MCAT Optional?

McGill University in Montreal will no longer require Canadian applicants to its medical school to take the MCAT. The admissions committee hopes the move will increase the number of Francophone students in its program. Applicants from outside Canada will still be required to submit MCAT scores.

Although McGill has no objection to standardized testing (and indeed tried to arrange for a translated test), the move fits into a trend of test-optional undergraduate institutions. Bates College eliminated the SAT for applicants 25 years ago and has seen no drop in student quality. By some measures, applicants are more qualified.

With the push for learner-centered medical education and the empathetic physicians, it seems contradictory that medical schools would still rely heavily on a multiple-choice test for admissions decisions.

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