How do intelligence, GPA, and MCAT score correlate?

[mehc012]

Maybe you prepared for the MCAT better than them. For school tests, it's usually less overall content and professors usually are clear as to what is on the test. For the MCAT, there are many more topics and if your friends didn't focus on their weaknesses or they are not used to the MCAT, then they could have been ill prepared. If I prepared for the MCAT like I did a university exam, then I definitely would have scored under 30.

Mine was the opposite...our school tests covered a ton of material and it was pulled from multiple sources and papers. It wasn't always clear what exactly you were supposed to know because the exams were far more about linking concepts and applying them to new situations than about memorization. And if you were a lazy bum like me and spent each class mostly in a sleep-dep daze, well...it was harder to make up the ground because class covered so much more than just the textbook.

The MCAT was just...memorize the most basic facts about this clearly laid-out list of topics, then take a multiple choice exam. Sure, you had to memorize more content than for any individual class exam, but there was less critical thinking and each subject was far less in-depth than you would have gone into throughout the course.

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[JimmyB123]

Mine was the opposite...our school tests covered a ton of material and it was pulled from multiple sources and papers. It wasn't always clear what exactly you were supposed to know because the exams were far more about linking concepts and applying them to new situations than about memorization. And if you were a lazy bum like me and spent each class mostly in a sleep-dep daze, well...it was harder to make up the ground because class covered so much more than just the textbook.

The MCAT was just...memorize the most basic facts about this clearly laid-out list of topics, then take a multiple choice exam. Sure, you had to memorize more content than for any individual class exam, but there was less critical thinking and each subject was far less in-depth than you would have gone into throughout the course.

I like this! I wish more undergrads were like this.

 

[Leslie_Knope]

I would strongly disagree with this. The reality is that the amount of information that you need to know for the MCAT is quite limited. There really isn't a ton of information to 'know'. It is more of a test of application and problem solving than say Step 1 is. In general, the people that I know who have asymmetric scores (like I did at 3.4/40+) would all say that they are good problem solvers and poor memorizes, maybe n=10 that I know in the past decade.

For myself, this is true, so n=11? 3.5/36 and I really struggle with memorization. I suppose I'm a good problem solver.

 

[mehc012]

For myself, this is true, so n=11? 3.5/36 and I really struggle with memorization. I suppose I'm a good problem solver.

That's pretty symmetrically good, though!

 

[RedSox143]

MCAT is a tool to test if one can handle the rigors of medical school it shouldn't correlate in anyway with overall intelligence I'm a lower 30s tester but I believe that a mix of perseverance, good studying technique based on the individual and luck play a huge role. It's tough cuz my first test I got all physics on PS and got killed the next test I took I got mostly Chem and got 95th percentile so definitely some luck involved

GPA , as much as I want to say GPA is a better indicator truth is tons of kids cheat and professors give extra credit bla bla once again neither of these really correlate with intelligence. But there's something to say about hard work and the ability to perform in hard classes

Medicine is an interesting field too, it blends the memorizer and the problem solver together in ways so to a degree both can see success but in no way should medical school metrics or any standardized test define someones intelligence. Maybe science knowledge but not overall intelligence.

 

[ciruji]

There are some grades-deflating schools. I remember one of my friends in a top 15 struggling to get a B+ in multiple courses and he managed to scored a 40 in the MCAT. I think a score like this can compensate his not so grade GPA (~3.5) but I don't really know.