October 2010 – Page 4

SAT – Scholastic Aptitude Test is a compulsory exam to get undergraduate admission into any under graduate college of North America. The SAT is developed and administered by College Entrance Examination Board, an USA based organisation. This College Board sets the questions, conducts the test and sends each examinee the final score report. High school juniors and seniors shall take the SAT exam. The test will measure critical thinking skills of each student for the success in their under graduation programs. SAT exam is being conducted seven times in a year.

Two Exams: There are two SAT exams namely SAT I and SAT II.
1. SAT I: This is structured as a reasoning test. It basically tests students verbal, mathematical and reasoning abilities.
2. SAT II: This is a subject test and it is intended to test the candidates knowledge of specific subject. The subject will be opted by the candidate. SAT examination is more of objective multiple choice questions based. Some schools and colleges expect candidates to clear more subject tests.

Register Online: Candidates shall either take the SAT reasoning test or shall take up to three SAT subject tests on the given test date. Candidates aspiring to take the test can register online, by mail, or also by telephone. Candidate has to register at least three weeks before the test date. Many universities in the US use SAT score as a way of assessing students coming from schools using different grade, class and division system. Almost every college in USA accepts SAT score to admit students.

Useful Books for SAT: The official SAT Guide- The College Board, Princeton Review – Cracking the SAT, Kaplan SAT.
Test Fee: US $94.
For more info, please visit www.collegeboard.com

Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is a compulsory exam to get admissions in undergraduate courses in the North American medical schools. In addition to the other admission guidelines, Medical school admissions team considers MCAT score as an important factor in admitting the candidates. MCAT basically tests the problem solving, critical thinking, and writing and science knowledge skills of the medical education aspirants across the countries. Many of the medical schools in USA do not consider the MCAT score, if the candidate took the examination more than three years back.

Examination Pattern: MCAT consists of 4 parts: Verbal Reasoning, Problems from Physical Sciences, Writing Samples and Biological Problems including Organic Chemistry. Except the Writing sample section, all sections of MCAT is given a score in the scale of 1 to 15 separately. Retaking MCAT is also offered to candidates. But it is highly advisable not to retake MCAT exam, as there is lesser chance of scoring with prominent difference. The reason is…. candidates both performances will be taken into consideration after taking the average of the two.

MCAT will basically test the knowledge of student’s medical school pre-requisite courses and human physiology. MCAT will not test candidate’s knowledge in Mathematics. MCAT is conducted twice a year by the Association of American Medical Council in April and August.
Test Fee: US $ 225.
Books: MCAT by Dr. Brett Ferdinand.
Website: www.aamc.org (See ‘students’ section)

Scholastic Aptitude Test for Undergraduate Admissions

Medical College Admission Test – MCAT