Mcat

[androman]

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Hey guys

I posted this question in the MCAT discussion forum only to receive no replies. Maybe you guys can be more help due to the fact that most of you have already taken the MCAT.

Can I bring water to the exam?

Is scrap paper provided?

Thanks

 

[MedAppGurl]

there is no scrappaper. you won't really need it. the water issue varies from test site, at mine i had water, but i kept it under my seat and drank it between sections.
hope that helps

 

[skypilot]

The answer to both questions is yes. You can bring water and there is scrap paper provided so don't bring any because you won't be able to use it anyway.

Just bring a lot of pencils and a couple of black pens and make sure your cell phone is turned off.

🙂

 

[JohnHolmes]

Originally posted by androman
Hey guys

I posted this question in the MCAT discussion forum only to receive no replies. Maybe you guys can be more help due to the fact that most of you have already taken the MCAT.

Can I bring water to the exam?

Is scrap paper provided?

Thanks

Yes/No and Yes/No to each question. Yes you CAN bring water, like I did, but you will have to leave it in the front/back of the classroom away from all of your testing materials during the exam. You cannot "go up and get it" either. You can only use it during breaks, outside of the room.

Scrap paper is provided: that is in between the questions on your testing booklet. Other than that, you don't get zip. It's enough room though as long as you don't write in 96 point font.

Coops

 

[Eraserhead]

I thought you could only bring water... but then as I was finishing the bio section I saw a guy with a large iced coffee from starbucks or something right smack in the middle of his desk. I was pissed, well if there were time to be pissed I would have been.... I was half asleep by then. Bring everything and then plan on having them throw it away, and if you get to keep it (like you could in Oakland, CA) then that will be great.

 

[bewitched1081]

you also might want to think about getting a digital watch with a timer. some sites last april didnt allow timers, but they did allow digital watches. just make sure the watch doesnt make any noise when time's up.

 

[gschl1234]

Originally posted by DoctorKevin
I thought you could only bring water... but then as I was finishing the bio section I saw a guy with a large iced coffee from starbucks or something right smack in the middle of his desk. I was pissed, well if there were time to be pissed I would have been.... I was half asleep by then.

Dude. Calm down. It's just coffee.

At my testing center they didn't provide scrap paper and I didn't think to bring any. I don't think that you'll need it because there is so much room on the booklet to scribble notes or do your physics problems. My husband went with me and he had the water/snacks outside and I went there to have a drink. Before the exam they did announce where the pencil sharpener and drinking fountains were so I think many of the students used drinking fountains. I did see one girl with a bag of chex mix and the proctor didn't say anything about it. As far as testing day went, it did seem to fly by. They only aggrevating thing was the lengthy time the proctor took between tests. I suggest you call your testing center ahead of time and find out how things work.

An interesting thing happened on the day of my testing. They were also doing the GRE subject exams in other rooms and a very pregnant lady came in with her married name on her passport rather than the name she signed up with for the GRE History exam. Although she had her marriage license with her, they still wouldn't let her in. They forced her to pay an extra $100 or so to come in as a "walk-in." I was similarly concerned and had called the MCAT central office to ask whether they would let me in if I changed my last name. They said as long as I had my marriage license it would be ok. I'm glad I didn't change my last name.

 

[snapdad]

No scrap paper at my test site. No timers either, although digital watches were allowed. We were allowed to have drinks in the room, but we had to leave them with our backpacks at the side of the room while we were taking the test.

Word of advice: bring two bottles, one with water, the other with Gatorade. The Gatorade helps during the breaks, believe me. I also brought "Protein Plus" Power Bars and ate one at each break. Helped immensely.

 

[ms. a]

Originally posted by gschl1234
An interesting thing happened on the day of my testing. They were also doing the GRE subject exams in other rooms and a very pregnant lady came in with her married name on her passport rather than the name she signed up with for the GRE History exam. Although she had her marriage license with her, they still wouldn't let her in. They forced her to pay an extra $100 or so to come in as a "walk-in." I was similarly concerned and had called the MCAT central office to ask whether they would let me in if I changed my last name. They said as long as I had my marriage license it would be ok. I'm glad I didn't change my last name.

On the pregnancy note, anyone who is pregnant, beware that you might have problems with the fact that, at least at some sites, you are not allowed to get up to go to the bathroom, even if you are done with your section and just waiting for the time to run out. No matter what, no exceptions. Well, maybe if you bring a doctor's note, but I hadn't thought it would be a problem, so I didn't go to that extreme.