MCAT / DAT Standardized Tests

THE MEDICAL COLLEGE ADMISSION TEST (MCAT)

The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is required by most medical schools. It is approximately seven-and-a-half hours long (seat time) and very demanding, both in terms of the level of preparation required to be successful and the very strictly controlled, timed testing conditions. It is offered multiple times during the year, between January and September, at Prometric testing sites throughout the country. For resources that spell out the organization, content, scoring, purpose of the test, and testing conditions, please click here. Here is a downloadable PDF of the MCAT Essentials, and here is an AAMC MCAT Content Study List reformatted by Med-Pathway MCAT Prep.

A detailed and comprehensive resource, the Official Guide to the MCAT® Exam (MCAT2015), Fourth Edition, is available in the Career Center library for your use.  This volume may also be purchased for about $30 from the AAMC. Here is a link to purchase AAMC’s current AAMC MCAT Official Prep Complete Bundle (Online + Print Book).

Be sure that you are prepared for this exam. It is expensive ($300+ to register, and you will be charged an additional fee for any changes you make later, such as place or date). Currently, there are several practice tests, and a “sample” test that may be taken multiple times. At best, you will prepare extensively, either by using either a rigorous self-preparation program (on your own or with a couple of fellow students, utilizing print or free online resources provided through the AAMC. College/university online courses on specific subjects can provide a very thorough review of  a course you may have taken a couple of  years ago. 

You may consider one of the commercial preparation programs offered by ExamKrackers, Berkeley Review, Kaplan, Princeton Review, MCAT-Prep.com, Altius MCAT Prep,  and many others. (Commercial preparation programs can cost approximately $1,800 to $2,500 or more, with online versions somewhat less expensive.) The U World MCAT Exam Bank can be very helpful as well. Deciding to take a commercial prep course depends on your learning style and what you need to do to feel confidently prepared; many Wesleyan students and alum have been very successful in preparing on their own.

The AAMC Fee Assistance Program (FAP) is available to assist applicants who may not have the financial resources to easily register for the MCAT. Some of the benefits of the program  include free AAMC MCAT prep resources and the cost of the AMCAS application for up to 15 medical schools (a value of over $800). Find more information about the eligibility criteria and the benefits of the Fee Assistance Program on the AAMC website.

We strongly recommend taking a spring MCAT before the beginning of the admissions cycle, so that you will have your scores in hand (30 days after test day) before the 1st of July and before you submit your secondary applications. Once you have received your results from a spring MCAT, it will be easier for you to decide whether to go ahead with your application or wait until the next application cycle and a better set of scores. Since most medical schools have rolling admissions, the majority of interview slots are filled by early applicants. Applications submitted in July or August and scores from a late summer or fall MCAT administration can put your application significantly behind the competition and makes you a “high-risk” applicant.

The MCAT includes questions that require knowledge of biology, chemistry, biochemistry, statistics, physics, critical analysis and reasoning skills, as well as social, psychological, and biological foundations of behavior. We recommend taking courses in the social sciences during your time at Wesleyan such as: sociology, anthropology, psychology, social psychology, and/or developmental psychology, in order to learn more about those disciplinary perspectives, but there is no particular course offered at Wesleyan that will necessarily prepare you for the specific content of the Social/Behavior section. The most up-to-date, information about the MCAT may be found at AAMC.

The national average for the MCAT is a 501, and Wesleyan’s average MCAT score is approximately 512.

THE DENTAL ADMISSION TEST (DAT)

The American Dental Association (ADA) states that “The DAT is an admission test designed to provide dental education programs with a means to assess an applicant’s readiness and potential for success in these programs. Programs use the DAT in conjunction with other admission tools that provide insight into candidate qualifications as they relate to core program requirements. Test results are just one factor considered in evaluating applicant potential. Validity studies conducted by the Department of Testing Services (DTS) have consistently shown that test scores in conjunction with academic performance are useful and effective in predicting success in healthcare educational programs.

The scope of the exam includes a Survey of Natural Sciences, including biology, general chemistry and organic chemistry. The Perceptual Ability Test is comprised of six sub tests that assess the candidate’s ability to accurately perceive object dimensions and mentally manipulate objects in space. This includes, for example, the ability to differentiate among angles, or imagine how three-dimensional objects appear when viewed from different angles. The third section is the Reading Comprehension Test, which contains three reading passages on various scientific topics. Prior understanding of the science topics is not a prerequisite to answering the test items. The reading passages require the ability to read, comprehend, carefully analyze basic scientific information, and decide through critical analysis which information will help you to answer the questions asked in the passages.  analyze basic scientific information. Lastly, the Quantitative and Reasoning section includes questions that comprise problems in mathematics such as equations and expressions, inequalities, exponential notation, absolute value, ratios and proportions, and graphical analysis; Data Analysis, Interpretation, and Sufficiency; Quantitative Comparison; and Probability and Statistics.”

Refer to the Dental Admission Test Guide for more information. There is a non-refundable and non-transferable fee to sit for the DAT, which is $560 US dollars in 2025. This fee includes administration and official score reporting to schools and programs selected at the time of application with the Associated American Dental Schools Application Service (AADSAS). If an applicant decides to change their test date and ask for an extension, that will entail an additional $135 US dollars and will allow the applicant to re-schedule their appointment within a 45-day window.

The national averages for the DAT sections are 20 across the board for the Perceptual Ability Test (PAT), the academic average (AA), and Total Science (TS).

THE GRADUATE RECORDS EXAMINATION (GRE)

The GRE is not generally considered a required exam for health professions programs, however some veterinary schools require it.

According to the website, the GRE General Test closely reflects the kind of thinking you’ll do in today’s demanding graduate school programs, including business and law. It measures your verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, critical thinking and analytical writing skills—skills that have been developed over a long period of time and aren’t related to a specific field of study but are important for all.

Here is a chart about scoring in each section from the GRE website.

The average GRE scores in 2023-2024 were about 151 (151.2) for verbal reasoning and 158 (157.6) for quantitative reasoning. The average analytical writing score was 3.5, but this section is not included in your total score.