35= percentile

[unDRdog]

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Ok OK..do not crucify me for asking...i cannot find a clear answer. If you make say a 35 on your test date you will be placed in a percentile ranking. Ok... is that percentile ranking relative to the population of test takers only on your test date, or is it relative to everyone within a given year. I have been to AAMC and that 35 has a corresponding percentile range associated with it. To bottom line this thing... will you know where you rank percentile wise with other ppl on your given test date alone.....God that was wordy....LOL...thanks for the insight and good luck and keep pressing in....

 

[rockaction]

It's for the whole year. The MCAT is never supposed to just compare you to the people who took it the same day as you. It's supposed to compare everyone objectively. That's also why they don't scale it on a curve depending on test day performance - all curves and scales are pre-determined.

 

[bonoz]

But not every test is the same. I heard that they curve it based on the performance of that particular test.

 

[muhali3]

From the AAMC wesbite

http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/preparing/understandingscores.htm

Is the exam graded on a curve?

Examinees often ask if earning a high score or higher percentile is easier or harder at different times of the testing year. They ask whether they have a better chance of earning a higher score in April or in August, for example. The question is based on an assumption that the exam is scored on a curve, and that a final score is dependent on how an individual performed in comparison to other examinees from the same test day or same time of year.
While there may be small differences in the MCAT exam you took compared to another examinee, the scoring process accounts for these differences so that an 8 earned on physical sciences on one exam means the same thing as an 8 earned on any other exam. The percentile provided on your score report simply indicates what percentage of examinees from the previous testing year scored the same as you did on the MCAT exam.
How you score on the MCAT exam, therefore, is not reflective of the particular exam you took—including the time of day, the test date, or the time of year—since any difference in difficulty level is accounted for when calculating your scale scores (see above for information about scaling).

 

[0Complications]

But not every test is the same. I heard that they curve it based on the performance of that particular test.

It's standardized, so the exam is compared to those who take it the year you do. You'll get your actual percentile at the end of the year, but prior to that you're compared to the previous year with that same scaled score.

The curve is precalculated, so it's not something they wait to see performance on, unless there is some real oddity that was completely unpredicted, which usually wouldn't be the case.