Students who take the Medical College Admissions Test in May will learn their scores for the first time in the history of the test.

At present, scores are reported only to the medical schools to which students have applied.

Deans of the 88 American medical schools approved the reform at the annual meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges in New York last week-end.

Applications

The deans felt that giving students their MCAT results would help them decide where to send their medical school applications, said Perry J. Culver '37, Associate Dean for Admissions at Harvard Medical School.

But Culver warned that students should not give too much weight to test scores in determining where to apply. Test scores are hard to evaluate even for medical schools, he said, and they will not tell a student much on his chances for success. The test, according to Culver, is not the most critical factor in deciding admissions. This is one reason why the deans did not think it important to release scores in the past, he said.

Out-weigh

Other criteria which out-weigh test results include academic performance, both in quality of course and grades, range of interests, maturity and creativity, Culver said.

A booklet with suggestions on how to interpret the test results and how to use the results in determining the student's chances for success in medical school will be sent to each student along with the report of his scores.