number of applicants and enrollees in all major racial and ethnic groups. In total, 19,517 students enrolled this fall in Medical School.
The story for the current application cycle for entry in the Fall of 2013 is even more exciting. So far, 43,038 applications have been submitted, which is an increase of 7.5% compared to this time last year. Interestingly, the AAMC reports that many more students submitted applications earlier in the cycle this year, and that as a result the average verification time right now is about 6 weeks. Of the applications currently submitted, roughly 4,000 still have yet to be verified.
For 2012, the AAMC reported about 95,000 administrations of the MCAT with roughly 78,500 unique test takers, which continues the rising trend in the number of test takers. Of the unique test takers, 68,000 took the test once, 10,000, twice, and a little less than 500 took the test three times. The 2012 test cycle also saw an increase in the mean score of 25.2, up 0.1 points; the averages for the Physical Sciences, Biological Sciences, and Writing Sample scores stayed the same from previous years at 8.4, 8.8, and O respectively, while the Verbal reasoning average jumped to 8.1 from 7.9 in the previous year.
As we all know the MCAT is changing in 2015, and the AAMC reports they are still on track with the update to the test. January 2013 will begin the administration of the optional, unscored, experimental section, and students who choose to participate whole-heartedly in the experimental section will be rewarded with a $30 Amazon gift card, as well as comparative feedback on their performance. However, even with the removal of the Writing Sample, official scores will still take 30-35 days to be released
The AAMC is also anticipating an increase in test takers in 2014 and January of 2015 from students testing early to avoid the longer, 7.5 hour test that will launch in 2015. The AAMC did provide some updates regarding the new exam, but most of what we already know remains unchanged, but they will be providing updates as they become available through their website. We did hear that the new, longer test will be more reliable, and that the AAMC has already brought on a team of item writers, editors, and test reviewers. As part of their ongoing study and development of the exam, the AAMC will be researching how the new MCAT predicts important outcomes in medical school through evidence from current examinees, concurrent validity studies, and a longitudinal study.
There is a lot in store for MCAT 2015, and you can rest assured that we will share everything we learn from conferences like these with this community as we progress towards the new MCAT!
