MCAT snafu affects 2,000 hopeful med students

Faulty versions of the Medical College Admissions Test were distributed to about 30 sites across the United States, said John Parker, spokesman for the American Association of Medical Colleges, the organization that administers the test.

Students taking the exam in Tucson did not receive the flawed version, but 154 Arizona State University students in Tempe did, he said.

"We have been hearing from students all over the country asking us for guidance in what to do," said Andrea Wilson, spokeswoman for Kaplan Educational Centers, an organization that offers preparatory classes for the MCAT.

The MCAT is required by medical colleges for admission. About 30,000 students took Saturday's test.

The $160 exam is offered twice each year, in April and in August.

The mistake appeared in the verbal section of the four-part, day-long exam, said Maria Lofftus, director of academic services for Kaplan.

She said students came upon the mistake, which paired a reading passage on technology and french fries with comprehension questions about astronomy, about 20 minutes into the exam.

The AAMC is offering the almost 2,000 affected students three alternatives to "make up" for the mistake, Parker said.

"There are options available not only to students with the error but also to those students who were in the same room," Wilson said. "In many cases there was a lot of excitement about the mistake and quite a disruption for the test takers."

Students may chose one of three options:

• Throw out the exam scores, receive a full refund and walk away from the MCAT entirely.

• Keep the scores received on Saturday's exam and retake it again in August at no charge.

• Accept the score as though nothing had gone wrong.

In any case, the inaccurate question will not be scored, Parker said.

Because of the mistake, students who took the exam Saturday will have priority to retake the exam in August, Lofftus said.

"Medical students apply for school a year in advance," she said. "This is a time-sensitive process and they (medical schools) don't review applications until they receive the MCAT scores.

"People who take the August MCAT will be at a disadvantage because there may be significantly fewer positions available," Lofftus said.

Students who took the inaccurate exam will receive a letter from AAMC within two weeks and must make a decision about the results by May 15, Parker said.

"We'll have to look at the procedure and make sure it doesn't happen again - we'll be looking more closely at the process of preparing the test," he said.