A description of the standardized, multiple-choice Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and how to use it is offered. Medical school admissions officers medical educators, college faculty members, and practicing physicians are active participants in selecting content, drafting test specifications, and authoring questions for the exam. The MCAT is designed to: assess understanding of science concepts and principles identified as prerequisite to the study and practice of medicine; evaluate basic analytical skills in the context of medically relevant problems and data; and help admissions committees predict which of their applicants will perform adequately in the medical school curriculum. Its six scores are biology knowledge, chemistry knowledge, physics knowledge, science problems, skills analysis--reading, skills analysis--quantitative. Six chapters are as follows: a description of the MCAT; an chapters are as follows: a description of the MCAT; an explanation of what MCAT scores show about examinees; ways to interpret an applicant's MCAT scores; methods of comparing MCAT performance among applicants; a discussion of how to consider the six MCAT scores; and ways to evaluate the admissions process at an institution. Two appendices disucss the assessment of the selection process and provide sources of additional information. (SM)