What is a highly competitive MCAT score?

Our medical school admission experts recommend that you aim for a total score of 511 or above. This score places you in the 81 ^st percentile of MCAT scores, according to AAMC.

What MCAT score makes you competitive?

An MCAT of 515, which will place you in the 90th percentile of all test takers, or above will make you a much more competitive applicant. A score over 517, the 94th percentile, should nearly guarantee admission.

What is an impressive MCAT score?

An MCAT score of 520 is very strong and puts you in the 97th percentile of all MCAT test takers. However, whether or not a score of 520 on the MCAT is enough to get you into medical school depends on which schools you are applying to and your other qualifications.

Is 502 a competitive MCAT score?

As of the 2022-23 testing cycle, the 50th percentile score for the MCAT is 501.6. In other words, a score of 502 or higher is considered an above-average MCAT score. Because med school is super competitive, the higher the score you earn, the better your chances of getting in will be.

Is 515 a competitive MCAT score?

Medical schools have different minimum score requirements for students based on being in-state, out-of-state, in particular programs, socioeconomic backgrounds, and more. Considering that a 515 is far ahead of the average MCAT score of a 501, it's very competitive for med-school admission.

What Is a Good MCAT Score?

Is a 517 MCAT too low?

A 517 MCAT score is not just good; it's outstanding. Scoring a 517 puts you in the top 10% of all test-takers, and it can significantly boost your chances of getting accepted into your dream medical school.

Should I retake a 508 MCAT?

If you want to maximize your chances of achieving medical school acceptance, and if your overall application is not strong, we recommend you retake the MCAT if your score is 508.

Should I retake a 513 MCAT?

Was your actual MCAT score reflective of your ability? If you were averaging 510-512s on your practice AAMC exam but scored much lower on test day, this is a good reason to retake the MCAT. The lower score is more likely due to nerves, pressure, lack of sleep, or sickness than lack of knowledge and ability.

What is a realistic MCAT score?

In general, a good MCAT score is 511 and above.

MCAT and GPA requirements vary depending on the school you are applying to. So do not worry too much if your score is lower than this. However, if you want to get accepted into a top medical school, you will probably need to aim for a score significantly higher than this.

Should I retake a 516 MCAT?

Should I Retake The MCAT If My Score Is 516? Generally, we recommend retaking the MCAT if the MCAT score is not balanced among the four sections of the MCAT. For example, if you scored 126/131/130/129, the 126 sticks out and can be a red flag to med-schools.

What is a competitive MCAT score for 2023?

A "good" MCAT score is one that puts you near or above the average percentile for matriculants at your target medical schools. For comparison, the average MCAT score for students admitted to an MD program in the United States in 2022–2023 is between 511 and 512, with an average GPA of 3.75.

Does GPA or MCAT matter more?

Your GPA is the second most important factor in predicting your ability to handle the academic rigor of medical school. Your MCAT and GPA are the two most important objective measurements in a medical school application.

What is the most common MCAT score?

The maximum MCAT score possible is 528 and the minimum MCAT score is 472. The average MCAT score for entering MD students in the US is 501, so your score should not be lower than the average.

How rare is a 528 MCAT?

How Rare is a Perfect Score on the MCAT? A score of 528 on the MCAT places you in the 100th percentile of individuals who have taken the test. Based on the AAMC's Summary of MCAT Total and Section Scores, we can approximate that 0.020% of individuals managed to achieve a perfect score on their MCAT.

What is the hardest section of the MCAT to improve?

What is the hardest section of the MCAT? The two sections that students typically have the most difficulty with on the exam is either Chem/Phys or CARS.

What is the MCAT score for Harvard?

But every school varies in what they consider a “strong” score. The top schools will have high average MCAT scores: for example, Harvard and Stanford have average scores of 520 and 518, respectively. A high MCAT score certainly does not guarantee an acceptance letter at the most competitive medical schools.

What is the average first time MCAT score?

Data Summary. The average MCAT score for all test-takers in 2023-2024 is 501.3. The average MCAT score for test-takers who applied to medical school in 2022-2023 was 506.5. The average MCAT score for all medical school applicants who ended up enrolling was 511.9.

What is considered a bad MCAT score?

A poor MCAT score is any score that doesn't get you into a medical school, but statistically this would be a score below the overall mean or average, so a score of 506 or less. A poor MCAT score could also be considered anything below the 50th percentile for recent test-takers, which is approximately 501.

Is a 480 bad on the MCAT?

Attaining a score of 480 on the MCAT means you performed in the 3% percentile. An even distribution for the section scores is preferred. For example: 120 (C/P) 118 (CARS) 121 (B/B) 121 (P/S).

What is a bad first MCAT score?

So, technically speaking, a bad MCAT score would be anything below 500. However, in order to be a competitive applicant, you should aim to score much higher than 500. A good MCAT score largely depends on the schools you are applying to.

Does taking the MCAT twice look bad?

Taking the MCAT twice is fine; even three times shouldn't impact your admissions too much. However, any more tries can begin to damage your application. Aim to avoid taking the MCAT multiple times while planning to retake it once if necessary.

Do multiple MCAT scores look bad?

Again, medical schools don't care if you have multiple MCAT tests on your application.

Does taking the MCAT 3 times look bad?

The more attempts you have on your application, the worse it will look to admissions committees, especially if you are not making significant progress in increasing your score. Failing to achieve an adequate MCAT score after three attempts calls into question a potential applicant's test-taking abilities.

Can I get into med-school with a 505 MCAT?

So, for students who are doing about average or a little above average on the MCAT, in the 502-505 range, that's good enough to get a look and probably good enough to get an interview—although you would have to knock it out of the park on everything else—it could get you an acceptance.

Does a high MCAT offset a low GPA?

Pre-Med Myth 2: A high MCAT score will make up for my low GPA, or vice versa. Fact: This myth is true at a certain level but only in extreme cases.