Students caught cheating on the MCAT

[Mithril]

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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/05/31/bc-high-tech-mcat-scam.html

This happened in my home province. I'm ashamed.

But this is the most elaborate story I've heard of MCAT cheating. I guess we can expect a new practice test by AMCAS, perhaps? 😛

 

[NickNaylor]

I was about to get excited. And then I saw this was in Canada.

I'm 10-20% serious.

 

[ozzi22]

I was about to get excited. And then I saw this was in Canada.

I'm 10-20% serious.

lmao

 

[patel2]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/05/31/bc-high-tech-mcat-scam.html

This happened in my home province. I'm ashamed.

But this is the most elaborate story I've heard of MCAT cheating. I guess we can expect a new practice test by AMCAS, perhaps? 😛

lmao that's some pretty ballsy stuff. If you are smart enough to rig such a high tech system like that, shouldn't you be smart enough to buckle down for 3 months and read a Kaplan review book?

 

[ozzi22]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/05/31/bc-high-tech-mcat-scam.html

This happened in my home province. I'm ashamed.

But this is the most elaborate story I've heard of MCAT cheating. I guess we can expect a new practice test by AMCAS, perhaps? 😛

sick stuff. i guess they have sealed their faith. no more med school in the u.s or canada for them anymore 👍👍👍

 

[Whatyousay]

lmao that's some pretty ballsy stuff. If you are smart enough to rig such a high tech system like that, shouldn't you be smart enough to buckle down for 3 months and read a Kaplan review book?

If you're going to cheat, might as well go all-out.

Go big or go home.

 

[ozzi22]

lmao that's some pretty ballsy stuff. if you are smart enough to rig such a high tech system like that, shouldn't you be smart enough to buckle down for 3 months and read a kaplan review book?

+100000000000

 

[ozzi22]

aaahhhhh, back in the day. memories 🙄

 

[phnerd1105]

Apparently not, since the tester couldn't discern that the answers he started getting were wrong

 

[2sk0ol4c0ol]

lmao that's some pretty ballsy stuff. If you are smart enough to rig such a high tech system like that, shouldn't you be smart enough to buckle down for 3 months and read a Kaplan review book?

I've heard in Canada the general ideology when trying to get into med school is go big or go home, even if going big ruins your chances of ever becoming a doctor.

 

[Local Native]

So basically their tech setup worked but got caught because people were suspicious. This is kind of disappointing because it shows you how vulnerable the testing centers are to technology. Makes me doubt the integrity of the testing process especially since there are international stations for taking the exam which could be even more compromised.

 

[circulus vitios]

That's pretty badass.

 

[Swiss Medical]

lmao that's some pretty ballsy stuff. If you are smart enough to rig such a high tech system like that, shouldn't you be smart enough to buckle down for 3 months and read a Kaplan review book?

...or a Princeton Review Book....

 

[rHinO1]

It just goes to show how easy it is to cheat, and the importance of having smart co-conspirators instead of tricking "tutors."

 

[paul411]

Maybe test centers should invest in signal jammers. Also, what a sad thing to do.

 

[orthomyxo]

I think it's safe to say that Mr. Azar will never be a doctor. What a loser.

 

[Swiss Medical]

I think it's safe to say that Mr. Azar will never be a doctor. What a loser.

Well.....actually he can. 😀 Luckily for him, there is a program where he can get certified by the USDA.....

 

[patel2]

with every one door that closes another opens...maybe the gov't will hire him to wiretap and spy on us???

 

[niblet]

There's always the Caribbean. Actually probably not.

 

[demh23]

I think it's safe to say that Mr. Azar will never be a doctor. What a loser.

You are unbelievably racist. Why wouldn't Mr. Ruben also be punished for this? Of course you only point out the minority.

 

[Local Native]

You are unbelievably racist. Why wouldn't Mr. Ruben also be punished for this? Of course you only point out the minority.

Mr. Ruben still has career possibilities as a delicious sandwich.

 

[Swiss Medical]

Mr. Ruben still has career possibilities as a delicious sandwich.

...or as an honorary member of the USDA.....United States Department of Agriculture...only 4 year program in Switzerland...

 

[willen101383]

Mr. Ruben still has career possibilities as a delicious sandwich.

lmao nice!

 

[Political]

Oh god that plan was absolutely brilliant imo

 

[gettheleadout]

Mr. Ruben still has career possibilities as a delicious sandwich.

👍

On a serious note, cheating on the MCAT is stupid. If you can't honestly perform well on it, why would you want to throw away $100k and fail Step 1 later? Correlation aside, it's at least good practice for a "hard" standardized test.

 

[gobigorgohome]

If you're going to cheat, might as well go all-out.

Go big or go home.

👍

 

[Swiss Medical]

👍

I see you found your inspiration for a handle...

 

[juliedi]

I was about to get excited. And then I saw this was in Canada.

I'm 10-20% serious.

Don't hate. The one time I visited Canada (British Columbia to be exact) I went to a restaurant with my sisters and our waiter gave us 2 rounds of free shots. At lunch. Canada is awesome!

 

[startswithb]

Currently waiting for the "Got caught cheating on the MCAT. What are my chances?" thread.

 

[steel88]

I understand how the camera was sending images, but did they seriously just allow him to have a Bluetooth headset in?!

And wow would I start raging if I was taking that test and it was voided because those two idiots who couldn't pay off some tutors.

 

[senorsquishie]

Mr. Ruben still has career possibilities as a delicious sandwich.

One of the best comments ever!

😆 🤣

 

[orthomyxo]

You are unbelievably racist. Why wouldn't Mr. Ruben also be punished for this? Of course you only point out the minority.

I hope that you're trolling and are actually not this stupid.

I only mentioned the kid actually doing the cheating, since I can safely assume that he wanted to go to med school. Can't say the same for his partner in crime. You, on the other hand, decided that he was a minority from the sound of his last name. You are unbelievably racist 🙄

 

[raltima07]

I understand how the camera was sending images, but did they seriously just allow him to have a Bluetooth headset in?!

And wow would I start raging if I was taking that test and it was voided because those two idiots who couldn't pay off some tutors.

I agree...I would probably kill them and then beat them repeatedly.

 

[V5RED]

Currently waiting for the "Got caught cheating on the MCAT. What are my chances?" thread.

lol Well, there is one for every possible issue.

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

Do the other students' test scores get affected too? There's a part in the article that states the compromised test was discontinued and replaced...🙁

 

[Local Native]

Do the other students' test scores get affected too? There's a part in the article that states the compromised test was discontinued and replaced...🙁

It means they will never use that test again (or any questions from it). The MCAT reuses a lot of its questions and sections because it costs a lot of money to create everything from scratch. I actually took the MCAT on that day (not at that site, obviously) and still got my score. But it would be interesting to find out if other students' scores would be invalidated from that site on that day.

 

[CaptainSSO]

You are unbelievably racist. Why wouldn't Mr. Ruben also be punished for this? Of course you only point out the minority.

How did you somehow extrapolate race into his comment? You, my friend, do not appear to be the sharpest tool in the shed.

 

[Kaustikos]

It means they will never use that test again (or any questions from it). The MCAT reuses a lot of its questions and sections because it costs a lot of money to create everything from scratch. I actually took the MCAT on that day (not at that site, obviously) and still got my score. But it would be interesting to find out if other students' scores would be invalidated from that site on that day.

oh, thank god. I was about to RAGE and hurt people if you guys were hurt by this. 😡

 

[raltima07]

When was this, by the way?

 

[FieryEmbers]

January 29! 🙂

 

[Suncrusher]

It's pretty awesome of the tutors that they figured out what was happening, collected evidence, and then started purposely giving the wrong answers until the police could shut the operation down


Oh, and smart move by the newspaper for telling the entire world how the cheating was accomplished >.> Journalists are supposed to tell the public the truth, but it's not a lie to withhold certain info just until the test centers have a chance to solve the problem and any other related weaknesses that people who get ideas from this story might think to exploit

 

[kcin]

Am I the only one that read the comments and was disgusted by the scum in there?

 

[gettheleadout]

Am I the only one that read the comments and was disgusted by the scum in there?

I just looked through and didn't see anything particularly bad other than the "the MCAT is useless and a money-making scam" and "people cheat on it all the time and surgeons are the only real doctors" (wat?) comments and the Canadian political stuff I don't have the background to understand.

 

[kcin]

I just looked through and didn't see anything particularly bad other than the "the MCAT is useless and a money-making scam" and "people cheat on it all the time and surgeons are the only real doctors" (wat?) comments and the Canadian political stuff I don't have the background to understand.

Eh, there's some doctor bashing mixed in there. People talking about how stupid doctors are when they may have made a mistake, etc.


also "Surgeons are the real doctors., otherwise they are just a glorified bookworm."

 

[milski]

So did the tutors-to-be go through the cheater's friend computer? And did they have permission to do that? How is that not an unauthorized access?

I'm surprised that the test center did not catch the cheater first. I'll admit that I've never taken MCAT but taking pictures of the screen (even with a tiny camera) and staying on the phone through the whole test? It does not say anything good about how carefully the test is being monitored.

 

[mastermix]

I remember my proctor treated me like a criminal because I almost walked into the exam room with 40 cents in change in my pocket that I had forgotten to put in the Prometric locker. I now realize in retrospect that she had the incredible foresight to have been suspicious that one of the coins may have been a special quarter from the U.S. Treasury's limited edition pinhole camera series.

 

[apumic]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/05/31/bc-high-tech-mcat-scam.html

This happened in my home province. I'm ashamed.

But this is the most elaborate story I've heard of MCAT cheating. I guess we can expect a new practice test by AMCAS, perhaps? 😛

And AAMC Practice Test 12 will be coming out Dec. 2011... (And being sold for $50/test as "the most reliable MCAT Practice Test yet" to recoup their "$200,000")

 

[addo]

no wonder they charge us $230 to take a test, when each one of them babies run them $200k to produce..... Jeez!

 

[Local Native]

no wonder they charge us $230 to take a test, when each one of them babies run them $200k to produce..... Jeez!

Oh please. They're rolling in profits with each cycle especially since they reuse questions and sections. I'm sure the $200k is an exaggeration, too, and it's more of a fine for the test center for being reckless.

 

[addo]

Oh please. They're rolling in profits with each cycle especially since they reuse questions and sections. I'm sure the $200k is an exaggeration, too, and it's more of a fine for the test center for being reckless.

pshh aamc rollin in profits? you must be trollin