Ever hear of someone cheating/attempting to cheat on the MCAT?

[deleted74029]

I've heard of people attempting to cheat on other standardized test but not the MCAT, anyone ever heard of this?

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[eagle34]

I don't know how you can even cheat on the MCAT. Sitting there in a little cubicle with a camera pointing at you doesn't give much opportunity for cheating. Especially since there are different versions of the exam.

 

[wisconsindoctor]

I've heard of people attempting to cheat on other standardized test but not the MCAT, anyone ever heard of this?

That would be one of the dumbest things in the world that a pre-med student could do. People who cheat need to get a clue that they are going to be doctors (well, on the pay to become doctors....but you get my point). They need to know their stuff. Thus, don't get in the habbit if cheating. Sorry, when you are a doctor and are in an emergency situtation, you can't go and tell everyone to freeze for a minute and tell the patient to stop bleading for a minute so you can cheat on what steps need to be taken (meaning consulting with a textbook) to save the paients life.

 

[jackson1]

I really don't think that it would be possible even if you were dumb enough to try!

 

[tiedyeddog]

I'm sure someone has done so. I would think most efforts would be self-defeating due to the time restriction. Cheating would probably just waste more time.

 

[LikeClockWork]

I'm sure someone has done so. I would think most efforts would be self-defeating due to the time restriction. Cheating would probably just waste more time.

I agree. I mean, I guess you could write some formulas on your palm or something, but that's not the stuff that's directly tested, or if it is, it's only one question. Given the amount of stuff that's a test taker needs to know, the slim probability that any one piece of information will be on the exam, and the small amount of points earned from those few questions, I can't imagine it working out.

 

[da me ka don]

There is just absolutely no time to. You will be sitting there desperately wishing for more time to read the question, than trying to cheat.

 

[deleted74029]

Alot of people seem to be speaking in the second person and I just wanted to clarify that I'm not attempting to cheat lol I was just wondering if anyone had...

 

[BluePhoenix]

If you were dumb enough to need to cheat, odds are you're not smart enough to be able to cheat on the MCAT.

That being said, the amount of time and effort you would need to plan out a way of cheating that wouldn't be detected would probably be a lot more than if you just studied for the test.

 

[Doctor J]

MCAT is primarily an aptitude test and thus very difficult to game. VR section and essay are completely impossible to 'cheat' on, unless you were somehow able to obtain a copy of the test beforehand (which would require some real ninja skills). I suppose you could 'cheat' with the PS section a lot easier than with the BS section but still, a couple of formulas are not going to really help you with the question content. The number of formulas you need to memorize is not so large that you need to bring them with you on a crib sheet.

I've never heard any rumors of anyone successfully cheating at the MCAT.

 

[SBK]

You know, I always wondered this too.

For the SAT, at least you could write some formulas done or something.

For the MCAT, if you scribble F=m*a on your palm, you're pretty screwed anyways.

The only way, hypothetically, is to find a remote testing site and 'befriend' the testing site administrators. Other than this, you're pretty screwed, since I think you can leave a test unfinished to use the bathroom (which could allow a cell phone call).

Oh btw, this is what I was thinking about waiting for the mcat to start on 1/26. Still ended up with a 34, but Im sure if i used these tactics I could have nailed a 40+.

 

[Ginzo]

Uhm, of course you can cheat on the MCAT. It's called paying a surrogate to take the test for you. That's part of why they have all the crazy security measures now with fingerprinting. But, I imagine that even with all the security now a dedicated cheater could possibly get around them.

 

[iampremed]

MCAT is primarily an aptitude test and thus very difficult to game. VR section and essay are completely impossible to 'cheat' on, unless you were somehow able to obtain a copy of the test beforehand (which would require some real ninja skills). I suppose you could 'cheat' with the PS section a lot easier than with the BS section but still, a couple of formulas are not going to really help you with the question content. The number of formulas you need to memorize is not so large that you need to bring them with you on a crib sheet.

I've never heard any rumors of anyone successfully cheating at the MCAT.

But that's not the only way to cheat. For example, you could convince your more-prepared premed friends to do it for you. Of course, you'd need some fake documentation which could screw up your life forever if caught.

But to answer the OP's question: no, I've never heard of one.

 

[gasdf1234567]

If you are smart and cunning enough to cheat on the MCAT and get away with it, you deserve the high score.

 

[Raryn]

one has to remember they have nothing to compare the fingerprints to... other than other people that have taken the computer based MCAT. So yeah, one could theoretically have someone else who isnt in the system take it with a fake ID... but i'd rather just take it myself.

 

[spicedmanna]

I don't know how you can even cheat on the MCAT. Sitting there in a little cubicle with a camera pointing at you doesn't give much opportunity for cheating. Especially since there are different versions of the exam.

Exactly. How and why would you cheat? You have no idea what the questions are going to be. There would be no benefit and only risk.

The MCAT is perhaps one of the more secure tests, complete with fingerprints and all. Everything is secured prior to beginning the tests. It would be pretty idiotic to attempt to cheat.

For the MCAT, if you scribble F=m*a on your palm, you're pretty screwed anyways.

Yes, I agree. Having a cheat sheet won't be of benefit of all. The MCAT is a test of application, with a load of secondary questions and such. You'll need to know how to use the formulae in unfamiliar situations. If you don't even know these kinds of things, you've got your work cut out for you.

 

[twizzed]

not going to lie but I'm new to SDN... so first and foremost Hi!

I thought this thread was interesting since I just took my MCAT on May 23 and had a I don't know if you would qualify it as "cheating" experience but I was pretty pissed by the end of it.

During the biology section this girl sitting next to me was pretty much taking her sweet time to leave the testing room. I really didn't think anything of it at the time but after I finished my test I left to go sign out and she was still hanging around. I totally ignored her because I just wanted to get the hell out of there. She makes eye contact with me and starts going off on how hard the test was and started talking about SPECIFIC questions on the test. At that point I was just stunned, I was still filling out things at the desk and I wasn't even signed out of my test yet! Thank god I did not say a word to her the entire time.

Not only did she put me in such a compromising position at the end of the test during checkout but then she preceded to TELL me how she was looking at my test on the way out and that I was struggling with the same question that she was and then she started talking about that question. Bottom line she was hovering behind me looking at my test!

Seriously who does that?... and then tells the person that they were looking at their test!

I really should have said something to a proctor since they do record us and they could have easily seen how this girl was creeping up behind me during my test...
and if she had shifty eyes by the end of it who's to say that she wasn't looking at another persons test during breaks!

I'm really just surprised the proctor didn't revoke her exam... I should have made a scene.... now i regret it!

I think she goes to my school.... If I see her ... I'm going to hafta pop off my earrings and let someone know!

 

[MossPoh]

one has to remember they have nothing to compare the fingerprints to... other than other people that have taken the computer based MCAT. So yeah, one could theoretically have someone else who isnt in the system take it with a fake ID... but i'd rather just take it myself.

I was about to say that. It isn't that hard to pay some kid a ton of cash to take it for you. They don't have your fingerprints linked to some international database, nor do they have anything but your ID to go from.

I have a friend that got paid to take the SAT long ago. It was some rich kid that offered him a ton of cash. $2000 for anything over a 1500 and then $1500 for anything over about a 1300, and about a grand for the 1200 range. The guy paid for the fake ID as well. He went in, took the test, got the 1500 dollars. He told me he sandbagged a little because he didn't want some idiot to have a better score than him (he had a 1550 on it). Things aren't that impossible. I'm not saying it is a good thing to do, but it is entirely plausible.

 

[spicedmanna]

I was about to say that. It isn't that hard to pay some kid a ton of cash to take it for you. They don't have your fingerprints linked to some international database, nor do they have anything but your ID to go from.

Well, I suppose that could be true, if your fingerprints aren't already in the system. There are some professions which require you to be fingerprinted prior to joining. So your plan wouldn't work for those people.

Also, let's not forget that the MCAT has your picture. Many secondary applications ask you to submit a picture as well. They can be compared.

 

[Law2Doc]

one has to remember they have nothing to compare the fingerprints to... other than other people that have taken the computer based MCAT. So yeah, one could theoretically have someone else who isnt in the system take it with a fake ID... but i'd rather just take it myself.

The joke is going to be on you when they later fingerprint you for your license or to work in a VA, etc. Unless you get that same guy to get an ID for you then as well. Maybe he will take call for you too.

 

[chad5871]

This thread is better suited for the "MCAT Discussions" board. I'm moving it there now.

 

[Kaustikos]

The joke is going to be on you when they later fingerprint you for your license or to work in a VA, etc. Unless you get that same guy to get an ID for you then as well. Maybe he will take call for you too.

That's why you burn your fingerprints off after doing well on the MCAT. Simple. Problem solved.

I'm sure it's doable and has been done numerous times.

 

[What up doc]

when they had analogies on the SAT, a good, good friend of mine kept a dictionary in the bathroom and looked up definitions between sections...he later then came back 2 these sections during the exam and presumably got all these questions riht...he still only got a 650 tho! hahaha

 

[LikeClockWork]

Also, let's not forget that the MCAT has your picture. Many secondary applications ask you to submit a picture as well. They can be compared.

That's what I always figured was the biggest problem with getting a surrogate. Sure, they don't check your picture/fingerprints at the test site, but they do hold onto them for everything else. Wouldn't it suck to show up for an interview and be asked, "So did you really take the MCAT because this guy looks nothing like you."

 

[physics junkie]

I know of a guy who was offering 15,000 for someone to take the MCAT for him. His plan to get around all the security stuff was to send someone else in for him. The 15,000 included you having to go to schools to interview for him because he didn't want to get caught with a photo comparison. He didn't find anyone to do it but I thought it was amusing. I know for a fact he paid someone else to take his SATs for him. I wonder if he ever gets in to medical school whether he'll be asking people to take his step 1's for him.

 

[physics junkie]

The joke is going to be on you when they later fingerprint you for your license or to work in a VA, etc. Unless you get that same guy to get an ID for you then as well. Maybe he will take call for you too.

I think it's a bit of a stretch to think that they're going to compare your fingerprints at that point. Maybe I'm wrong but I would imagine if you've passed all your med school courses, got a reasonable score on the step1, etc. then they have no reason to go and compare your fingerprints on the MCAT to current ones--especially considering how damn rare someone cheating on the MCAT must be.

 

[BlackPower2012]

Its virtually impossible to do so, especially now! These Competer based MCATs have camera's right on top of you with a switch board in front of the peopel who make you sign some of the paper work. When I took the MCATs, I was shocked at what I thought was one of the easiest ways to cheat on a high-stakes exam because there is no one in the room and the desks are high enough where you cannot see the other person next to you. Well, when I told the procters who were making us sign the paperwork, she told me to come around her desk and showed me every student who was taken the exam. So its impossible now.