FYI!!!


I agree on all counts. However, health professions advisors DO need to alert
their constituents that MCAT procedures will change drastically and soon,
and that some of the MCAT strategies they've heard about from their peers
and predecessors will no longer work for them next year.

Advisors need to sound all of the following warnings, and do it early and
often:

* MCAT WILL NOT be available on the traditional last Saturdays of April or
August.

* MCAT WILL NOT be offered at the same locations where it was given in the
past. My students have long become accustomed to taking MCAT at a
neighboring college six miles away. In 2007, this will no longer be an
option; for us, the nearest Thomson ProMetric center will be 45 miles away.
Where do most of your advisees currently take MCAT? Where is your nearest
Thomson ProMetric location?

* Most MCAT test dates will be on WEEKDAYS, not Saturdays. Most test dates
will necessitate either missing classes or (if summer) arranging time off
from work.

* MCAT test sites will have LESS CAPACITY than the current sites. There is a
good chance that students will not get their first choice of location, and
that they will have to travel further to an alternate test site than current
examinees do.

* Students will have to PLAN AHEAD and will need to REGISTER MUCH MORE IN
ADVANCE than is currently the case. MCAT registration will open six months
in advance of each test date. Those who delay until two months before the
test date probably WILL NOT get in, because test centers can begin reserving
seats for other types of tests.

* MCAT will be offered on Saturday, April 7, 2007. This is the ONLY Saturday
test date available during the spring 2007 semester.  Since most college
students traditionally have taken MCAT in the spring of their junior year,
and since this is the only spring Saturday test date, it is certain that
there will be FAR MORE APPLICANTS for this date than can be accommodated.
Students who expect to test on a Saturday in April had better register
BEFORE fall midterm break.

* There are several available test dates in August 2007, but NONE ARE
SATURDAYS.

* MCAT will be offered on Saturday, September 8, 2007.  Since many examinees
expect to take MCAT on a Saturday to avoid conflicting with classes or work,
or just because a Saturday test has been traditional in the past, this test
date can also be expected to sell out quickly.  Students who expect to test
on September 8 had better register BEFORE spring break.


Joseph H. Lechner, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry
Mount Vernon Nazarene University
800 Martinsburg Road
Mount Vernon, OH 43050-9500
[740] 392-6868 extension 3211