What score to aim for on the MCAT 2015
Its important to have a good score on the MCAT because if you don’t have a high enough score often medical schools won’t even bother looking at the rest of your application. Having a good score is essential to being a competitive applicant to medical school. So what is a good score on the new MCAT? The MCAT 2015 introduced a new scoring scale that seems like a radical departure from the old one. For many students this can be confusing. So let’s do a quick review of how MCAT 2015 is scored and then what score you should aim for.
MCAT 2015 Review:
The MCAT 2015 is comprised of four sections. The total score is now scaled from 472 to 528. With each individual section being scored from 118 to 132.
The four sections of the MCAT are:
- Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems
- Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems
- Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior
- Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills
For comparison, on the old MCAT there were just three sections which were scored from 1-15. The main differences between the old MCAT and the new MCAT is that the essay portion of the MCAT was replaced with the psychology and sociology section and the scoring scale was changed to 472-528.
So what score should I aim for on the MCAT 2015?
The AAMC tries to say that you cannot convert scores between the old MCAT and the new MCAT, because of all the changes made to the MCAT. However, that doesn’t mean its any less important than before to do well on the current MCAT 2015. The average MCAT score of matriculants into medical school in 2016 was 508.7 (which corresponds to roughly a 30 on the old MCAT). The average MCAT score of matriculants for each section was 127. This data was obtained from the aamc, you can check the link here.
Average applicant and matriculant MCAT scores. Picture from aamc website (link above).
Prior to the new MCAT, the national average on the MCAT was 31.4 in 2014, which corresponds to a 511 roughly. This is alot of numbers I know! So what score should I aim for??
- 510-512 or greater for total MCAT score
- ~128 per section
This is a safe goal to make for yourself for the new MCAT. This will put you above the average matriculant but is still possible to achieve. Obviously getting a higher score is better, but not necessary. If you achieve atleast a 510 or greater then ultimately your admission to medical school will depend on the other factors of your application such as your GPA, extracurricular activities, letters of recommendation, etc.
If you want to convert between old MCAT and the new MCAT scores, check out our article here!
And if you want to know the exact GPA and average MCAT score of each medical school, check out our free download here!
Some important things to know about your MCAT score:
– Medical schools want you to have a balanced score among all of your sections. It is not better to make a 132 on one section and then get a 118 on the other sections. Try to show you are balanced in all the sections.
– Your MCAT score is not the only factor in determining your success and ability to get into medical school. There are many other aspects to a competitive medical school application that just your MCAT. These other areas include things such as your extracurricular activies, letters of recommendation, and GPA.
– There is no score that will guarantee you get into medical school. Like I mentioned in the last point, its important that you have a strong application in every area not just the MCAT. Your MCAT score will help get the admission officers to look at your application in the further detail but it alone probably won’t get you into medical school. Make sure you are shadowing, volunteering, and maintaining a high or good GPA.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions, you can always leave a comment down below!
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