Curiosity killed the (M)Cat -Correlation between SAT and MCAT scores?

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letmein!please?

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After mulling over a couple (hundred) pages of psychology articles for my Social Cognition term paper, and seeing how frequently SAT scores are used to compile subject pools for various tests, I'm curious:

Is there a correlation between MCAT and SAT scores?

Remember that little test? I wouldn't be surprised if there was, since some people are just better at standardized tests than others. On the other hand, the MCAT is definitely more knowledge-based. I think it might be interesting, for those of you who don't mind sharing, to post MCAT and SAT scores to see if there is any relationship. Also, having not taken the MCAT yet, I am curious to see where people in my SAT range fall (hmmm..it's been a while, I wonder how I would do if I took the SAT now :idea: )
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It's been discussed before. Do a search. Also realize it's very controversial on here, because even if there is a correlation, it's not a perfect correlation, so there are a lot of exceptions and nobody who didn't do great on the SAT wants to think their score is already decided before they take it. Anyone who did great on the SAT would be poorly served by being complacent, because the MCAT is much more knowledge based and is definitely strongly affected by hard core studying.
 
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i'm not a good standardized test taker, made 1300 on SAT and 28 on MCAT. just remember that correlation doesn't allow you to make a causality statement. it's just an observed relationship.

and since i was a psych major, here's something i remember. my profs didn't have a good opinion of the SAT because it's the scholastic APTITUDE test, yet it is said to correlate poorly with performance in college. hence, it appears to be a poor measure of academic potential.

the MCAT is also used to measure potential (i believe), but there's a much greater emphasis on knowledge of the material.
 
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unicorn06 said:
I like the title of this thread. Cute! :thumbup:
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Thanks :cool:

I figured someone would find something wrong with my idea..so I decided to do a pre-emptive warning: again, I'm not writing a thesis or using this to get anyone's hopes up, its just out of curiosity :rolleyes:
 
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1550, 37 but 10 verbal and O writing (760 verbal and 750+ PSAT and SAT2 writing, go figure)
 
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jtank said:
u had a 1550 and still rejected by cal (i think that was u who said that before??)!!?
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yeah, MIT too. thus UT, as i was overconfident and didnt apply anywhere else. overestimated the importance of stats, underestimated everything else. hindsight is 20/20, so trying to avoid repeating that situation now. incidentally cal has the biggest urm and orm disparity, 300 points

interesting, deleted? im secure, im ok with addressing most things even publicly
 
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Shredder said:
interesting, deleted? im secure, im ok with addressing most things even publicly
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yes. i forgot ur always being targeted by someone so i thought its better to keep things locked up =p
 
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anon-y-mouse said:
1600 (really), 42T

of course they say SAT correlates with GPA... HAH HA HA HA yeah right.
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wow, where the hell have you been around these forums. post more, you must be truly gifted. sure sat correlates with gpa. anything correlates with anything. but how strongly? id venture to say .4? sat correlates with iq and ses, which both correlate to gpa
 
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anon-y-mouse said:
1600 (really), 42T

of course they say SAT correlates with GPA... HAH HA HA HA yeah right.
Click to expand...

...I think I've found my new physician.
 
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MoosePilot said:
nobody who didn't do great on the SAT wants to think their score is already decided before they take it.
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SAT MATH: 630
MCAT Physical Sciences: 15
 
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MoosePilot said:
Anyone who did great on the SAT would be poorly served by being complacent.
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SAT VERBAL: 770
MCAT Verbal: 11
 
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1380 SAT (770 Math, 610 Verbal)
36 MCAT (13PS, 10VR, 13BS)

Interesting how my verbal is significantly lower than the other sections in both exams...however I'm sure there are plenty of cases where this isn't the case and people completely flip-flop.
 
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anon-y-mouse said:
1600 (really), 42T

of course they say SAT correlates with GPA... HAH HA HA HA yeah right.
Click to expand...


While I won't say so unequivocally, I think you're full of ****.

42 is about the maximum that has been scored in recent years (41 was the highest during my administration, despite the theoretical high of 45. So is T for the writing, and of course, so is 1600 on the SAT. Even if someone is highly intelligent, it is still extraordinarily unlikely that they would score perfectly on every single test.

BTW, you should also have appended the 42T with "(really)" as well.
 
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This data point will fall far from the regression line

SAT: 1270
Mcat: 40

Ohh what a difference caring and ten years of growing up can make.
 
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Shredder said:
yeah, MIT too. thus UT, as i was overconfident and didnt apply anywhere else. overestimated the importance of stats, underestimated everything else. hindsight is 20/20, so trying to avoid repeating that situation now. incidentally cal has the biggest urm and orm disparity, 300 points

interesting, deleted? im secure, im ok with addressing most things even publicly
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out of curiosity, what school did you end up attending?
 
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Shredder said:
1550, 37 but 10 verbal and O writing (760 verbal and 750+ PSAT and SAT2 writing, go figure)
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Wow my numbers are eerily similar to yours. 1550 (800M/750V) , 37Q (11V), and 790 on SATII writing. Good test taker?
 
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tulane06 said:
I also screw up the pattern a bit, 1250 on SAT but 34 on MCAT.
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not if we become the pattern :smuggrin:

1270 SAT, 33Q MCAT
 
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letmein!please? said:
After mulling over a couple (hundred) pages of psychology articles for my Social Cognition term paper, and seeing how frequently SAT scores are used to compile subject pools for various tests, I'm curious:

Is there a correlation between MCAT and SAT scores?

Remember that little test? I wouldn't be surprised if there was, since some people are just better at standardized tests than others. On the other hand, the MCAT is definitely more knowledge-based. I think it might be interesting, for those of you who don't mind sharing, to post MCAT and SAT scores to see if there is any relationship. Also, having not taken the MCAT yet, I am curious to see where people in my SAT range fall (hmmm..it's been a while, I wonder how I would do if I took the SAT now :idea: )
Click to expand...



There just might be a correlation, I was actually asked what my SAT scores were during one of my interviews. Hmmmmmmmmmmm (musing quietly)
 
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I must confess that I'm mystified as to why anybody would care, but for the sake of science:

1390 (V:720), 37P (V:13)

Oh... I took the SAT in 1990... I do believe it's changed a bit since then. :)
 
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einnewt said:
While I won't say so unequivocally, I think you're full of ****.

42 is about the maximum that has been scored in recent years (41 was the highest during my administration, despite the theoretical high of 45. So is T for the writing, and of course, so is 1600 on the SAT. Even if someone is highly intelligent, it is still extraordinarily unlikely that they would score perfectly on every single test.

BTW, you should also have appended the 42T with "(really)" as well.
Click to expand...

Not impossible. I've got similar stats - 42N / 1600. Standardized testing just works for some people.

(And I'm back here, not to troll, but because I let it expire. Stupid three year limit. :mad: )
 
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I love how everyone is contributing data to this brand new thread, when someone actually went to the trouble of gathering a lot of data (but still not representative) and graphing it on a previous thread, same subject.
 
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einnewt said:
While I won't say so unequivocally, I think you're full of ****.

42 is about the maximum that has been scored in recent years (41 was the highest during my administration, despite the theoretical high of 45. So is T for the writing, and of course, so is 1600 on the SAT. Even if someone is highly intelligent, it is still extraordinarily unlikely that they would score perfectly on every single test.

BTW, you should also have appended the 42T with "(really)" as well.
Click to expand...

I didn't think I needed to, I know at least 5 people with above 40 scores. Yeah, I'm a standardized test person (I've made a *lot* of money coaching SAT's to dumb rich kids), and I work for one of the major prep companies, teaching LSAT, MCAT, GMAT, and SAT. It isn't too hard to get 1600 on the SAT -- I'm good at math, and I took latin for 10 years, so I knew all the words. I think I even made 2-3 mistakes in SAT verbal.

Which administration did you take?

PS my breakdown was 15B, 14V, 13P. It was my second time taking it, the first time I didn't study too much, got a 15V, but since I didn't review, I didn't fare as well in the sciences... still competitive but meh.

and about the gpa correlation, well... I'm good at taking tests, but I'm also really blase about school sometimes :) I get really easily pissed off with pedantic homework assignments and papers if they're just 'make work'. Also, I didn't have senioritis in high school, it transferred over to my freshman year :)
 
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SAT Math correlates well with MCAT Science and SAT Verbal correlates well with Mcat Verbal/Writing.
 
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Will Ferrell said:
SAT Math (770) correlates well with MCAT Science (14PS, 14BS) and SAT Verbal (560) correlates well with Mcat Verbal/Writing (9VR, N).
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Hmmmm... I don't know. I got a 660 Math (pre-recenter) and a 11PS/12BS. I got a 740 Verbal and a 13 VR. You *might* have something, but again, I dunno.
 
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einnewt said:
42 is about the maximum that has been scored in recent years (41 was the highest during my administration, despite the theoretical high of 45.
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A common mistake: when the AAMC sheet gives "percentage of people scoring in this range" as "0.0%," that's a rounded number, meaning it's actually just <0.05%, but not necessarily zero. Unless you have a link to an official AAMC document that says "on this administration, the top score was XX" I'm going to assume you fell into the same line of reasoning that has many times been brought up and struck down in this forum.
 
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Well I got a 1100 SAT score and a 24R.

So there probably is some sort of correlation between the two. Guess I didn't stimulate those neron cells as a little child enough. :eek: They must of not developed to thier fullest potential.

I had a 3.5 GPA undergrad in biology and minor in theology.



ALSO, it might have something to do with caffine. A lot of my friends who did really well drank a lot of coffee whereas I never drank it once in college.
 
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CatsandCradles said:
ALSO, it might have something to do with caffine. A lot of my friends who did really well drank a lot of coffee whereas I never drank it once in college.
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Nope. I almost never drank caffeine in college. I still don't regularly (i.e. more than once every three months) drink coffee.
 
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SAT: 980

MCAT: Did not take yet but I'm guessing I will get a 20 if I'm lucky

I am horrible at standardized test.
And I was a slacker in high school. My GPA dropped down to about 1.5 during sophmore year but I rebounded by senior year. My GPA for senior year was 3.5
My college GPA is another story.............
 
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Here's a curveball:

1330 SAT (680math)

710 SAT 2 writing (99% on essay section)

26M mcat (WITH A LOT OF STUDYING)

so much for standardized testing...
 
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Will Ferrell said:
SAT Math correlates well with MCAT Science and SAT Verbal correlates well with Mcat Verbal/Writing.
Click to expand...

Taking it one more step, math majors do really well on the MCAT. In general, those in majors that stress quantitative reasoning do well. Some say the stats are skewed for bio majors (since most who take the MCAT are bio majors) but I don't buy that.
 
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1490 800Math 690Verbal
27N 9's across the board :(
Berkeley Undergrad. GPA: 3.2
need to study more i guess ...
 
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MoosePilot said:
Nope. I almost never drank caffeine in college. I still don't regularly (i.e. more than once every three months) drink coffee.
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I drank about two pots of coffee in the 24 hours before the test. I was caffeinated like a midwestern truck driver.
 
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SAT: 1140 MCAT: 37Q

Oh, and I was voted "most lazy" by my high school class :laugh:
 
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I seem to be an anomaly on here:
1550 SATs, 800 on all my SATIIs, and 33Q MCAT. It quickly becomes clear when you realize I had a ton of motivation in hs to get into "the best college possible" and actually took the SAT 4 times :laugh: . However, I burned out in college and thus was never terribly enthusiastic about med school. I was actually getting mid 20s on all the practice MCATs, so I'm pretty relieved about my 33Q :p
 
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