Does having a higher MCAT score look better even if you’re in the same percentile?

[wannagotoFlorida!!]

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This is kind of a dumb question but generally speaking, obviously the higher the score the better.
Is there much of a difference between someone With a 524 and a 526 even though they’re both in the same percentile?
same goes for other percentiles

just curious

 

[gyngyn]

No.

 

[Nontraddddds]

This is kind of a dumb question but generally speaking, obviously the higher the score the better.
Is there much of a difference between someone With a 524 and a 526 even though they’re both in the same percentile?
same goes for other percentiles

just curious

No. 524=528.

 

[coramDeo]

No. 524=528.

Interesting... I'd have imagined that a 528 would have some sort of a wow-factor...

 

[wannagotoFlorida!!]

Interesting... I'd have imagined that a 528 would have some sort of a wow-factor...

Me too. Its not everyday you see a literal perfect score

 

[KnightDoc]

Me too. Its not everyday you see a literal perfect score

+1. I don't know anyone who has one, but, given how few there are, it's difficult to believe it wouldn't warrant some special attention from the adcoms. While I totally get why adcoms don't want us stressing about tiny differences at that level, maybe @gyngyn and @LizzyM would be willing to share whether their schools reject people with 528 at the same rate as 524.

The sample size might be too small to get a good answer, but I'd be surprised if there was not some bias in favor of the 528 at those schools. Are those applicants so one dimensional that they actually do worse??? 😎 Or will the adcoms say they are universally superior, so they do better and it has nothing to do with the 528??

 

[Nontraddddds]

+1. I don't know anyone who has one, but, given how few there are, it's difficult to believe it wouldn't warrant some special attention from the adcoms. While I totally get why adcoms don't want us stressing about tiny differences at that level, maybe @gyngyn and @LizzyM would be willing to share whether their schools reject people with 528 at the same rate as 524.

The sample size might be too small to get a good answer, but I'd be surprised if there was not some bias in favor of the 528 at those schools. Are those applicants so one dimensional that they actually do worse??? 😎 Or will the adcoms say they are universally superior, so they do better and it has nothing to do with the 528??

I just think that when it comes to scores that high, Adcoms would put more stock on other areas of the application.

 

[KnightDoc]

I just think that when it comes to scores that high, Adcoms would put more stock on other areas of the application.

Yup -- that's the consensus. The speculation is on the very top score, which probably less than 100 people in the country have each cycle. Either it's special and treated accordingly, or it's just another good score.

More stock in the rest of the application goes without saying. But it's not like the MCAT gets the same weight as LORs or volunteering. The question is whether the 528 is just so impressive that top schools can't resist, assuming, of course, that the rest of the application is decent, although maybe not spectacular.

In other words, is a 528 decent, or spectacular, and does it disproportionately balance a weaker, but still not weak, rest of an application? 12% of 3.8+/518+ are rejected. That number HAS to be significantly lower at 3.9+/524+. Does it not approach zero at 528????

I'm not sure there are enough people with this score who end up rejected to give us a meaningful sample size, but there are plenty of people on many of the school specific threads who are SHOCKED, as the Rs have started trickling in, that the process is not nearly as holistic as advertised, as people with sub par GPAs and awesome everything else find themselves early R recipients. Are people with 528s REALLY looked at the same as those with 524s? 520s? 516s?

 

[coramDeo]

Yup -- that's the consensus. The speculation is on the very top score, which probably less than 100 people in the country have each cycle. Either it's special and treated accordingly, or it's just another good score.

More stock in the rest of the application goes without saying. But it's not like the MCAT gets the same weight as LORs or volunteering. The question is whether the 528 is just so impressive that top schools can't resist, assuming, of course, that the rest of the application is decent, although maybe not spectacular.

In other words, is a 528 decent, or spectacular, and does it disproportionately balance a weaker, but still not weak, rest of an application? 12% of 3.8+/518+ are rejected. That number HAS to be significantly lower at 3.9+/524+. Does it not approach zero at 528????

I'm not sure there are enough people with this score who end up rejected to give us a meaningful sample size, but there are plenty of people on many of the school specific threads who are SHOCKED, as the Rs have started trickling in, that the process is not nearly as holistic as advertised, as people with sub par GPAs and awesome everything else find themselves early R recipients. Are people with 528s REALLY looked at the same as those with 524s? 520s? 516s?

I'd imagine a 528 would mean a bit more to schools that have been very keen on bumping their medians up for the sake of rankings (looking at you, NYU among others). Like you said, the sample size is probably too small to fully satiate our curiosity, since only a few hundreds of people end up with 524+ (if I did my math right) and among those hundreds, I'm sure some of them have lower GPA's which makes this question even more difficult.

With that said, I have a 3.5/525 combo and I might be one of those people that end up shocked. Lol. Soo I'm very curious about what it means to be 528 vs 524 vs 520 and so on... but I'm also scared to know the answer. 😕

 

[KnightDoc]

I'd imagine a 528 would mean a bit more to schools that have been very keen on bumping their medians up for the sake of rankings (looking at you, NYU among others). Like you said, the sample size is probably too small to fully satiate our curiosity, since only a few hundreds of people end up with 524+ (if I did my math right) and among those hundreds, I'm sure some of them have lower GPA's which makes this question even more difficult.

With that said, I have a 3.5/525 combo and I might be one of those people that end up shocked. Lol. Soo I'm very curious about what it means to be 528 vs 524 vs 520 and so on... but I'm also scared to know the answer. 😕

Man, I hope you are not on the receiving end of bad news!!!! The people I am referring to referenced bad GPAs and superlative ECs (no mention of MCAT), and seem surprised by the early R, which seems understandable due to the unrelenting emphasis on "stats aren't everything" on SDN, but just ignores the fact that high stats are a necessary ante for many of us, although plenty of people with one preference or another receive some slack in this area.

 

[coramDeo]

Man, I hope you are not on the receiving end of bad news!!!! The people I am referring to referenced bad GPAs but superlative ECs (no mention of MCAT), and seem surprised by the early R, which seems understandable due to the unrelenting emphasis on "stats aren't everything" on SDN, which just ignores the fact that high stats are a necessary ante for many of us, although plenty of people with one preference or another receive some slack in this area.

Thank you!

I agree with you there. Though stats are not everything, they are the most objective evaluation that the schools have on an applicant and it seems like people tend to take that fact lightly sometimes. As many AdComs have said it here, stats get you to the door, and the rest gets you in the door. Just as stats are not everything, EC's are not everything either (unless idk you have Olympic Gold Medals, rescued a whole village, eradicated Malaria 🤔) and both parts are crucial to a successful application.

 

[wannagotoFlorida!!]

I'd imagine a 528 would mean a bit more to schools that have been very keen on bumping their medians up for the sake of rankings (looking at you, NYU among others). Like you said, the sample size is probably too small to fully satiate our curiosity, since only a few hundreds of people end up with 524+ (if I did my math right) and among those hundreds, I'm sure some of them have lower GPA's which makes this question even more difficult.

With that said, I have a 3.5/525 combo and I might be one of those people that end up shocked. Lol. Soo I'm very curious about what it means to be 528 vs 524 vs 520 and so on... but I'm also scared to know the answer. 😕

Lol same! Similar-ish stats w 524 and 3.7gpa but applying next cycle. Fingers crossed they fall in love with me immediately and accept me before i even submit secondaries.

 

[gyngyn]

+1. I don't know anyone who has one, but, given how few there are, it's difficult to believe it wouldn't warrant some special attention from the adcoms. While I totally get why adcoms don't want us stressing about tiny differences at that level, maybe @gyngyn and @LizzyM would be willing to share whether their schools reject people with 528 at the same rate as 524.

We reject them at the same rate.

 

[gyngyn]

I'd imagine a 528 would mean a bit more to schools that have been very keen on bumping their medians up for the sake of rankings (looking at you, NYU among others). Like you said, the sample size is probably too small to fully satiate our curiosity, since only a few hundreds of people end up with 524+ (if I did my math right) and among those hundreds, I'm sure some of them have lower GPA's which makes this question even more difficult.

With that said, I have a 3.5/525 combo and I might be one of those people that end up shocked. Lol. Soo I'm very curious about what it means to be 528 vs 524 vs 520 and so on... but I'm also scared to know the answer. 😕

A few more 528's has no effect on the median.

 

[Moko]

+1. I don't know anyone who has one, but, given how few there are, it's difficult to believe it wouldn't warrant some special attention from the adcoms... whether their schools reject people with 528 at the same rate as 524.

There are diminishing returns with the MCAT, and these hypercompetitive scores are virtually indistinguishable and are treated as such at my school. At the top schools, these hypercompetitive scores are a dime in a dozen. My school has already outright rejected many applicants with 99th and 100th percentile MCATs this cycle, so high scores are not even sufficient to guarantee a waitlist position. Ultimately, GPA and MCAT are just one facet of the application, and successful applicants will have demonstrated excellence in the other areas of their application (broadly speaking: non-clinical service, clinical experience, teaching, leadership, and research).