Written MCAT vs. CBT? Takers of both?

[jburn25]

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I took the MCAT in August and didn't score as well as I would like. Unfortunately, I will be taking it again in Aprill only this time (as everyone knows) its only offered in the computer version.

Just wondering if anyone has taken both versions and could offer some insight? I'm sure the difficulty level is the same, but perhaps there are different strategies required in order to suceed on the CBT compared to the written. I know the CBT is officially starts in January, but it has been offered in select cities for a year or so evidently.

 

[estairella]

I took the MCAT in August and didn't score as well as I would like. Unfortunately, I will be taking it again in Aprill only this time (as everyone knows) its only offered in the computer version.

Just wondering if anyone has taken both versions and could offer some insight? I'm sure the difficulty level is the same, but perhaps there are different strategies required in order to suceed on the CBT compared to the written. I know the CBT is officially starts in January, but it has been offered in select cities for a year or so evidently.

I've taken parts of the new free emcat.com one, and I have a Kaplan CD with some practice questions that were CBT when I was practicing for August.

In my opinion, CBT sucks. There are advantages.. one is that you won't necessarily be flipping back and forth between pages and questions (because of those double scroll bar things). Another is that there is really no chance for a bubbling error (esp. not ones that shift the rest of your answers).

Now for the disadvantages... imo, scrap paper is not the same as having a paper version. For example, if you have a physics question, simple ramp kinetics question and it shows you a figure. If you wanna play around with force vectors or whatever, you'll have to redraw the entire ramp. I can imagine the circuit questions are gonna be the most painful.. you accidentally put one in serial instead of parallel, and there goes 1 mark.

Bringing up marks, the second thing is that, now, marks are worth more, because each section has less of them. This reduces burnout, but on the other hand, a passage on one of your weak spots will hurt you more.

Finally... you can forget about annotating for the VR (I never did that, but I know many do). Yes, they do let you add highlights and notes, but the reason you annotate isn't just to sum up, it's to organize thoughts. Typing into a textbox and dragging a mouse is not the same as engaging your hand, circling this word, underlining another, etc.

All in all though, CBT should be an easier (i.e. shorter) exam. You have an advantage in that you won't have to worry as much about timing, so just get comfortable with the way its done, and your content, and you're set! 👍

 

[Despina]

I took a free version of the CBT that was given out by AAMC...they were trying to work out the tweeks a year ago, and offered it free one Saturday morning at a local university in order to get students opinions. Granted I wasn't anywhere near ready when I took it having only completed 1 semester of gen chem and bio, so its hard for me to judge (had the score counted I would have recieved a V8, PS 7, BS 7).

Several things I liked.

-I didn't feel exhausted at the end of it (maybe because I randomly guessed at many orgo questions and physics questions).
- you could mark questions with a check mark, and go back to them easily with this search tool (easy to use)...easier than flipping though pages...

Things I didn't like (hopefully, they've fixed them as they did have us feel out surveys afterward as this was the whole point):

I thought the font was too small. Drove me nuts, and I couldn't make it bigger. When I read off the computer I like big font.

In all my science classes, I like to highlight key words on exams, especially in trick type questions...really sucks that I can't do this...although I saw the Kaplan CBT version the other day, and they have a highlighting feature, so maybe MCAT changed this?

The numbering of questions is wierd. You don't start with #1 for each section. So occasionally I lost track of where I was in the test, and how much I had left to go, because I couldn't remember what number the test had started on....it's something that you wouldn't think would screw you up, but it did for me and several of my classmates. Moral of the story is to familiarze yourself with the numbering.

I really would like a 30 minute lunch break to clear my head, get my blood sugar back to normal, etc.

I am thinking about taking it in January and cancelling my score, just to get an idea of what I am in for.

 

[akinf]

I am also taking it in January. I think I will have to try the 3R CBT to get familiar with the format. I am retaking just to improve my verbal reasoning score. Something wacked out in Aug.

 

[IckeyShuffle]

I took the MCAT in August and didn't score as well as I would like. Unfortunately, I will be taking it again in Aprill only this time (as everyone knows) its only offered in the computer version.

Just wondering if anyone has taken both versions and could offer some insight? I'm sure the difficulty level is the same, but perhaps there are different strategies required in order to suceed on the CBT compared to the written. I know the CBT is officially starts in January, but it has been offered in select cities for a year or so evidently.

i took a full length practice cbat and it gave me a huge headache and neckache form looking at the computer screen. It was also at the end of a very long day so that might have had an effect. I liked the paper way more.

 

[MadHopsMD]

I took the MCAT in August and didn't score as well as I would like. Unfortunately, I will be taking it again in Aprill only this time (as everyone knows) its only offered in the computer version.

Just wondering if anyone has taken both versions and could offer some insight? I'm sure the difficulty level is the same, but perhaps there are different strategies required in order to suceed on the CBT compared to the written. I know the CBT is officially starts in January, but it has been offered in select cities for a year or so evidently.

i think i would have prefered the shorter version. the biggest factor for me with the written version was the length....too damm long!

 

[goosie]

I took the paper version in '04, got a 27 (12 Verbal, 8 bio, 7 Physical). My biggest problem was a lack of studying. I'm taking a kaplan class now and have signed up for the January CBT. My first diagnostic test was interesting- I got a 10 in Physical Science, a 12 in Verbal, and a 6 in Bio. This time around my problem was not a lack of preparation- but the fact that I really couldn't focus my eyes on the computer screen by the time Bio came around. This is kinda frightening since I sit and stare at a computer screen all day at work- I would have expected my computer stamina to be a bit higher than it actually was.

For people taking the CBT, how are you preparing for 5 hours of a computer test? (not talking about the actual studying, but the literal preparation of sitting in front of a computer for so long)

 

[IckeyShuffle]

I took the paper version in '04, got a 27 (12 Verbal, 8 bio, 7 Physical). My biggest problem was a lack of studying. I'm taking a kaplan class now and have signed up for the January CBT. My first diagnostic test was interesting- I got a 10 in Physical Science, a 12 in Verbal, and a 6 in Bio. This time around my problem was not a lack of preparation- but the fact that I really couldn't focus my eyes on the computer screen by the time Bio came around. This is kinda frightening since I sit and stare at a computer screen all day at work- I would have expected my computer stamina to be a bit higher than it actually was.

For people taking the CBT, how are you preparing for 5 hours of a computer test? (not talking about the actual studying, but the literal preparation of sitting in front of a computer for so long)

agreed, my eyes started to hurt after the first few hours.

 

[theunremarkable]

did you guys not practice on the computer before you took the CBT? I would think that after doing so many of the tests ont he computer you would get use to it?

 

[goosie]

did you guys not practice on the computer before you took the CBT? I would think that after doing so many of the tests ont he computer you would get use to it?

There are only so many full- length practice tests that you can take- and you really can't break it up into sections since that would defeat the purpose of building up computer stamina.

I have been practicing on the computer as much as possible- but I need to study material on the weekends and can't just take practice tests every Saturday and Sunday.

I realize that the only real way to fix the problem is to keep taking online practice tests- but I really think that Bio scores on the CBT will be lower than on the paper tests because of this. Especially given the fact that you don't have an hour for lunch to break it up.

 

[Playmakur42]

I love to circle/underline important things in passages and write short notes on the sides of the written passages.

It seems like you lose alot of this on the computer.

I also noticed that when you go back to the passage, you have to sit there with the mouse and scroll up/down through the passage to find the spot you were on. That really annoys me.

All things considered, I think I prefer the paper version.

Is there anyway you can take the paper version instead of the CBT?