MCAT Test Biological Sciences Section

The MCAT test consists of four primary sections that are designed to evaluate an individual's basic reading and writing skills as well as the individual's basic scientific knowledge. These sections include a physical sciences section, a verbal reasoning section, a writing sample section, and a biological sciences section. The biological sciences section of the exam is designed to assess an individual's knowledge of basic scientific concepts. This section of the exam consists of 52 multiple-choice questions that are designed to test the individual's knowledge of a variety of topics related specifically to biology and organic chemistry. Each biological science question will present the individual with a passage that explains an advanced concept or research project, a basic problem related to biology or organic chemistry that the exam-taker will have to solve, or an argument or set of results that the individual taking the exam will have to explain. In order to answer the questions related to a new scientific concept or a scientific research project, the individual will have to apply his or her knowledge of biology and/or organic chemistry to understand the concept or project presented and answer questions related to defining the concept or explaining the purpose or conclusion of the project. In order to answer the problem-solving questions, the individual taking the exam will have to apply his or her knowledge of biology, organic chemistry, and mathematical concepts to identify the cause of a particular problem or to find the solution to a scientific equation. In order to answer the argument or result questions, the individual taking the exam will have to apply his or her knowledge of biology and/or organic chemistry to choose the option that best explains the argument, the reason for the results, or the reason that a certain set of procedures was used for the experiment. The exam-taker will have 70 minutes to complete the biological sciences section of the exam.

Biology Topics Covered
Organic Chemistry Topics Covered
Informational and Research Passages
Problem Solving Questions
Argument Evaluation Questions