MCAT Writing Sample
At a Glance
- Time: 60 minutes
- Format: 2 essay questions
30 minutes per essay - Tests: Critical Thinking, Intellectual Organization, Written Communication
The Basics of MCAT Writing Sample
The Writing Sample requires you to write two essays, each within a half-hour allotment. Like the verbal reasoning section, the Writing Sample tends to be underestimated by MCAT test takers. Many think that they can just apply their everyday writing skills to the essays and do well. This is a dangerous presumption. In every facet, the MCAT is a test of analytical reasoning—even in the Writing Sample.
Your essays will be written in response to a stimulus. For example:
True leadership leads by example rather than by command.
The stimulus can be an opinion, a widely shared belief, a philosophical dictum, or an assertion regarding general policy concerns in such areas as history, political science, business, ethics, or art. You can be sure that it will not concern scientific or technical subjects, your reasons for entering the medical profession, emotionally charged religious or social issues, or obscure social or political issues that might require specialized knowledge.
You'll have Three Tasks
Though worded slightly differently each time, the instructions that follow the statement will ask you to perform three tasks. When completed properly, the following tasks create a balanced essay:
- Task One: Provide your interpretation of the statement. The degree to which you develop the statement in this first task dictates the depth and sophistication of your entire essay.
- Task Two: Offer a concrete example that illustrates a point of view directly opposite to the one expressed or implied by the statement. You must give a counter-example; it can be factual or hypothetical.
- Task Three: Explain how the conflict between the viewpoint expressed in the statement and the viewpoint you described in the second task might be resolved. You'll be coming up with a rule that you could apply in situations to see whether or not the statement holds true.
Many test takers make the mistake of confusing the essay stimulus with a platform from which to emote, lecture, or convince. Instead, your goal should be to analyze the statement, present it from two perspectives, and explain how and when you might apply it.
Free Kaplan MCAT Writing Sample Resources
