cheating on MCAT?!

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niksem

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I was just wandering how people, if any, cheat on MCAT. Not that I intend to but I was just curious.
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it's kinda hard to. they have people walking around and you sit 2 spaces between each other. i suppose you can make a little cheat sheet though.
 
I dont think it happens though... I mean who would be stupid enough to risk it? I'm pretty sure if you cheat on the MCAT and get caught.. well.. you would have effectively terminated any chances to get into medical school, perhaps forever.
 
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There are several famous stories of cheating on the MCAT. One of them took place several years ago. Right before a group of students were about to start the exam, a man rode in on a bicycle and was brandishing a gun. He stole a stack of tests and rode away! True story.

I assume that few people, though, actually cheat on the MCAT. AMCAS gives out around twenty completely different test forms for each MCAT administration. Moreover, most sites are heavily proctored, and now they require you to fingerprint, etc. But I'm sure people still get away with it...you never hear about the people who got away with it.
 
The main form of cheating would probably be having somebody else take it for you. I'm sure it could be done.
 
yeah you can get someone to take it for you, but they need to look like you because you provide the proctors with a picture ID. and there's a fingerpring too. so you'd have to pull some Mission Impossible 3 stuff to get away scot free, without some type a injury.

but as far as a cheat sheet...how can you make time to look through one. you barely have enough time to finish as it is..imagine having to flip back and forth between the test and a cheat sheet!!! plus, a student will see you and turn you in (i know..such pain in the butts those moral people can be...). and lastly, what the heck would you put in the cheat sheet? physics equations? the ones you need to memorize are so easy, you should just memorize them. nothing else needs to be written down. it's all in the cabeza. gluck, and don't let them catch you peeking...those who get away with it never tell. for example..i have nothing at all to say at at all about that..but you just think on that about why.... :wink:
 
I don't think they cross-reference your fingerprints. If anything, I think it's done as a deterrent...nothing more. And you know ID's can be faked. So having another person take it for you can be done.
 
Well, you send in and get the confirmation form and stick your own picture to it. Then they match that pic with the drivers license. I'm sure you could just have your friend at HMS that got a 41 to just put his pic on the little form and show up. Easy. The thing is, there's tons of forms, and they give them out regularly, so you gotta find the guy that's 20 spots away from you and cheat off him. Easier said than done. I'd just study :wink: --Trek
 
Well, you send in and get the confirmation form and stick your own picture to it. Then they match that pic with the drivers license. I'm sure you could just have your friend at HMS that got a 41 to just put his pic on the little form and show up. Easy. The thing is, there's tons of forms, and they give them out regularly, so you gotta find the guy that's 20 spots away from you and cheat off him. Easier said than done. I'd just study :wink: --Trek
 
I'm sure it's happened before, and it'll probably happen again. Really difficult, though, and not worth it, IMO. I can't imagine ANY school taking you if you're caught cheating, even if you're otherwise a super candidate.
 
This proctor where I took my MCAT was the Dragonlady from "you know where". When I went in and signed the little card, she looked at me and told me that my signature did not match my ID and that I could not take the exam. Well after paying the exorbitant fees that they charge for the stupid thing, I darned sure was not going to leave. I basically told her this and I really had to scramble to find something with my signature on it that finally suited her. It was me, I swear! My signature just looks different at different times and standing over a low set table signing something does make things look different. Anyhow, I guess she had me branded as a trouble maker right from the start. Later, she walked up to me before the exam and wanted to know if my daddy was a judge. I told her that he wasn't. She then proceeds to tell me about this guy who was taking the test the last time around who got caught with a cheat sheet and tried to use his dad's influence as a judge to get him out of trouble. Why she was telling me this is beyond me, but it shows that people have tried to cheat during the exam. The day just got worse as it went on, the girl next to me had a timer and it went off shortly before the verbal section ended. The proctor wanted to know who made the noise and she was staring right at me. Of course, no one answered her. She kept saying that someone was not being honest and refused to go on with the exam until someone confessed. Finally, the girl did and she told her that she was writing that up to AMCAS. The girl cried during the remainder of the exam and distracted the rest of us. Plus, I had pneumonia when I took the test and felt like dirt, so it was not a good day.
 
For anyone who would consider having someone write the test for you... wouldn't that be more stressful than just studying for it? If that person didn't do well at all, would you be mad at them? Even if I wasn't fully prepared (no one ever feels like they can't study just a little bit more), I dont know that I would want someone else to do it for me. It's just not worth it at all (not to mention not right).
 
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I've forgotten now - do they correlate the books to the person who's writing the test?? If they don't, you AND your friend could go in there together, and you could each write an MCAT for the other person. Say, if your friend was already in med school with a great MCAT, and didn't really care if he had another score. So, he could fill out his forms as if he was you, and vice versa. That way, you might be able to get around the problems with the fingerprinting and the ID's - you both would sign in that morning...
 
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I think it wouldn't ne that hard to cheat on the mcat if you had an in with the administrators. I proctor the MCAT, LSAT, VCAT, and PCAT on weekends. The proctors do not know anything. They are just undergrads and grad students who do this for extra cash. They don't work for ACT or the AAMC or anything. Lots of times, the proctors have never done this before, and everything they say is from scripts. They have no clue. I proctored the LSAT for a bunch of people I knew last year. I was the one checking IDs, fingerprinting and walking the aisles. Of course, I would never allow cheating (I love trying to bust people, esp. on the LSAT), but I'm sure some people would be willing to do it. My girlfriend also proctors these exams, and she could have (but didn't) proctor my MCAT. Think of the possibilities...
 
That's funny now that you mention having someone else take it for you. I have a twin brother who's also going into medicine. I suppose we could both take it and see who got the higher of the two. That way, if I got a lower score than he did, I'd just ask him to take it again for me this time, or vice versa. But I would never do that.
 
Having the other person take the test for you is just a dumb idea. If anyone scored that high on a test they are definitely not going to risk going in and taking the test for your little a$$.
That's way too much risk and STRESS of taking a test for that person!
 
Our proctors are not students. They are faculty members from the Counseling and Testing center. The woman who proctors the test says that she has been doing this for 15 years.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by LizardKing:
•There are several famous stories of cheating on the MCAT. One of them took place several years ago. Right before a group of students were about to start the exam, a man rode in on a bicycle and was brandishing a gun. He stole a stack of tests and rode away! True story. •••••Hey Lizardking, what are the other famous stories you've heard? These are fun to read.
 
•••quote:•••Originally posted by Medical123:
•Our proctors are not students. They are faculty members from the Counseling and Testing center. The woman who proctors the test says that she has been doing this for 15 years.•••••mine were grad students
 
Mine were a bunch of old guys.

Hey, don't they compare photos and fingerprints from your MCAT card after you matriculate into a med schools, or is that said so that people don't even try to cheat? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />
 
What about time delay? I mean, by the time the people on the east coast are in their lunch break, the people on the west coast are almost getting ready to start. Couldn't you write it in California, and have your buddy in New York give you a call and tell you some of the questions? I know they have multiple forms, but I know from talking to my buddies that wrote on the same day I did that a lot of the questions are the same...
 
I always wondered about the time difference/delay thing... Especially when I had to take the SATs because by the time west coast started, east coast had already done the whole thing. Even more stuff to boggle your mind: I went to high school in Asia & took the SATs there, and we started the test 12 hrs before the people in the east coast took it! There was always rumors about some ppl in our high school who got paid top money by kids in new york to tell them about what was on the exam so that they could study for it during the 9 hrs they had between when the Asia testing ended and the New York testing began.....
 
I like the idea about swapping identities AFTER you get past the ogres outside the testing room. Best one I've heard. But I can't remember... don't they make you sign each and every form? If someone took the time to check (which is slim I guess) then the signatures wouldn't match w/your test center/pic/fingerprint card.

I am sure that with enough money and motivation, there's a way. But wow, talk about desperation. All I know is that the MCAT struck me as the most secure test I've ever taken. The proctors at my center were for REAL. Don't mess with them.
 
ethical considerations aside, i dont think there is an affordable amount of money anyone could pay me to take that beastly test again.

I had thought that you could cheat by flipping through a reference book during a bathroom break. It seems like a feasible form of teseting in almost any environment.
 
The identical twin idea definitely came to mind a few times, too. But the odds are my identical twin would be as smart (or stupid for that matter) as me so it's not like we'd have an advantage.

Unless I have her study physics and the two chemistries, while I study the verbal/bio portion... We could potentially do this all the way through medical school and even the Boards, pay only one tuition bill, AND share the same license - but then again, we'd only get paid one salary and we'd both have to agree on our area of specialty. It's like having two 50K jobs, but working only half of the time...

Oh well, but I am an only child... :(
 
I plan on paying a bunch of smart dudes to sit in a black van located on the street, and be connected to them by a little ear piece. I will have glasses on, that have a camera in them, and it will send the van a streaming image (high resolution) of my paper. All I will have to do is sit there and wait for the answers. (I kinda wish I had the money to do this, but I don't)
 
I know about the people in different time zones--the College Board has that one figured out. The AP exams now start on the east coast at 8:30am I believe, and all the kids must be in that room by 8am. They stagger it so that by the time the break comes around and you can leave the room, the kids on the west coast are locked in their room ready to go, if not already started.

Those test people keep thinking of new ways around us smart little kids.

On a side note, there was a BIG cheating scandal regarding text messages and the U. of Maryland-College Park (2002 NCAA champs and 2004 ACC champ Terps). Professors would have their grad students/TAs proctor the exams, and while the exam was going on they would post the exam answers outside (in the general area that they do, usually every building has a set of boards for each floor). These kids would have friends stand at the answers, and text message the answers to them during the exam. I believe 8 students XF (failure due to cheating) the class, and some were kicked out due to the honor code.
 
Ooo, I like the "switching identities while in the room" idea. You'd have to be able to fake each other's signature well, but that's not very hard to arrange. Just make sure that the signatures you submit are like mine: a little loop and a long, rather flat line. I put a dot toward the beginning. Anyone could fake it.



--Funkless
 
I don't think its really possible to cheat on the MCAT, especially in this day and age.
 
related to a previous post. I heard there was this whole underground scheme broken up where students in malaysia or something would take the SAT (12 hours before people in the US), notch the answers on to wooden pencils then correspond the answers to someone in the US. The people in the US would notch pencils and give them to people taking the test. I'm pretty sure this actually happened.
 
My friend cheated on the MIT swim test his senior year. He had another Korean guy that vaguely looked like him take it. The swimming instructors checked ID's, but I guess my friend and his compatriot looked close enough to fool them.

Not quite the MCAT, but still worth considering...
 
If convicted, Kobayashi could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of more than $250,000.


cheating = illegal? what law?
 
It would be totally possible to have some of those spy glasses with a camera in the bridge and a wireless signal that transmits outside to a friend in a van. Then they could look up answers in text books etc and get back to you via a small ear piece receiver. This would take $ but you could potentially get a 40 if you had someone smart working with you on the outside.


$2450-- Video transmitter extra

The sports strap looks a bit conspicuous though!
videog2.jpg
 
before the SAT only required an ID. I'm sure many people used Fake ID's and sat in for other people back then.
 
Originally posted by exmike
before the SAT only required an ID. I'm sure many people used Fake ID's and sat in for other people back then.
Click to expand...

This guy in my lab was telling me that he took the sat for people multiple times. Each time he scored a 1400 or above for the people. He charged around a $1000 each time. One of those people even ended up at stanford.
 
So at the testing site, they check for finger prints and id? Could u get a fake id with the person whose takign the exam's picture on it?
 
while i was taking the MCAT back in August this one guy shows up with a calculator and right when we start the physics part, he starts punching numbers like a mad man. I guess the guy thought he was slick, because he finishes the section and during a ten minute break he runs to the bathroom to dispose of the calculator.


Needless to say he got caught... after enduring what was probably the sweetest bathroom break he ever took. Looked like he was pitching a tent where he hid the calculator and a male proctor quickly questioned him and after about 30 seconds, the calculator dropped down his pant leg.


True story.
 
I thought calculators weren't allowed? Did he use it during the exam? Didn't anyone see him using it during the exam?
 
bro... read my post.

I wasn't the guy, so yeah people saw him and he was caught and thrown out so yeah it's not allowed.

to further clarify I think one of the proctors suspected him of cheating because of his demeanor and they were extra tough on him upon re-entry, which is how they found the calc.
 
Originally posted by TonyMontana03
bro... read my post.

I wasn't the guy, so yeah people saw him and he was caught and thrown out so yeah it's not allowed.

to further clarify I think one of the proctors suspected him of cheating because of his demeanor and they were extra tough on him upon re-entry, which is how they found the calc.
Click to expand...

Yea I know it wasn't u that cheated, I just thought that someone would tell the proctor immediately when they saw him cheating. Its amazing that he was able to complete the section without anyone telling on him. All he had to do was throw the calculator away and he was home free.
 
I really don't think people had the time to stop what they were doing just to kick some guy out. Sooner or later it was gonna hit him in the butt.

Personally, I didn't do it cuz i'm not a rat. If the kid got away with it... good for him. I am not gonna be that guy that tattle-tales... that's too pre-K.


PLUS.... I was in the zone!
 
Originally posted by TonyMontana03
I really don't think people had the time to stop what they were doing just to kick some guy out. Sooner or later it was gonna hit him in the butt.

Personally, I didn't do it cuz i'm not a rat. If the kid got away with it... good for him. I am not gonna be that guy that tattle-tales... that's too pre-K.


PLUS.... I was in the zone!
Click to expand...

Yea I know what u mean, so what if he gets away with it, I am not going to mess up my score by taking the time to rat on him.
 
This a bit of topic but I caught myself cheating on my practice MCAT. For a few of the questions I nonchalantly looked over at the person sitting next to me and saw that they chose a different answer than me on a question that I didn't know so I changed my answer.
As soon as I did I thought, "What's wrong with me? Cheating on a practice test is not going to help me."
Seriously, what IS wrong with me?
 
i wonder if some high schoolers would pay me $1000 to take the ACT and/or SAT for them...
 
Originally posted by TheRussian
This a bit of topic but I caught myself cheating on my practice MCAT. For a few of the questions I nonchalantly looked over at the person sitting next to me and saw that they chose a different answer than me on a question that I didn't know so I changed my answer.
As soon as I did I thought, "What's wrong with me? Cheating on a practice test is not going to help me."
Seriously, what IS wrong with me?
Click to expand...


haha...funny post...good job
 
YOU DONT EVEN NEED A CALCULATOR ON THE PHYSICS PART. ITS SO EASY TO DO BY HAND. WHY WOULD HE DO SOMETHING SO STUPID/NEEDLESS??
 
Originally posted by fullefect1
I plan on paying a bunch of smart dudes to sit in a black van located on the street, and be connected to them by a little ear piece. I will have glasses on, that have a camera in them, and it will send the van a streaming image (high resolution) of my paper. All I will have to do is sit there and wait for the answers. (I kinda wish I had the money to do this, but I don't)
Click to expand...

sounds like something that would come out of alias. :laugh:
 
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