Premed students call for MCAT to become an online test this season

Students for Ethical Admissions, an organization of premed students in the U.S. and Canada, is calling for the Association of American Medical Colleges to reconsider in-person MCAT testing due to the pandemic. Other standardized tests, including the LSAT and GRE, have moved online this season, while schools such as Stanford have waived the MCAT requirement for this application season. AAMC responded to SEA's initial concerns, emphasizing late last week that online testing would not be possible to "protect the integrity of the exam." But SEA says it has since learned that at least four students — who claim no other outside activity — tested positive for Covid-19 after going to an MCAT testing center. Moving the MCAT online or making it optional this cycle "will mitigate infection rates amongst applicants and demonstrate ... that the medical community will practice what they preach about avoiding gatherings and small, enclosed spaces," an SEA representative tells me. The AAMC confirmed with me yesterday that it will still be requiring in-person testing.