Are you about to take the MCAT test or planning to do so in the near future? Before setting out to draw your MCAT test plan or even before deciding on when to take your test, it is important to know what is a good MCAT score to aim for? With a clear view of where you're heading to, you're able to design your preparation plan in such a way that is oriented to your success. Therefore, to help you know what to work for, this post shows you everything you need to know, including that you'll learn how MCAT scores work? Let's dive in.
MCAT Sections And MCAT Scores
The MCAT test is broken into 4 distinct sections that are all under the field of science. See the sections below.
Critical Analysis And Reasoning Skills (CARS)
Biochemical And Biological Foundations Of Living Systems (BBLS)
Physical And Chemical Foundations Of Biological Systems (PCBS)
Psychological, Social, And Biological Foundations Of Living Systems (PSBB)
So to speak, your MCAT scores are dispersed across these sections. Each section has two categories of questions to be answered. On one side, there are questions with high difficulty. On the other side, you answer questions that are more simple. Answering enough difficult questions award you "mastery" points in the respective section. Conversely, you're punished for missing the less difficult questions. Making a balance between both awards you "mastery" in the respective section.
MCAT Scoring, How Is It Done
As indicated under the last heading, you are tested in 4 sections, and in each section, you answer two categories of questions namely; difficult and simple. And since the highest mark obtainable in the MCAT is 528 while 500 being the average score, the AAMC recommends that American medical schools focus on the average score other than the highest end of the score scale.
So when in the scoring process, the MCAT body converts your overall raw scores from the test into scaled scores. Your scores from each section are converted between the scale of 118 and 132. The overall scale score then becomes 472-528.
Before going into more details, let me recap some major points.
What Is The Highest MCAT Scores?
The maximum and possible obtainable scores in the MCAT test is 528. You could set your preparation plan toward achieving these scores if you want but hardly will you get a 528 in MCAT.
What Is The Lowest MCAT Scores Possible?
The lowest MCAT scores from the MCAT scores scale is 472. While some institutions will invite you for an interview, others don't recognize 472 as a pass mark. More details on that in the section below.
What Is A Good MCAT Scores
As expected, the ideal MCAT scores to gain admission to your chosen school is not set in stone. It's more about the preference of your chosen medical college. Some schools will even invite students who scored below the lowest scores on the scores scale for an interview. But bear in mind that the ideal good MCAT scores are between 472 and 528. Below are the other factors that are put into consideration.
Your Undergraduate GPA; while having good grades is a must, there are schools that will offer you admission if you have impressive undergraduate grades but low MCAT scores to back it up.
Extra-curricular Activities; having the certificates or receipts to show for your past participation and achievements in extra-curricular activities is another way of supporting your MCAT scores. And most schools will invite you over for an interview for this one reason even when your MCAT scores are not too good.
