The proposed changes were finalized in November and will be voted on by the Board of Directors of the” Association of American Medical Colleges”:https://www.aamc.org/ in February 2012, Koetje said. If approved by the board, the changes will be implemented in 2015.

The current recommendations will add 115 minutes to the exam time, which typically takes about five and a half hours.

“Medical science has changed quite dramatically (since 1991),” he said. “We’ve seen significant developments in biochemistry and molecular biology … and the way in which those upper-level sciences are impacting medical practice.”

A concern with these new changes is whether or not schools will be able to adjust their curriculum in time to prepare students for the new version of the exam.

A study conducted by Kaplan, which surveyed admissions officers at medical schools nationwide, revealed only 52 percent of officers believe undergraduate programs will have enough time between now and 2015 to make the necessary changes, Koetje said.

“Just a narrow majority believe they have enough time,” he said. “There’s a lot that needs to be done … so everyone is aware that this is a particular challenge.”

Joel Maurer, assistant dean for admissions at the MSU College of Human Medicine, said he hopes the new exam will make the job of selecting candidates easier for admissions officers at medical schools.

“I do agree that our current MCAT works well, but I think it could be better,” Maurer said. “I’m all for things that ultimately try to help committees on admission determine better who should be the next generation of doctors.”

Maurer said many admissions officers found the writing sample of the test to be a relatively useless and poor indicator of a candidate’s qualification. The increased length and newly incorporated sections will force students into better long-term planning throughout their undergraduate years, Maurer said.

“(Students are) going to have to really sit down with their advisers and really plan out their potential curriculum and their course work over their first three years of college,” he said.

First-year osteopathic medicine student Jenha Muir said when she took the MCAT exam, the writing sample was a welcomed change of pace.

“The writing was a nice 60-minute break in the old MCAT,” she said. “You could breathe, and you’re not flying through questions.”

Muir took a preparatory class and said she studied four to five days a week leading up to the exam. She said the added length in the proposed revisions would only make it more difficult.

“I think it would definitely be more stressful,” Muir said.

“I thought it was long enough — you were drained by the end of your exam as it was.”