The last "old" MCAT

[BLACKMD]

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So AAMC published their final seats today for writing the "old" MCAT. The last dates are in January 2015. Anyone else neurotically jump on AAMC at 7am to get a seat? No?... Just me? Okay, was just curious 😛

 

[SnakeOilForSale]

The scores will be invalid after the next cycle so in the event of wanting to retake it or needing to reapply, I'd have to learn all the new material anyway.

Good luck with your test though!

 

[Oso]

yeah I bet a lot of (SDN) people did that... Good luck on your MCAT. Only 11 months until you're free!

 

[DoctorWhoo]

The scores will be invalid after the next cycle so in the event of wanting to retake it or needing to reapply, I'd have to learn all the new material anyway.

Good luck with your test though!

Source? MCAT scores stay valid for 2-3 years... they wouldn't shortchange people like that.

 

[SnakeOilForSale]

Source? MCAT scores stay valid for 2-3 years... they wouldn't shortchange people like that.

Last I looked into it they were undecided on how long the old scores will be valid for and each medical school would have a different date. I'm not sure if that's been worked out or anything though. I agree though that it should be at least for 3 years regardless of the change. The real thing I wonder though is how the new score will equate, like will an old 30 carry over as a 75% in the new one, like a 45? I guess it depends on how the first cohort scores.

 

[mehc012]

So AAMC published their final seats today for writing the "old" MCAT. The last dates are in January 2015. Anyone else neurotically jump on AAMC at 7am to get a seat? No?... Just me? Okay, was just curious 😛

I did this on the 11th for the last end-of-summer batch. It was rough, because they didn't tell us when it would open and I'm on the west coast, so 6am-8am EST = 3am-5am PST...which bridges the exact gap of "stay up until" and "wake up early for".
It took over an hour to log on the night before and I was concerned, so I cheated...I logged on at night and used a browser refresh app to keep me logged in while I slept. Woke up at 3am, checked, went to bed. Woke up at 5am, registered 5-10min before the official "we're open now!" announcement, and then slept some more!

I think I out-neuroticized you, and I'm a bizarre combination of 5% proud and 95% ashamed...

 

[487806]

The scores will be invalid after the next cycle so in the event of wanting to retake it or needing to reapply, I'd have to learn all the new material anyway.

Good luck with your test though!

Last I looked into it they were undecided on how long the old scores will be valid for and each medical school would have a different date. I'm not sure if that's been worked out or anything though. I agree though that it should be at least for 3 years regardless of the change. The real thing I wonder though is how the new score will equate, like will an old 30 carry over as a 75% in the new one, like a 45? I guess it depends on how the first cohort scores.

😵 Yeah... that's just incorrect. Old MCAT scores will still be valid up until ~2017 according to the AAMC website. And I figure they compare old and new scores linearly. x/45 = y/60

 

[mehc012]

😵 Yeah... that's just incorrect. Old MCAT scores will still be valid up until ~2017 according to the AAMC website. And I figure they compare old and new scores linearly. x/45 = y/60

I'd imagine they'd go by percentile.

 

[487806]

I'd imagine they'd go by percentile.

Probably. The relation still works. The 40 is the new 30.

This just illustrates the main point that the old MCAT will be predominant in 2015-2016 cycle, <50% likely in 2016-2017 cycle and abolished 2017-2018 and future.

 

[plumhill]

I'd imagine they'd go by percentile.

Spoke to the director of admissions at my uni's med school. They will compare by percentile and most schools will accept scores for 2-3 years (and of those, mostly 3).

 

[mehc012]

Or they'll SAY they're going by percentile, but actually just look at the PS, BS, and VR scores because they know what those should look like. That's what they did with the new SAT at first.

 

[SnakeOilForSale]

Spoke to the director of admissions at my uni's med school. They will compare by percentile and most schools will accept scores for 2-3 years (and of those, mostly 3).

Thanks for clearing it up! The percentile makes most sense.

 

[Mad Jack]

The scores will be invalid after the next cycle so in the event of wanting to retake it or needing to reapply, I'd have to learn all the new material anyway.

Good luck with your test though!

Scores will still be valid and accepted for at least 2-3 years, and results will be available for years beyond that if you need them. They will no doubt provide a comparison table that shows what percentile you ranked in the old test versus the takers of the new test, similar to what happened when the SAT switched to a new scoring system.

 

[Eaglefan]

just signed up for (literally) the last one before the switch. inb4 they make that one the hardest any mcat has ever been just to screw us sandbaggers

 

[swolebrah]

The scores will be invalid after the next cycle so in the event of wanting to retake it or needing to reapply, I'd have to learn all the new material anyway.

Good luck with your test though!

not sure if gunner or actually misinformed...nearly gave me a heartattack!

I signed up at 7am on feb 11 😉.