Is getting a 30 on MCAT really that hard?

[bonder123]

hey is getting a 30 really hard to do, im a senior in high school, and am jus curious about whether it is really difficult to get a 30 or above

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[NonTradMed]

It depends. Many people find it hard to do, while others do not. It's kind of like the SAT/ACT. Some people find hitting 1400 or 32 hard to do, while others hit those scores on the first try with minimal prep time.

However, the difference is that while some people may get top scores on the ACT/SAT without too much studying, the MCAT requires a solid foundation in the basic sciences, hence you can't 'wing it' by cramming for a week and do >30 or just take it on a whim without the necessary pre-reqs.

As a high school senior, your biggest worry should be getting into a decent school with a good premed program and doing well in those classes. The MCAT is years away for you.

 

[tennisguy896]

Seriously, high schoolers need to stop posting here. Come back in a couple years and I'm sure everyone will be happy to answer your questions. Sorry if I seem harsh, but these questions are not constructive for us college pre-meds.

 

[FDoRoML]

If this post is for real, yeah... give you an idea-- nat'l avg is 24. And that is for everyone who thinks they might be good enough to go to med school (sitting for the exam usually means you intend to apply and have taken most or all the pre-reqs covered by the exam). So, yes, you have to be substantially better than average to get a 30. Go to the AAMC MCAT website and look at the stats from past MCAT administrations... and remember, ~50% of the population of MCAT takers can't be idiots-- it just wouldn't make sense.

Study, practice, and study and practice some more. You still have a long time, though... so enjoy your life, too!

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

A 30 is what, around 80th percentile? If I'm right, then I would say that it is hard to get a 30, because 4/5ths of those that take the MCAT are unable to achieve that score.

 

[jhrugger]

If you have basic reading comprehension skills, the ability to retain some information found in introductory level science courses, and "test taking ability" however you want to measure that, it should not be extremely difficult to get a decent score on the MCAT.

CAVEAT: scores are normalized, so your score depends on how others do on test day. 50th percentile for test takers has been around 24 the past few years, 27 for applicants, 30 for matriculants.

 

[chaeymaey]

In a word, yes. It's much harder to get a 30 (didn't get it after 6 months of studying) vs. getting a 1300 on the SAT (got it after 2 weeks of studying).

 

[StrssdOut]

I think it also depends quite a bit on your comfort level when test-taking. Some people freak out on test day and do worse than they might have expected, while others are kind of encouraged by the stress. I think you need to know your own testing style and take it for any advantage you can squeeze out. That being said, you still have, what 3 years till then? Use those years to take the pre-reqs, then worry about the elusive 30+.

 

[kasha]

not hard

 

[medicomel]

i honestly thought the MCAT was more straightforward than the SAT, and easier to score higher on. if you get a good foundation in your science classes and take a prep course, then you should do well.

 

[TheMightyAngus]

I teach MCAT for Kaplan. Despite studying for 3-4 months, I'd say that 60-70% of students never break 30 on their practice tests.

 

[Medikit]

It is and isn't. If you have over a 3.3 on your sciences there's no excuse for having anything below a 10 on either the B or PS sections. That just leaves verbal reasoning.

 

[Brickhouse]

For most it is very hard to get to 30 - but it doesn't really matter - because you can still become a doctor, and isn't that more to the point than the MCAT score?

 

[medicomel]

it's pretty hard to get accepted with below a 30. you have to shore up that weakness with a very high overall and science gpa. add to that some solid ECs and then you have a shot. it isn't impossible, but it is more difficult.

 

[QofQuimica]

A 30 is what, around 80th percentile? If I'm right, then I would say that it is hard to get a 30, because 4/5ths of those that take the MCAT are unable to achieve that score.

It's about the 75th-80th percentile. But you're right that most test-takers never score that high. You'd never know it from reading SDN, but most people score in the 20s.

 

[Saluki]

It's about the 75th percentile. But you're right that most test-takers never score that high. You'd never know it from reading SDN, but most people score in the 20s.

If you read SDN long enough you start to feel insecure about anything below a 37... I need to escape from this warped sample of humanity before I lose all my confidence

Either that or I need to drink and forget that I care...

 

[Brickhouse]

If you read SDN long enough you start to feel insecure about anything below a 37... I need to escape from this warped sample of humanity before I lose all my confidence

Either that or I need to drink and forget that I care...

I feel ya - this place is awful if you want your self esteem boosted and you're anything less than completely stellar - but keep in mind most people who throw their scores around with reckless abandon are the minority who got thost scores - and good for them! but the silent majority of us are just quietly acknowledging our sub 30 scores and and clutching our letters of acceptance with glee.
Don't feel bad. But go ahead and have that drink anyway!

 

[Brickhouse]

it's pretty hard to get accepted with below a 30. you have to shore up that weakness with a very high overall and science gpa. add to that some solid ECs and then you have a shot. it isn't impossible, but it is more difficult.

Are you being sarcastic? If not, this is kinda blatantly false. Doesn't anyone use the MSAR anymore?

 

[Depakote]

If you read SDN long enough you start to feel insecure about anything below a 37... I need to escape from this warped sample of humanity before I lose all my confidence

Either that or I need to drink and forget that I care...

MCAT scores are like penises. It's easy to have a big one as long as no one asks you to prove it.

 

[blkprl]

MCAT scores are like penises. It's easy to have a big one as long as no one asks you to prove it.

that is sooo funny!!!

Getting a 30 is somewhat hard if you ask me or the AAMC .... only 1/5 of the test takers get a 30 or above... and they all seem to be SDNers

 

[GAdoc]

MCAT scores are like penises. It's easy to have a big one as long as no one asks you to prove it.

Just don't underestimate it. You'll go through all those "weed out" courses in undergrad. and if you make it through, it can give you a false sense of security in your ability. That's what happened to me. I was taking a full load of biomedical engineering courses in addition to my pre-med courses...AND a Kaplan prep course all at the same time. My practice tests were predicting a score of about 32 or 33. I thought I had it licked. I ended up with a 24. Talk about shame...I couldn't even talk about it. But I studied REALLY hard on my own and brought it up to 27. Still not great, but I applied to 4 allopathic schools and 1 osteopathic school. I was accepted at the osteopathic school and interviewed at all 4 allopathic schools. So far, I've been wait listed at two and still have to hear final decisions from the other two.

So you know, my best SAT (and I took it 5 times) was 1260. My best ACT was 26. But I didn't study at all for those. In the end, it depends on what you want. Many SDNers are on here looking for someone to blow sunshine up their A$$es and reasure them that their 39 and 3.99999 from Harvard is going to be good enough to get them into a good medical school. Some of us (like me) woudn't got to a big name research school even if I could. I don't have any interest in doing research, publishing, being internationally or nationally recognized, or going into academic medicine. I don't want to have my own plastic surgery show on E! and I don't care if I ever make a million dollars a year. I just want to be the best clinician I can be for the people of my state (who are in dire need of primary care physicians). My stats are more than good enough for that goal. So take heart.

 

[RxnMan]

...If you have over a 3.3 on your sciences there's no excuse for having anything below a 10 on either the B or PS sections...

I agree. Many of the people on MDApps have GPAs that make me look like a drunken ******, yet can't break 30 on the MCAT? This makes no sense. If you guys were that good to get those high GPAs, then you should be well prepared for the MCAT. If not, then what does that say about GPAs? It never ceases to amaze that the subjective measure (GPA) is valued over the objective one (MCAT).

People can argue as much as they like. Good test-taking skills only take you so far. Everyone has access to practice exams via aamc.org, so you can't say you couldn't prepare for the 8-hour test. Fine if you were sick on test day (I had a migraine), but it's not that hard of a test.

 

[RxnMan]

that is sooo funny!!!

Getting a 30 is somewhat hard if you ask me or the AAMC .... only 1/5 of the test takers get a 30 or above... and they all seem to be SDNers

For clarification, read this, and you'll see that the average score (50th percentile) is set to 24. Earning a 30 is analagous to being in the 68+ percentile.

 

[Punkinhead]

it's pretty hard to get accepted with below a 30. you have to shore up that weakness with a very high overall and science gpa. add to that some solid ECs and then you have a shot. it isn't impossible, but it is more difficult.

This is blatently false. I am proof you can have sub-30 and be fine and I'm no genius. See for yourself and take this website with a grain of salt.

 

[blkprl]

For clarification, read this, and you'll see that the average score (50th percentile) is set to 24. Earning a 30 is analagous to being in the 68+ percentile.

that is a sample score and doesn't reflect a real test. read YOUR score report and you'll find out that a 30 is 80th percentile.

 

[blkprl]

Just don't underestimate it. You'll go through all those "weed out" courses in undergrad. and if you make it through, it can give you a false sense of security in your ability. That's what happened to me. I was taking a full load of biomedical engineering courses in addition to my pre-med courses...AND a Kaplan prep course all at the same time. My practice tests were predicting a score of about 32 or 33. I thought I had it licked. I ended up with a 24. Talk about shame...I couldn't even talk about it. But I studied REALLY hard on my own and brought it up to 27. Still not great, but I applied to 4 allopathic schools and 1 osteopathic school. I was accepted at the osteopathic school and interviewed at all 4 allopathic schools. So far, I've been wait listed at two and still have to hear final decisions from the other two.

So you know, my best SAT (and I took it 5 times) was 1260. My best ACT was 26. But I didn't study at all for those. In the end, it depends on what you want. Many SDNers are on here looking for someone to blow sunshine up their A$$es and reasure them that their 39 and 3.99999 from Harvard is going to be good enough to get them into a good medical school. Some of us (like me) woudn't got to a big name research school even if I could. I don't have any interest in doing research, publishing, being internationally or nationally recognized, or going into academic medicine. I don't want to have my own plastic surgery show on E! and I don't care if I ever make a million dollars a year. I just want to be the best clinician I can be for the people of my state (who are in dire need of primary care physicians). My stats are more than good enough for that goal. So take heart.

 

[Law2Doc]

This is blatently false. I am proof you can have sub-30 and be fine and I'm no genius. See for yourself and take this website with a grain of salt.

It should be pretty obvious that since the average is about 30, and some folks have as high as 43, then there must be many folks getting in with 27-29. From what I understand and have observed, the odds drop off pretty precipitously below that.
As for whether it is hard to get a 30, I'd say yes, since most don't. But numbers are not the end of the inquiry, and plenty of folks with a 30+ still don't get in for a host of other possible reasons.

 

[RxnMan]

that is a sample score and doesn't reflect a real test. read YOUR score report and you'll find out that a 30 is 80th percentile.

Whatever. How about this, this, this and this. Over most of the subsections, you have to get a raw score of a D+ or C- to get the scaled score of a 10.

 

[tacrum43]

For clarification, read this, and you'll see that the average score (50th percentile) is set to 24. Earning a 30 is analagous to being in the 68+ percentile.

Nope. I got a 30 and my score report says "78.6 - 83.0", so a 30 is right around the 80th percentile.

 

[ShyRem]

To the OP: You're in HIGH SCHOOL. College is a BIG step up in education. Ask this question once you start in on your college classes - get through gen chem, ochem, physics, bio - THEN ask if you think it'll be hard. You don't really have the proper background to even understand the enormity of what you're asking. Believe me, there have been plenty of folks that were straight A students in high school that failed ochem. Ask them if they think it would be hard to get a 30 on the MCAT.

Focus, OP. First things first. Get into college. Start planning your major. Do well in your classes. THEN start worrying about the MCAT. In the meantime, please don't start inflammatory threads. This time of year all the pre-allo students on waitlists are a bit... um... sensitive. You'll understand someday.

 

[blkprl]

To the OP: You're in HIGH SCHOOL. College is a BIG step up in education. Ask this question once you start in on your college classes - get through gen chem, ochem, physics, bio - THEN ask if you think it'll be hard. You don't really have the proper background to even understand the enormity of what you're asking. Believe me, there have been plenty of folks that were straight A students in high school that failed ochem. Ask them if they think it would be hard to get a 30 on the MCAT.

Focus, OP. First things first. Get into college. Start planning your major. Do well in your classes. THEN start worrying about the MCAT. In the meantime, please don't start inflammatory threads. This time of year all the pre-allo students on waitlists are a bit... um... sensitive. You'll understand someday.

 

[NapeSpikes]

Thirty can be pretty hard to get for some folks. But relax, OP, high school is not nearly the time to psych yourself out.

 

[McMD]

It depends. Many people find it hard to do, while others do not. It's kind of like the SAT/ACT. Some people find hitting 1400 or 32 hard to do, while others hit those scores on the first try with minimal prep time.

However, the difference is that while some people may get top scores on the ACT/SAT without too much studying, the MCAT requires a solid foundation in the basic sciences, hence you can't 'wing it' by cramming for a week and do >30 or just take it on a whim without the necessary pre-reqs.

As a high school senior, your biggest worry should be getting into a decent school with a good premed program and doing well in those classes. The MCAT is years away for you.

You CAN cram for a week and score a 38...it's been proven, by my brother.

 

[Law2Doc]

But relax, OP, high school is not nearly the time to psych yourself out.

Or if you want to psych yourself out, may as well start worrying about Step 1 of the boards.

 

[rup47]

that is a sample score and doesn't reflect a real test. read YOUR score report and you'll find out that a 30 is 80th percentile.

I think it does depend on what test you took (i.e. april 2004 vs august 2005)

 

[CatsandCradles]

If this post is for real, yeah... give you an idea-- nat'l avg is 24.

Gosh I don't feel so dumb now! At least I'm with average joe.

 

[tacrum43]

Gosh I don't feel so dumb now! At least I'm with average joe.

Well, the average joe taking the MCAT is probably not exactly "average".

 

[Labslave]

Well, the average joe taking the MCAT is probably not exactly "average".

Exactly. lol

 

[masterMood]

For most it is very hard to get to 30 - but it doesn't really matter - because you can still become a doctor, and isn't that more to the point than the MCAT score?

wtf is that in your avatar lol?

 

[RayhanS1282]

wtf is that in your avatar lol?

The world's ugliest dog

 

[medicomel]

This is blatently false. I am proof you can have sub-30 and be fine and I'm no genius. See for yourself and take this website with a grain of salt.

what's blatantly false about what I said? to support what I said, your profile has a high gpa for science and overall. adding to that you have strong ECs.
and you got a 29, which is higher than the average.

 

[ILoveIceCream]

Hmm getting a 30 or above is pretty FREAKING hard. Unless you're a genius who just reads, understands and retains the info for years, you will have to bust your rear-end. The biggest mistake that someone can make,I think, is being cocky about it. Even if your GPA is a 4.00, it still doesn't mean you're going to kill the MCAt. If your practice scores are above 30's, still work as hard as possible. The real, final scores sometimes varies widely.

Although alot of the MCAT is science, few of those questions are straightforward science questions. The majority of the questions require you to read a passage quickly and assimilate information as you go. It's tough. I share my thoughts with some of the people on here: I still don't understand why GPAs are weighted heavier for admission purposes rather than MCAT scores.

 

[yessirIU]

I think that GPA is so much more important then the MCAT since it shows how well an individual adapts to his/her environment. Thats why trends are important. If the individual is focused and serious about school the trend will show that level of commitment over time. The MCAT, a test that I value for other reasons, can't show this. I think there are many road blocks in the application process that really wead out those not as committed. For those that have taken the MCAT can testify how much they studied and how they would have prefered to have been doing something else. Being at IU, the april test is held at the same time as our biggest school-wide party week. Looking back at that time now I have no regrets because I know medicine is a field I want to be in.

 

[RayhanS1282]

Hmm getting a 30 or above is pretty FREAKING hard. Unless you're a genius who just reads, understands and retains the info for years, you will have to bust your rear-end. The biggest mistake that someone can make,I think, is being cocky about it. Even if your GPA is a 4.00, it still doesn't mean you're going to kill the MCAt. If your practice scores are above 30's, still work as hard as possible. The real, final scores sometimes varies widely.

Although alot of the MCAT is science, few of those questions are straightforward science questions. The majority of the questions require you to read a passage quickly and assimilate information as you go. It's tough. I share my thoughts with some of the people on here: I still don't understand why GPAs are weighted heavier for admission purposes rather than MCAT scores.

That's the take home point(s) kids. One of my closest friends, a double major chem and bio graduated with a 3.9 GPA but even after multiple tries she couldn't crack a 30 (highest was a 29). Her trouble spot was verbal. But she did get into 2 schools.

 

[DCDAWG]

I think that GPA is so much more important then the MCAT since it shows how well an individual adapts to his/her environment. Thats why trends are important. If the individual is focused and serious about school the trend will show that level of commitment over time. The MCAT, a test that I value for other reason, can't show this. I think there are many road block in the application process that really wead out those not as committed. For those that have taken the MCAT can testify how much they studied and how they would have prefered to have been doing something else. Being at IU, the april test is held at the same time as our biggest school-wide party week. Looking back at that time now I have no regrets because I know medicine is a field I want to be in.

Getting in the 70-80th percentile out of a pool of students who likely all had pretty good SAT scores back in high school, made it through the pre-med weed out classes, and dedicated months to studying for this one test is a pretty good accomplishment id say. You are competing against the creme de la creme of students.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

Okay, so the average MCAT score in the US is 24. I wonder, though, what the average med school applicant score is... my guess would be closer to 27 or 28. I know that SDN tends to be overly competitive, and that there are a lot of good scores here ... the half-assed applicants probably don't go out of their way to do things like SDN, so we might not be representative. Still, I think anything under a 28 or a 29 is a major liability, just like any GPA under a 3.2 or so would be. You can certainly get into med school with either of those, though - it just depends on the strength of your overall candidacy. Heck, I got accepted to a few places with a 3.15 GPA.

 

[Dov]

You are too young to be on this site. Go look at some porn and drink instead. At your age SDN will do nothing but freak you out.

 

[Dov]

OP - The MCAT sucks BTW

 

[Pemberley]

Sorry, question already answered.

 

[wizeguy]

Sorry, question already answered.

MCAT: JUST TRY YOUR BEST....DOESN'T MATTER AS LONG AS YOU'RE 27+

GPA: DO WELL!!!!!!!!!

Me: 3.3 Overall, 3.04 BCPM
32P Mcat


Applied to 17 Schools
1 Interview - waiting to hear...

GPA needs to be good...mcat just makes sure you're test-smart.....