MCAT vs. ACT

PhantomfanMD · Nov 27, 2006

Hey SDNers...I am interested in how much of a correlation between ACT scores and MCAT scores there is, if any. My premed advisor told me there is pretty much a direct correlation between MCAT and ACT scores (22 ACT = 22 MCAT). How can that be if the MCAT is out of more points?

For me, there was no correlation whatsoever. I scored a 22 on my ACT and am the proud owner of a 35 MCAT. Although, I did study a lot more for my MCAT than the ACT (study time on ACT = 2 hours, maybe). If you could please list best scores on both tests and your preparation for each. Thanks!

Falco2525 · Nov 27, 2006

PhantomfanMD said:
Hey SDNers...I am interested in how much of a correlation between ACT scores and MCAT scores there is, if any. My premed advisor told me there is pretty much a direct correlation between MCAT and ACT scores (22 ACT = 22 MCAT). How can that be if the MCAT is out of more points?

For me, there was no correlation whatsoever. I scored a 22 on my ACT and am the proud owner of a 35 MCAT. Although, I did study a lot more for my MCAT than the ACT (study time on ACT = 2 hours, maybe). If you could please list best scores on both tests and your preparation for each. Thanks!

I really doubt there is any correlation at all

solitude · Nov 27, 2006

A search would yield some anecdotal data quickly. This has been discussed a number of times in the MCAT forum.

JRockdown · Nov 27, 2006

ACT - 33

MCAT - 30

jbrice1639 · Nov 27, 2006

PhantomfanMD said:
Hey SDNers...I am interested in how much of a correlation between ACT scores and MCAT scores there is, if any. My premed advisor told me there is pretty much a direct correlation between MCAT and ACT scores (22 ACT = 22 MCAT). How can that be if the MCAT is out of more points?

For me, there was no correlation whatsoever. I scored a 22 on my ACT and am the proud owner of a 35 MCAT. Although, I did study a lot more for my MCAT than the ACT (study time on ACT = 2 hours, maybe). If you could please list best scores on both tests and your preparation for each. Thanks!

isn't the ACT out of 36 while the MCAT is out of 45?

Cirrus83 · Nov 27, 2006

Well I dunno about the ACT but the SAT tends to correlate fairly well with the MCAT in terms of %ile scores.

This is assuming a similar mastery of the topics on both tests, so you can't just not study lol.

I would assume that the ACT correlates similarly, although since the ACT has all kinds of crazy sections maybe not as well in terms of useful data, since it'd be hard to find someone who studied similarly well for every dang section.

PhantomfanMD · Nov 27, 2006

solitude said:
A search would yield some anecdotal data quickly. This has been discussed a number of times in the MCAT forum.

so sue me

krachenfels89 · Nov 27, 2006

Cirrus83 said:
Well I dunno about the ACT but the SAT tends to correlate fairly well with the MCAT in terms of %ile scores.

I dont agree with the SAT MCAT relationship, because almost everybody needs to take the SAT to get into college, so i dont believe scoring a 98% on SAT's will translate to a 98% MCAT's (if i understood you correctly)

BigKurz · Nov 27, 2006

33 on both for me. However, I feel any correlation to be useless.

Stolenspatulas · Nov 27, 2006

i think there is some sort of positive correlation. its probably stronger than sat vs mcat correlation... i think the act test structure requires efficiency/speed and the phrasing of questions are similar to the mcat (especially in the reading comp and science questions)

anyway, this is useless info

Anastasis · Nov 27, 2006

12 point spread for me.

I doubt there's really any correlation at all.

BigRedPremed · Nov 27, 2006

jbrice1639 said:
isn't the ACT out of 36 while the MCAT is out of 45?

Yea but so few people get over 36 on the MCAT (roughly 4%), it's not entirely unreasonable to correlate the two scores. The average ACT at Cornell is around a 32. It wouldn't surprise me if the avg. MCAT of Cornell premeds is around a 32 as well. The distribution around those two scores may not be the same though.

DrBowtie · Nov 27, 2006

My scores were within 1%-2%ile points.

abcxyz0123 · Nov 27, 2006

I truly think that there is a very extreme correlation, as in you get the same score for each, for the majority of people. I only know two people's scores (other than myself) for BOTH their ACT and MCAT, and both got 33 on their ACT's and 33 on their MCAT's. The same thing happened to me, I got a 32 on both exams. sure its a small sample, but 3 out of 3 is convincing enough for my *******

jason3278 · Nov 29, 2006

I took the ACT back in HS with absolutely no studying or preparation and got a 26, which is above average but certainly not spectacular. I don't think I could walk in and take the MCAT and get that without any study.

GoonieDoc · Dec 2, 2006

I got a 30 on the ACT without any studying and a 30 on the MCAT after six weeks of studying nearly 8-hours a day... I'm sure there's somewhat of a correlation, but with lots of other variables involved

MCAT vs. ACT

PhantomfanMD

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Falco2525

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solitude

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JRockdown

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jbrice1639

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Cirrus83

Too old for this

PhantomfanMD

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krachenfels89

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BigKurz

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Stolenspatulas

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Anastasis

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BigRedPremed

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DrBowtie

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