Demand for Contingency MCAT Dates for People Affected by Hurricane Ida

Our safety should be our top priority. When a global pandemic and hurricane are impacting our lives, we would expect the AAMC to accommodate to those students who were impacted. It shouldn’t come at the expense of our lives and MCAT exam that determines our medical future. Many students were majorly impacted by the hurricane and had to cancel their MCAT exam due to this. AAMC will only offer contingency dates for people who’s exam site was cancelled by the hurricane. If the exam site didn’t close, you were still expected to go to the exam. Contingency dates don’t apply to these students even if they lost their homes and cars due to the hurricane.

Unfortunately, this also leaves students who were impacted by the hurricane but chose a testing site that was far from the impact zone or were planning on traveling prior to a far location from where the hurricane hit without any choice but to cancel their exam. AAMC has contingency dates, but they are not available to students who’s site is still open. We need AAMC to provide a solution. Not only are we still impacted by the pandemic, but many of us are suffering from the impact of the hurricane from losing our homes to our cars to even loved ones.

I am someone who was offered a new date for the MCAT only a few days after the impact of the hurricane (not a contingency date) in a neighboring state that was hours away. When I provided AAMC photos of the impact of the hurricane and my car completely ruined, I was told to wait another year to test while other students who weren’t impacted but chose a site that closed due to the hurricane we’re offered the contingency dates. We must stand up for our rights as future physicians. This is unacceptable and unfair to students who are suffering from the hurricane impacts.