An MCAT score of....

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YoungProdigy

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An MCAT score of 35 is like what on the SAT?

I know that there is no correlation whatsoever between these two standardized tests, but in terms of numbers themselves, what would a score of 35, 36, 37, 38, etc... translate to on the SAT?
 
The ones who are scoring 35 and above on the MCAT are probably the ones scoring close to perfect on the SAT's. Just remember that is also a selection bias in who takes the MCAT and who takes the SATs.
 
darkjedi said:
The ones who are scoring 35 and above on the MCAT are probably the ones scoring close to perfect on the SAT's
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Would it be safe to say 2200+ on the SAT? Just looking for a number to compare to in my head.
 
34pklma.jpg


Google is your friend.
 
YoungProdigy said:
Would it be safe to say 2200+ on the SAT? Just looking for a number to compare to in my head.
Click to expand...

If I had to venture a guess/strictly anecdotal evidence, the vast majority who had a 35+ would've probably scored 1500+/1600. I'm old so we were on the 1600 scale. There will obviously be outliers as there is limited correlation between the two tests.
 
For what it's worth:

ACT: 29, 27, 29 (don't remember breakdowns)
SAT: 710M, 590CR, 690WR (1990 total)
MCAT: 10/8/R/10 (28R) then after studying 11ps/11vr/12bs (34)

For the HSDNers looking, I am of the opinion that ACT/SAT is built off what you learn in middle school/high school (especially for you guys who do the advanced math and stuff)

Then the MCAT is what you learn in high school and college. (Especially for those of you doing AP/IB classes).
 
darkjedi said:
The ones who are scoring 35 and above on the MCAT are probably the ones scoring close to perfect on the SAT's. Just remember that is also a selection bias in who takes the MCAT and who takes the SATs.
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Not true, I sucked at English hence the 2050 SAT, but science was relatively a breeze, and easily got a 35+ on the MCAT. (I was consistently scoring 35's on practice tests and on the real day I got lucky.)
 
ACT:35
SAT:2270
SATII (chem/mathiic/physics): 800x3
MCAT: 40Q

COME AT ME BOARDS 😛
 
YoungProdigy said:
An MCAT score of 35 is like what on the SAT?

I know that there is no correlation whatsoever between these two standardized tests, but in terms of numbers themselves, what would a score of 35, 36, 37, 38, etc... translate to on the SAT?
Click to expand...

There most likely is SOME correlation between SAT scores and the MCAT, but it's probably not a huge correlation.

To say there is no correlation whatsoever is a much bigger claim than you would think.

No correlation means that a person with a 400/1600 or 600/2400 on the SAT is JUST AS LIKELY to get a 41 on the MCAT as a person with a 1600/1600 or a 2400/2400.

Can you see the difference between some correlation and no correlation now?
 
ACT: 28
SAT: 1790

MCAT: 34 😱

My MCAT was far higher in percentile than my SAT and ACT. Strictly speaking percentiles (~96th percentile), a 35 MCAT is probably around 2100 SAT...I think. Of course, the two tests don't seem to be equivalent...
 
Interesting.

Just looked up percentiles and my MCAT and SAT matched perfectly 😎.
 
Variable efforts put forth for each exam should account for the score ranks, in my mind.

Someone who puts an ample amount of time (equally) into each test, in my mind, would have a stronger correlation between each test score.

I.e.
SAT: 1860 (didn't study)
ACT: 31 (took two practice tests for studying - a week in advance)


The MCAT will take much more of my time and devotion. I can't predict what score I would achieve.
 
percentile is not 100% reliable because almost everyone takes the SAT while only those pursuing medicine take the MCAT.
 
cookiemonsters said:
I got an 1150 on the old SATs and a 36 MCAT, u mirin?
Click to expand...

There IS hope. I got an 1130 on the old SATs (went into the military, lol) because I honestly did not care about high school. I'm intelligent, i was just lazy. Fortunately, I got real interested in doing well in school after the Marine Corps. I hope I can pull off a 35+ as well.
 
1320 on old SAT (720 verbal, 600 math)

37 on MCAT (12BS-12PS-13VR)

With the SAT I took a couple of practice tests as my study habits weren't strong. I took the MCAT almost 10 years later and probably spent at least 10x as much time studying.
 
sundays24 said:
percentile is not 100% reliable because almost everyone takes the SAT while only those pursuing medicine take the MCAT.
Click to expand...

That and because the MCAT requires studying while the SAT does not. I had never even heard of anyone studying for the SAT until I found SDN...just wasn't done where I was from! We still managed to pull off 2350+ scores w/o any studying, though...now picture someone getting a 40+ on the MCAT w/o studying. Not gonna happen. I don't see how anyone could hope to correlate the two, they're completely different kinds of tests taken by completely different populations.
 
mehc012 said:
That and because the MCAT requires studying while the SAT does not. I had never even heard of anyone studying for the SAT until I found SDN...just wasn't done where I was from! We still managed to pull off 2350+ scores w/o any studying, though...now picture someone getting a 40+ on the MCAT w/o studying. Not gonna happen. I don't see how anyone could hope to correlate the two, they're completely different kinds of tests taken by completely different populations.
Click to expand...

It's impossible to score a 2350+ without any studying, and more often than not, almost everybody serious about studying and education in general, study for the SAT's.
 
YoungProdigy said:
It's impossible to score a 2350+ without any studying, and more often than not, almost everybody serious about studying and education in general, study for the SAT's.
Click to expand...

In my case when I took the SAT's I had to study since I hadn't done that kind of algebra in so long.
 
YoungProdigy said:
It's impossible to score a 2350+ without any studying, and more often than not, almost everybody serious about studying and education in general, study for the SAT's.
Click to expand...

Just because you did something doesn't mean that "more often than not, almost everybody" does it. And I wouldn't count anybody out who doesn't study. This guy Zack Morris scored a 1500 on his SAT (back when it was out of 1600) and he was a complete slacker in high school who was more worried about picking up chicks than studying. I don't think he studied a day in his life for anything.
 
mehc012 said:
That and because the MCAT requires studying while the SAT does not. I had never even heard of anyone studying for the SAT until I found SDN...just wasn't done where I was from! We still managed to pull off 2350+ scores w/o any studying, though...now picture someone getting a 40+ on the MCAT w/o studying. Not gonna happen. I don't see how anyone could hope to correlate the two, they're completely different kinds of tests taken by completely different populations.
Click to expand...

Not sure if you're serious or totally stretching the truth. Getting a 2350 would make you score above the 99th percentile on the SAT. I'm almost certain that if most of you took the SAT right now-- without studying for it-- you'd get nowhere near that.

Source: I tutor SAT and MCAT for a living
 
YoungProdigy said:
Almost everybody serious about studying and education in general, study for the SAT's.
Click to expand...

This may have more to do with where I went to high school but even most straight A students did not study for the SAT.


Anyways, Percentile wise, I scored exactly same. However I did not study for the SAT and studied a lot for the MCAT.
 
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Donald Juan said:
Just because you did something doesn't mean that "more often than not, almost everybody" does it. And I wouldn't count anybody out who doesn't study. This guy Zack Morris scored a 1500 on his SAT (back when it was out of 1600) and he was a complete slacker in high school who was more worried about picking up chicks than studying. I don't think he studied a day in his life for anything.
Click to expand...

Lol, I really can't tell if you're joking or not. Zack Morris....:laugh:
 
AnthonyBourdain said:
This may have more to do with where I went to high school but even most straight A students did not study for the SAT.
SAT studying and testing is something I link to the children of tiger parents. No normal teenager studies for that crap without being told to.

Anyways, Percentile wise, I scored exactly same. However I did not study for the SAT and studied a lot for the MCAT.
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Okay, all I'm saying is that it's not possible to get a 2350+ without any prep. Thanks for your help btw.

From what I've experienced and personally noticed is that those "tiger parents" are often immigrants who want to see their children succeed.
 
YoungProdigy said:
It's impossible to score a 2350+ without any studying, and more often than not, almost everybody serious about studying and education in general, study for the SAT's.
Click to expand...

Lol no.

Impossible is a very strong word. Maybe things have changed in the 8ish years since I took the SAT but I don't know anyone who seriously studied for them.
 
There's a difference between percentiles as well. Everyone takes the SAT, while only people who have made it through the gauntlet of prereqs usually take the MCAT. The people taking the MCAT are just smarter and better test takers in general than those taking the SAT. Plus the MCAT is a helluva lot harder.
 
YoungProdigy said:
Okay, all I'm saying is that it's not possible to get a 2350+ without any prep. Thanks for your help btw.

From what I've experienced and personally noticed is that those "tiger parents" are often immigrants who want to see their children succeed.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I knew the tiger parent comment would offend some people. that's why I deleted it. I have tiger parents in my extended family and know plenty of non-immigrant tiger parents. My godchild is being raised in the tiger method and let's just say it not something I would ever do to my children/
 
mcloaf said:
Lol no.

Impossible is a very strong word. Maybe things have changed in the 8ish years since I took the SAT but I don't know anyone who seriously studied for them.
Click to expand...

Yea, it seems like it. Most people now study for it.

Just to clarify:

Getting a 2350 is like getting 2 questions wrong in Critical Reading (out of 67), 1-2 wrong in Math (out of 54), and 2 wrong in writing (out of 49). Do you still believe that it's possible to do that without studying?
 
AnthonyBourdain said:
Sorry, I knew the tiger parent comment would offend some people. that's why I deleted it. I have tiger parents in my extended family and know plenty of non-immigrant tiger parents. My godchild is being raised in the tiger method and let's just say it not something I would ever do to my children/
Click to expand...

Nothing to be sorry about at all, and I do understand where you're coming from.
 
YoungProdigy said:
Getting a 2350 is like getting 2 questions wrong in Critical Reading (out of 67), 1-2 wrong in Math (out of 54), and 2 wrong in writing (out of 49). Do you still believe that it's possible to do that without studying?
Click to expand...

I know of 2 people who scored around 1580 ( counting only math and verbal) and neither studied. It happens but I agree it is rare. 1 is now a college drop out 😛
The other is working on his PhD at a HYP (attended state school for undergrad).
 
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YoungProdigy said:
Yea, it seems like it. Most people now study for it.

Just to clarify:

Getting a 2350 is like getting 2 questions wrong in Critical Reading (out of 67), 1-2 wrong in Math (out of 54), and 2 wrong in writing (out of 49). Do you still believe that it's possible to do that without studying?
Click to expand...

Yeah I have no doubt that could be done with no extra studying assuming a very strong high school background, assuming SAT difficulty hasn't changed much over the years. How often that happens is another story of course.
 
YoungProdigy said:
It's impossible to score a 2350+ without any studying, and more often than not, almost everybody serious about studying and education in general, study for the SAT's.
Click to expand...

Bullcrap. That's just absolutely false. I didn't even know there was such a thing as SAT studying in HS, and I pulled a 2360...as did at least 2 of my classmates, again without studying specifically for it. What would you even study? There's practically no content on the SAT, just some basic algebra manipulations.

My dinky little public high school was randomly ubercompetitive, everyone was aiming for top colleges and taking 5 or 6 APs a year, and yet the SAT was just not a thing we studied for. So yeah, we were serious about our educations, but the SAT barely factored in.

Not trying to be an obnoxious twit here, I'm just saying that:
a) your assertion that it's impossible to score very well on the SAT without studying is false
b) that fact alone makes the MCAT an entirely different beast from the SAT
 
mehc012 said:
Bullcrap. That's just absolutely false. I didn't even know there was such a thing as SAT studying in HS, and I pulled a 2360...as did at least 2 of my classmates, again without studying specifically for it. What would you even study? There's practically no content on the SAT, just some basic algebra manipulations.

My dinky little public high school was randomly ubercompetitive, everyone was aiming for top colleges and taking 5 or 6 APs a year, and yet the SAT was just not a thing we studied for. So yeah, we were serious about our educations, but the SAT barely factored in.

Not trying to be an obnoxious twit here, I'm just saying that:
a) your assertion that it's impossible to score very well on the SAT without studying is false
b) that fact alone makes the MCAT an entirely different beast from the SAT
Click to expand...

When did you take the SAT?

Edit: I didn't mean to say that it is ENTIRELY impossible to do it without any "studying", but for most people, it's really not possible. CB employs tricks that often times only students who are well rehearsed in recognizing those "codes" are able to crack. I'm speaking only for this new SAT, not the 1600 one.

You can study the tricks used on the SAT as well as memorize vocabulary, practice CR sections, practice math sections (and be able to see which concepts the CB uses the most), and for writing, you can see which concepts they test most commonly on the SAT. If you were able to get a 2360 without any prep, that's pretty amazing.
 
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YoungProdigy said:
When did you take the SAT?
Edit: I didn't mean to say that it is ENTIRELY impossible to do it without any "studying", but for most people, it's really not possible. CB employs tricks that often times only students who are well rehearsed in recognizing those "codes" are able to crack. I'm speaking only for this new SAT, not the 1600 one.
Click to expand...

2008. Not too terribly long ago, but it was the first year of the new scoring system, I believe. Maybe that had something to do with it, and the questions were easier for the first year? I dunno, I honestly never looked into it much, just signed up for my test date, overslept, got lucky and made it on time, took it, and moved on! I didn't even realize the test had changed until my mom asked me to convert my score to one she understood!

I was also only referring to the 2400 one. I agree that the SAT tests your test-taking abilities (recognizing "codes") but I've never considered those to be primarily a studyable skill. :shrug:

mcloaf said:
Yeah I have no doubt that could be done with no extra studying assuming a very strong high school background, assuming SAT difficulty hasn't changed much over the years. How often that happens is another story of course.
Click to expand...

YoungProdigy said:
Yea, it seems like it. Most people now study for it.

Just to clarify:

Getting a 2350 is like getting 2 questions wrong in Critical Reading (out of 67), 1-2 wrong in Math (out of 54), and 2 wrong in writing (out of 49). Do you still believe that it's possible to do that without studying?
Click to expand...

From my experience, a 2360 can result from 0 wrong on CR, 0 wrong in Writing, 11/12 on the essay, and 1 wrong in math. And yes, I 100% think that it's more than possible to do without any studying...I'm not even sure how studying would help! There's practically no content being tested on those.

The only advantage I could see for studying is if you are not a great test taker and want a few practice runs to learn the format or something.

The MCAT, on the other hand, requires test-taking ability (all the SAT tests) and content knowledge, which makes it an entirely different beast!
 
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mehc012 said:
2008. Not too terribly long ago, but it was the first year of the new scoring system, I believe. Maybe that had something to do with it, and the questions were easier for the first year? I dunno, I honestly never looked into it much, just signed up for my test date, overslept, got lucky and made it on time, took it, and moved on! I didn't even realize the test had changed until my mom asked me to convert my score to one she understood!
Click to expand...

Mind telling us what you got on your MCAT? I mean, damn, you must have some great natural test-taking abilities and superb abilities in being able to translate what you learn in school to standardized questions lol.
 
I had a 1910/2400 (1350 not counting the writing)
 
Aerus said:
There most likely is SOME correlation between SAT scores and the MCAT, but it's probably not a huge correlation.

To say there is no correlation whatsoever is a much bigger claim than you would think.

No correlation means that a person with a 400/1600 or 600/2400 on the SAT is JUST AS LIKELY to get a 41 on the MCAT as a person with a 1600/1600 or a 2400/2400.

Can you see the difference between some correlation and no correlation now?
Click to expand...

I think OP states that so people don't start saying how this is a pointless question, that there is little correlation, etc.

But it is true; there is definitely some correlation.
 
lcck said:
Not sure if you're serious or totally stretching the truth. Getting a 2350 would make you score above the 99th percentile on the SAT. I'm almost certain that if most of you took the SAT right now-- without studying for it-- you'd get nowhere near that.

Source: I tutor SAT and MCAT for a living
Click to expand...

Totes srs, brah. 😛
800 800 760 CR/W/M
800 800 subject tests (chem and math)
5 on 10 diff APs (required cramming)
I'll let you know on the MCAT when that day comes!

But really, I am...I always figured that I got into college solely due to my aptitude for standardized testing - APs, SAT, etc. I've always been good at figuring out what answer a test-maker wanted. The questions on SAT tests (main and subject) were set up in such a way that you could usually deduce the answer solely from the choices given, with little background knowledge. APs were a little more opaque, and required a reasonable amount of background, and the MCAT seems to require a lot of background just to give you the framework to deduce answers.

And THAT's what I was initially trying to point out, and why I left my other scores up there in white - it wasn't a fluke, I was/am good at standardized tests. For the SAT, that's enough. For the MCAT, you need more.
 
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I haven't taken the MCAT, but i've been hovering around 31 to 32 on my practices

SAT: ~2000

GRE: 1380 w/5.0 on writing (taken in 2009...very much similar to the pre-2006 SAT with a 1600 scale)

I studied about 7 weeks for the SAT, barely did vocab or math, mostly reading and writing.

I studied 6 weeks for GRE, mostly vocab

I've been studying MONTHS for MCAT (granted with full load of stuff going on) and only at 32. So correlation is weak between SAT and MCAT based on me (n=1).
 
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