raw percent score=what mcat score?

[kakaboro]

I was wondering what kind of raw percentage you have to score(approximately) to get a desired MCAT score. Will getting 85% of the problems correct on the physical sciences get me an 11? will a 90% get me a 10? how does it break down?

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[Denn]

It all depends on a particular test you take and the performance of other test takers. You might get 50% of the answers correct and end up with 11 or 90% and get 9.

 

[vincikai]

thats no fair .

 

[kakaboro]

yeah i was just thinking that i could shoot for an 85% and see what happens..i can only control my own test...having a percent goal usually helps me...keeps me motivated....if i get an 8 or a 12 doesnt even matter if i feel like i did well.

 

[QofQuimica]

There's no way to know the answer to this. Each test form section is scaled differently depending on its difficulty, so an 85% on one test form won't necessarily equate to the same scaled score as an 85% on another test form. And the scales are different for the different sections, also; VR has the hardest scale and PS has the easiest.

 

[tautomer]

I think if you go to the aamc website, you can check out the answer explanations for the individual practice tests (3R, 4R, etc). Also included in the explanations is the conversion charts from raw score to scaled score for all of the tests, thus you can get a good idea of how the tests are scaled over the years. I THINK it is on the website, you may have to do some searching to be sure it's there, but I think it is.

 

[tautomer]

UPDATE*

Well, I tried looking for it but couldn't find the document with all the conversions on it, so instead I'll just include a scaled chart that I think (in GENERAL), matches with the other tests. Again, this isn't set in stone, but gives you a general idea of how the scores are typically scaled.

PS:
15: 76-77
14: 74-75
13: 70-73
12: 65-69
11: 61-64
10: 57-60
9 : 53-56
8 : 48-52
7 : 42-47
6 : 36-51
5 : 31-35
4 : 0-30

VR:
15: 60-60
14: 59-59
13: 55-58
12: 51-54
11: 48-50
10: 44-47
9 : 41-43
8 : 37-40
7 : 34-36
6 : 30-33
5 : 27-29
4 : 0-26

BS:
15: 76-77
14: 74-75
13: 70-73
12: 64-69
11: 59-63
10: 54-58
9 : 49-53
8 : 44-48
7 : 41-43
6 : 36-40
5 : 32-35
4 : 0-30

Again, these aren't set in stone, but it's a simple scale to go by when your doing individual practice sections that don't necessarily have scaled scores that come along with them.

Hope this helps.

 

[kakaboro]

wow this is really interesting, i totally thought that to get 12 or above you needed like 85-90%...

 

[junebuguf]

wow this is really interesting, i totally thought that to get 12 or above you needed like 85-90%...

umm...you do need to get 85% + to get a 12+ scaled score. To really destroy a section, you should be aiming for 90%+, which translates to 13+

 

[Daichi Katase]

damn....according to this scale...i have been getting 12s and 13s on the verbal and i didn't even know!
and 14s on the PS!!!

nope don't beleive it.

 

[kakaboro]

ok that sounds abit more believable...90% for a 13....sounds pretty reasonable.

 

[gujuDoc]

damn....according to this scale...i have been getting 12s and 13s on the verbal and i didn't even know!
and 14s on the PS!!!

nope don't beleive it.

The scales above, are what is on AAMC website for their 3R, 4R, 5R, 6R, and test 7.

What I don't believe is that you are actually getting that high without studying.

 

[bgreet]

Should have read the original question closer. I thought he meant the %'s compared to other test takers, not % correct to score a certain #. Sorry.

 

[gujuDoc]

These aren't %'s these are the number right out of the total number taken. If you want an idea of %'s go here

I seriously wish those were the %'s for those kind of scores.

No but if you look at those ranges, they are basically the AAMC practice test ranges for the score break downs as to where you stand going into the test.

Most people that have used those AAMC practice tests and then gone into the real thing have had scores very similar to the practice test scores.

So I believe that is good to use as an indicator of practice test scores and as an indicator of how you might do on the real exam.

However, I am not disagreeing in saying that the real percentages are slightly different. Just that i find it hard to believe that they are that completely different from the scores on the practice tests.


And this is considering that test 7, was an actual MCAT administered in 2003, that also had a similar scale to the much older AAMC practice tests.

 

[stoleyerscrubz]

You are right. That chart above is not in percentages but in # of correct problems so 64/77=83%

http://e-mcat.com/mcat2/HelpScoring.asp

wow this is really interesting, i totally thought that to get 12 or above you needed like 85-90%...

 

[gujuDoc]

good point, I thought the people above figured that was questions right. I didn't realize they thought those were percentages.

That might explain why the poster above thought he had had a 14, 14, 15 kind of score.

 

[kakaboro]

thanks guys, the wedsites really help!

 

[Daichi Katase]

good point, I thought the people above figured that was questions right. I didn't realize they thought those were percentages.

That might explain why the poster above thought he had had a 14, 14, 15 kind of score.

Nah...that IS raw score to actual score conversion. I have been studying but i don't think i am to the 14 level yet . Therefore i think the scale is kinda skewed.

 

[tautomer]

Ya, hey sorry about that. I forgot to clarify when I posted those scaled scores that it refers to number of questions correct, not the percentages correct.

Hope they have been a bit useful on those practice tests. I use this scale myself just to see where I lie.

 

[sdoc]

Trying to compare these for the new mcat. The 2015 official practice test only gives % correct in the score - hard to get real diagnostic/comparison. Wanted to see what avg % correct would've aligned with for percentile on the old scale to get an idea of how much work I need to do. Anyone have an idea? Does anyone have a link for that scale on the aamc website? Having a hard time finding those numbers.

 

[Stagg737]

Trying to compare these for the new mcat. The 2015 official practice test only gives % correct in the score - hard to get real diagnostic/comparison. Wanted to see what avg % correct would've aligned with for percentile on the old scale to get an idea of how much work I need to do. Anyone have an idea? Does anyone have a link for that scale on the aamc website? Having a hard time finding those numbers.

Since it's a completely new test that info probably won't be available for a while. However, i'd guess that the verbal and PS scales will likely be the same since I do not believe they changed those sections significantly. BS is probably off since they are supposedly making biochem part of that section and there's no way to measure the behavioral section yet. I could be wrong though.

Also, just a heads up, if that's actually you in your profile pic you may want to change it.