The Pre-Professional Association provides an opportunity to take a practice medical school entrance exam.

Scores from the Medical College Admissions Test are required by nearly all U.S. medical schools, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

A practice MCAT will be administered at 8 p.m. Saturday in Montgomery Hall, Room 422, according to an NIU press release. Students can take the actual MCATs in either August or April of each year.

“Anyone can take the real MCATs or mock-MCATs [that] we are hosting; however, the MCAT is really made for students wishing to go to medical school,” said Matt Wodziak, PPA vice-president and senior philosophy major.

The practice exams are a way for students to take practice exams at a much cheaper cost. Members of the PPA can take the exam for $4 and non-members must pay $10.

“Generally, people only want to take it once [junior year]. Sometimes they will take it twice if they don’t get their desired score,” said Anni Moore, a junior biology major.

Three areas are tested by the exam in addition to a writing sample, verbal reasoning, physical sciences and biological sciences, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

“The practice exams, which the PPA will be using, were downloaded from the American Medical College Application Services Web site,” Wodziak said. “This is the American Medical College Application Service Web site which holds much information as well as the application form which students send to most medical schools that they will apply to.”

The exams will last six and a half hours in addition to three 15-minute breaks throughout the day. Students who take the exams are advised to pack a sack lunch to eat during the breaks.

Students interested in taking the mock MCAT can contact Wodziak at [email protected].