does science GPA correlate with MCAT scores?

[byeh2004]

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is a high BCPM associated with a higher score on the mcat? or are they both indepedent of each other?

 

[Overeducated]

is a high BCPM associated with a higher score on the mcat? or are they both indepedent of each other?

maybe not completely independent but there is definitely not a direct correlation in my experience 🙂

 

[radioh3ad]

yea most definitely not

 

[willthatsall]

I would say yes, but weakly. That is just a guess though. I think if you have a really high one it means you should be able to do well on the PS and BS, but a low one doesn't necessarily mean you won't do well. GPA is a lot more about effort, MCAT is a lot more about understanding the material and taking tests well.

 

[Zuras]

Of course there is a correlation, though a 4.0 GPA in science coureswork is not going to assure you a 35+ MCAT.

 

[tigress]

I don't think so. Check out my science GPA and my MCAT. lol...of course the reason the GPA is low is that one semester of physics, and the one thing not great about my MCAT is PS...so yeah, you be the judge 😛

(I'm actually good at physics, I swear! lol)

 

[Zuras]

Of course there is a correlation, though a 4.0 GPA in science coureswork is not going to assure you a 35+ MCAT.

 

[maddscientist]

I would say no. It all depends on how well you take tests and if you have any weaknesses. I detest physics (two C's); my undergrad BCPM is 3.18 and the good old MCAT was a 34.

 

[dajimmers]

Uh, published in 1983, but this AAMC study found a:

"positive and linear relationship between the MCAT science average and the science GPA"

 

[Nakhrewali]

Uh, published in 1983, but this AAMC study found a:

"positive and linear relationship between the MCAT science average and the science GPA"

That's crazy! 😱 I demand a higher BCPM gpa because of this study! haha.

 

[tacrum43]

Uh, published in 1983, but this AAMC study found a:

"positive and linear relationship between the MCAT science average and the science GPA"

I think the MCAT has probably changed a little bit since 1983. I know I have. 🙂

 

[Kitra101]

Little bitter here about the study...I had three B's throughout undergrad, yet scored a 28 on the MCAT. I cannot explain it...but here is what I can say:

First, I know plenty of people that I was in class with that scored much less than I did on exams, yet killed me in the MCAT.

Second, I went to UGA. I took the SAT and scored a 1220. UGA claims, as do most schools, that the SAT is a good indicator of how a student will perform during college and therefore is used as a method to evaluate applicants. I can say that with a 1220, I got in then, but would not get in now. However, I believe that I am a hard working, dedicated person. Despite what the standardized tests indicate about me, I think I am of above average intelligence and more than capable of handling a science major/premedical course load.

Maybe I get nervous and just don’t standardize test well. I wish I could say something like those who score better on the MCAT are all better students than me and study at more rigorous universities, but the fact is - I totally outperformed many people in classes (taking the same ones as me at the same school) and they totally outperformed me on the MCAT.

Then, when it comes time for applications, I find that most schools seem to hold the MCAT in much higher regard than GPA and ECs and it leaves poor standardized testers SOL.

Again, I am just bitter, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I do feel a better balancing act is needed.

 

[tacrum43]

Little bitter here about the study...I had three B's throughout undergrad, yet scored a 28 on the MCAT. I cannot explain it...but here is what I can say:

First, I know plenty of people that I was in class with that scored much less than I did on exams, yet killed me in the MCAT.

Second, I went to UGA. I took the SAT and scored a 1220. UGA claims, as do most schools, that the SAT is a good indicator of how a student will perform during college and therefore is used as a method to evaluate applicants. I can say that with a 1220, I got in then, but would not get in now. However, I believe that I am a hard working, dedicated person. Despite what the standardized tests indicate about me, I think I am of above average intelligence and more than capable of handling a science major/premedical course load.

Maybe I get nervous and just don’t standardize test well. I wish I could say something like those who score better on the MCAT are all better students than me and study at more rigorous universities, but the fact is - I totally outperformed many people in classes (taking the same ones as me at the same school) and they totally outperformed me on the MCAT.

Then, when it comes time for applications, I find that most schools seem to hold the MCAT in much higher regard than GPA and ECs and it leaves poor standardized testers SOL.

Again, I am just bitter, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I do feel a better balancing act is needed.

28 isn't bad at all, and I'm sure your GPA will help compensate for it. It seems to me that it depends a lot on the school whether they care more about MCAT or GPA. For example, Drexel has an average of a 30 for accepted students, but a 3.5/3.4 GPA, while Kansas has an average of 29, but 3.7/3.7.

 

[medhacker]

Uh, published in 1983, but this AAMC study found a:

"positive and linear relationship between the MCAT science average and the science GPA"

That may have been true back in 83...

 

[Zuras]

That may have been true back in 83...

Do you have a study claiming otherwise that is more recent?

Welcome to science.

 

[medhacker]

Do you have a study claiming otherwise that is more recent?

Welcome to science.

The MCAT has had at least 2 major overhauls ever since. You don't need recent studies to, at least, reason that what applied before the changes may not necessarily apply now.

 

[45408]

Then, when it comes time for applications, I find that most schools seem to hold the MCAT in much higher regard than GPA and ECs and it leaves poor standardized testers SOL.

I think that their reasoning is that people who do well on the MCAT will do well on the Step 1 (there is a correlation that indicates this), and med students who do well on Step 1 make the med school look good. So med schools want people with high MCAT scores, typically.

 

[medhacker]

I think that their reasoning is that people who do well on the MCAT will do well on the Step 1 (there is a correlation that indicates this), and med students who do well on Step 1 make the med school look good. So med schools want people with high MCAT scores, typically.

That is it. Now, keep in mind, it is a correlation, not an obligatory condition. People with a given MCAT score can go on to score higher or lower despite the correlation.

 

[alansda]

I'll have to agree that the '83 study can be given lesser value, after the major 1991 changes to the MCAT (the 2003 changes were minor).
From a 1989 article: " The changes in the [1991] MCAT are meant to shift the focus of the examination from one that favors those pre-medical students with strong memorization skills to one that stresses an applicant's comprehension of the material."

On the topic of changes, I'm excited and fearful about the 2007 conversion to computer-based format (and only 5 hours of testing!)

 

[pistachio]

2.8 BCPM
13 PS, 13 BS

You tell me. I honestly feel the only content you need to know for the MCAT is for the discretes.

 

[lanzarlaluna]

I received my pre-med requirements post-bacc (I have a BA in English) with a 3.93 GPA, and I ended up with a 25R on the April MCAT. Needless to say, I took the August MCAT, too. =[

 

[Saluki]

The '83 study may have shown that, but the MCAT used to be a lot more memorization, what you actually knew kind of thing. I hate critical thinking!

 

[Lindyhopper]

While the '83 study is largely irrelevant to the current version, there simple has to be a positive correlation. If the only thing you knew about two people were that one had a 4.0 BCPM & the other had a 2.0, which one would you bet did better on the MCAT?
The question is how strong is the correlation. It's probably "somewhat".

 

[newguy357]

Depends on major more than BCPM, I would guess. Is there a breakdown of MCAT scores based on major anywhere? I would bet on a physics major with a 3.4 BCPM to beat a biology major with a 3.75 and a lit. major with a 3.9. At least on PS. Still, it's much easier to teach a physicist to do biology than it is to teach a biologist to do physics.

 

[tank you]

remember: correlation does not indicate causation!

 

[45408]

Still, it's much easier to teach a physicist to do biology than it is to teach a biologist to do physics.

o rly?

It's also a lot easier to teach a biologist to pick up chicks than to teach a physicist to pick up chicks. 😀😀😀

 

[JohnnyNU82]

Little bitter here about the study...I had three B's throughout undergrad, yet scored a 28 on the MCAT. I cannot explain it...but here is what I can say:

First, I know plenty of people that I was in class with that scored much less than I did on exams, yet killed me in the MCAT.

Second, I went to UGA. I took the SAT and scored a 1220. UGA claims, as do most schools, that the SAT is a good indicator of how a student will perform during college and therefore is used as a method to evaluate applicants. I can say that with a 1220, I got in then, but would not get in now. However, I believe that I am a hard working, dedicated person. Despite what the standardized tests indicate about me, I think I am of above average intelligence and more than capable of handling a science major/premedical course load.

Maybe I get nervous and just don’t standardize test well. I wish I could say something like those who score better on the MCAT are all better students than me and study at more rigorous universities, but the fact is - I totally outperformed many people in classes (taking the same ones as me at the same school) and they totally outperformed me on the MCAT.

Then, when it comes time for applications, I find that most schools seem to hold the MCAT in much higher regard than GPA and ECs and it leaves poor standardized testers SOL.

Again, I am just bitter, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I do feel a better balancing act is needed.

I am definitely with you ...i got a 27 on the MCAT (stupid verbal) but I have a 3.4 BCPM and a 3.64 overall from Northwestern. I don't understand why GPA isn't weighted more heavily.

If U.S. News can rank colleges, then why can't med schools use some sort of ranking system and then weight your GPA accordingly. (And don't tell me ranking systems are bogus. You know just as well as I do that some colleges and universities are academically more rigorous than others, and it doesn't take a genius to differentiate between the two)


Sorry for being bitchy, but I just find it hard to believe that one score on one section of the MCAT is probably going to keep me out of medical school. (I also just got off a 12 hour shift in the ER and I'm exhausted...I'll shut up and go to bed now 😛 )

 

[dilated]

Of course science GPA correlates with MCAT scores. The alternate hypothesis would be that someone with a 40 mcat is equally likely to have a 2.5 GPA as a 3.8 (with those as rough ends of the curve for the sake of example), which is clearly ridiculous.

Honestly I can typically roughly predict people's MCAT scores based just on talking to them about class material; that is, in categories - low (sub 29ish), medium (29-34), high (35+). How quickly people pick things up is a pretty good indication of how they'll do on the mcat. There are always exceptions - some people are really bad at standardized tests for whatever reason despite being successful otherwise. Of course the MCAT is much less indicative of work ethic than GPA. Which is why they use both, almost as though they knew neither one said everything on their own........ 😛

If the MCAT does get more weight I think it's because it's less likely to trick adcoms. You can be dumb as a brick and get a high GPA if you shop your classes and go to the right school, but it's pretty difficult to get a high MCAT score and not know your stuff.

 

[DrJen]

Personal stories don't serve as scientific facts... Just because a handful of people with 2.0 GPA's get 40's on the MCAT doesn't mean there is no correlation. For every case you can come up with where there was a major difference, there are many more that were probably right on. Of course, the correlation isn't perfect since there are a lot of factors that go into GPA and MCAT score, but there's got to be one. Someone who is more intelligent or who has great study skills will generally have higher GPA's and MCAT scores.

Another thing you have to consider though is the truncated range. There aren't a lot of stupid people taking the MCAT. If your GPA is 1.5, you probably won't be throwing away your $200 to take it. So the correlation is automatically going to be weaker than for the SAT or ACT.

 

[troszic]

Then, when it comes time for applications, I find that most schools seem to hold the MCAT in much higher regard than GPA and ECs and it leaves poor standardized testers SOL.

It seems that this had more truth to it 20 years ago than it does now.
I do agree that GPA's aren't that important anymore, and with good cause. Rampant grade inflation around the country and a large variance among individual schools have debased the credibility of the GPA concept. It is understandable why MCAT's are taken more seriously than GPA.
But as for EC's being less important than MCAT's, I don't think this is true. I think really good EC's can make up for a bad MCAT. The converse, however, is not true.

 

[MoosePilot]

I am definitely with you ...i got a 27 on the MCAT (stupid verbal) but I have a 3.4 BCPM and a 3.64 overall from Northwestern. I don't understand why GPA isn't weighted more heavily.

If U.S. News can rank colleges, then why can't med schools use some sort of ranking system and then weight your GPA accordingly. (And don't tell me ranking systems are bogus. You know just as well as I do that some colleges and universities are academically more rigorous than others, and it doesn't take a genius to differentiate between the two)


Sorry for being bitchy, but I just find it hard to believe that one score on one section of the MCAT is probably going to keep me out of medical school. (I also just got off a 12 hour shift in the ER and I'm exhausted...I'll shut up and go to bed now 😛 )

Whereas I can't understand how people can work that hard in school and not retain any of it for the MCAT. I apparently didn't impress my teachers much, but I guess I learned something.

The retention comment doesn't apply to you, if verbal was your nemesis. I learned all I needed for verbal in High School.