An MCAT score of....

[Dbate]

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I think a MCAT score of 35 probably equals a 2250 SAT score.

For data:

SAT: 2070 (luckily my college accepted the ACT instead)
ACT: 34
MCAT: 35

 

[mehc012]

The SAT is supposed to be a test on critical thinking. Am I incorrect? Questions that require rote memorization of arbitrary vocabulary words and roots don't seem to test much on critical thinking. What if a person didn't grow up with a strong foundation on English grammar (grew up in a poor rural community), but nonetheless had a great capacity for critical thinking?

The SAT is basically a test of your potential to succeed in future classes and on future tests, independent of the content required for those exams - yeah, critical thinking is a part of it, but so is a basic foundation in reading comprehension, writing ability, and elementary mathematics. Those are all things that should be a baseline going into college, and which will affect your ability to succeed on all future examinations and in all future classes. In other words, it's more a measure of overall test-taking ability (which encompasses reading the questions, anticipating the author's intent, critical thinking, and performing basic calculations) than critical thinking

Memorizing arbitrary vocabulary and roots is a way to game the expectations of the SAT, not what they are intending to encourage.

 

[Dbate]

The SAT is basically a test of your potential to succeed in future classes and on future tests, independent of the content required for those exams - yeah, critical thinking is a part of it, but so is a basic foundation in reading comprehension, writing ability, and elementary mathematics. Those are all things that should be a baseline going into college, and which will affect your ability to succeed on all future examinations and in all future classes.

Memorizing arbitrary vocabulary and roots is a way to game the expectations of the SAT, not what they are intending to encourage.

How did you do on the MCAT?

 

[mehc012]

How did you do on the MCAT?

I'm not applying until next cycle, so no score yet; only decided on med school post-college. I'll let you know when I know!

 

[Dbate]

I'm not applying until next cycle, so no score yet; only decided on med school post-college. I'll let you know when I know!

Okay, good luck! If you did that well on the SAT without trying, then you will probably get a solid MCAT score.

 

[jeghaber]

The SAT is basically a test of your potential to succeed in future classes and on future tests, independent of the content required for those exams - yeah, critical thinking is a part of it, but so is a basic foundation in reading comprehension, writing ability, and elementary mathematics. Those are all things that should be a baseline going into college, and which will affect your ability to succeed on all future examinations and in all future classes. In other words, it's more a measure of overall test-taking ability (which encompasses reading the questions, anticipating the author's intent, critical thinking, and performing basic calculations) than critical thinking

Memorizing arbitrary vocabulary and roots is a way to game the expectations of the SAT, not what they are intending to encourage.

I think at one point earlier in the thread you mentioned that you were naturally good at picking out what the test-makers wanted the answer to be; I think that kind of "sense" can also come from straight-forward studying. I basically prepared for the SATs with piles of passages and questions. By the end, I could predict the answer to a reading comprehension question based on answer choices alone and ended up doing well (2390). I was, however, absolutely terrible at this prior to preparing because I over-thought everything and chose the incorrect of the two reasonable seeming choices. To prepare for the MCAT, I approached it similarly, using practice tests to get used to the test rather than the content, which worked for me.

I guess what I'm suggesting is that essentially, it seems that there are going to be people for whom their SAT and MCAT strategies line up and work well for them (whether it has its root in natural test taking ability or power studying) and people for whom their SAT and MCAT strategies vary wildly. But for those whose approach remained similar, I'd predict a pretty strong correlation between the two scores.

 

[Aerus]

I'm not applying until next cycle, so no score yet; only decided on med school post-college. I'll let you know when I know!

Good luck!! 😀

 

[Narmerguy]

I think at one point earlier in the thread you mentioned that you were naturally good at picking out what the test-makers wanted the answer to be; I think that kind of "sense" can also come from straight-forward studying. I basically prepared for the SATs with piles of passages and questions. By the end, I could predict the answer to a reading comprehension question based on answer choices alone and ended up doing well (2390). I was, however, absolutely terrible at this prior to preparing because I over-thought everything and chose the incorrect of the two reasonable seeming choices. To prepare for the MCAT, I approached it similarly, using practice tests to get used to the test rather than the content, which worked for me.

I guess what I'm suggesting is that essentially, it seems that there are going to be people for whom their SAT and MCAT strategies line up and work well for them (whether it has its root in natural test taking ability or power studying) and people for whom their SAT and MCAT strategies vary wildly. But for those whose approach remained similar, I'd predict a pretty strong correlation between the two scores.

I'd disagree. Maybe at the extremes, but very few people used the kind of extreme preparation that you mentioned (thus why few people get 2390 on their SAT). For example, I can imagine someone who didn't study at all, gets a 2100 on the SAT, and then decides to use a similar approach (not studying) for the MCAT and bombs it.

 

[mehc012]

I'd disagree. Maybe at the extremes, but very few people used the kind of extreme preparation that you mentioned (thus why few people get 2390 on their SAT). For example, I can imagine someone who didn't study at all, gets a 2100 on the SAT, and then decides to use a similar approach (not studying) for the MCAT and bombs it.

Exactly, my main point was initially (it has since been sidetracked all over the place) that it is possible to get a near-perfect score on the SAT without studying specifically for that exam, while I cannot imagine a similar situation happening for the MCAT. Thus the tests play towards different strengths and different kinds of students.

The fact that you can study for the SAT (if you come from a disadvantaged background), or that you can practice the question types (which seems somewhat different from studying, but there's no good word for it, I suppose) doesn't change the fact that not everyone has to, whereas you must do so for the MCAT in order to score well.

 

[gettheleadout]

Exactly, my main point was initially (it has since been sidetracked all over the place) that it is possible to get a near-perfect score on the SAT without studying specifically for that exam, while I cannot imagine a similar situation happening for the MCAT. Thus the tests play towards different strengths and different kinds of students.

The fact that you can study for the SAT (if you come from a disadvantaged background), or that you can practice the question types (which seems somewhat different from studying, but there's no good word for it, I suppose) doesn't change the fact that not everyone has to, whereas you must do so for the MCAT in order to score well.

I wouldn't even say this. Call me crazy but I'm convinced that there are a handful of people in the world that simply have unprecedented aptitude for assimilating new information, nearly perfect memory encoding and recall, and could go through the courses in college, learn everything to a great depth of understanding (possibly with minimal effort/practice; I'm thinking single exposure learning), and have such rapid and advanced critical thinking skills as to require literally no prep on the MCAT to do well. How well? I don't know but I wouldn't be quick to put a limit on it. Given the small sample of people I've met and what is possible intellectually based on notable cases, I'm betting/hopeful that there are super-geniuses out there that would make the rest of us, even the very intelligent among us, look puny.

TL;DR I really think there are a few positronic-brain-level geniuses out there that would blow every one of us normal people completely out of the water when comparing intellectual ability. Also I would love to meet someone like that.

 

[mehc012]

I wouldn't even say this. Call me crazy but I'm convinced that there are a handful of people in the world that simply have unprecedented aptitude for assimilating new information, nearly perfect memory encoding and recall, and could go through the courses in college, learn everything to a great depth of understanding (possibly with minimal effort/practice; I'm thinking single exposure learning), and have such rapid and advanced critical thinking skills as to require literally no prep on the MCAT to do well. How well? I don't know but I wouldn't be quick to put a limit on it. Given the small sample of people I've met and what is possible intellectually based on notable cases, I'm betting/hopeful that there are super-geniuses out there that would make the rest of us, even the very intelligent among us, look puny.

TL;DR I really think there are a few positronic-brain-level geniuses out there that would blow every one of us normal people completely out of the water when comparing intellectual ability. Also I would love to meet someone like that.

Fair enough, I actually had a disclaimer in there for the few outliers at first, but I took it out cuz there was already enough debate over whether it was possible for the SAT, I didn't wanna start something on the MCAT!

 

[nysegop]

The tests examine completely different competencies. They aren't comparable. Well not really. It's like asking if there's a correlation between middle school social studies grades and SAT scores. Honestly it would be more interesting to see if there's a correlation between AP physics, AP bio, AP chemistry, AP English scores and the MCAT.

That being said...
read this:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8466617

 

[mehc012]

The tests examine completely different competencies. They aren't comparable. Well not really. It's like asking if there's a correlation between middle school social studies grades and SAT scores. Honestly it would be more interesting to see if there's a correlation between AP physics, AP bio, AP chemistry, AP English scores and the MCAT.

Of course, then you have to take into account the correlation between AP scores and SAT scores...

 

[nysegop]

Of course, then you have to take into account the correlation between AP scores and SAT scores...

Though I haven't published my findings I don't think there is a huge correlation. One can know all there is to know about physics, but that won't prepare them for the SAT. Of course there is the thing that most AP students are motivated individuals and likely to do well.

Examen = Spanish. Lol

 

[mehc012]

Though I haven't published my findings I don't think there is a huge correlation. One can know all there is to know about physics, but that won't prepare them for the SAT.

Really? I'd think AP English students, as a self-selected group of high-achieving students interested in literature and writing, would show some tendency to score well on CR and W at the least. And do you really think students choosing to take AP physics would be the ones struggling with algebra?

Finally, test-taking skills are just as useful for the SAT as they are for the AP. You can answer half of the MC questions on the AP correctly w/o specific knowledge, simply from POE and critical thinking...those skills translate directly to the SAT.

I dunno, I only have my own scores to go off of, but if anything I did better on APs than the SAT, though the scoring system is less detailed, so it's hard to compare the two.

 

[mehc012]

Examen = Spanish. Lol

Si, pero la forma plural es "examenes"

Cool abstract - exactly what we were looking for! Too bad I can't read fulltexts anymore since graduation 🙁

 

[A7X]

TL;DR I really think there are a few positronic-brain-level geniuses out there that would blow every one of us normal people completely out of the water when comparing intellectual ability. Also I would love to meet someone like that.

My address is 10880 Malibu Point, California, if you want to meet someone like me.

 

[qtpai]

1370 on old SAT.

12VR, 13PS, 13BS, S, so 38S MCAT.

When I was taking the SAT, I didn't care, so the only prep I had was one practice test the day before. And I didn't finish the SAT, I got bored on the last passage and day dreamed instead of finishing.

Studied quite a bit for the MCAT, but it had also been 5 years since I took the classes.

Probably some kind of correlation, not at all perfect though.