Efle's MCAT 2015 to Old MCAT Percentile Comparison/Conversion Tables

[GrapesofRath]

Ah, vindication after arguing for 2 weeks 9 months ago that a 507 is a 30!

Outside of someone posting a thread the other day of "Should I should lie to schools I didnt study for my 99th percentile MCAT score to show Im smart" the fact that debate went over 2 pages and 2 weeks was probably the most SDN thing youll ever see in every way imaginable.

And yet here I am, well aware of the absurdity of that thread, bumping this 5 month old one just to basically tell me people "Hey a 511 is a 32 not a 31, 513 is 33 not a 32" etc..............

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[Lannister]

So my 514 is a 34 rather than a 33. I'll take it!

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[Nietzschelover]

But a 508 is a 30?

@efle, from a Davidson Wildcat (class of 1981) to a Wash U Bear (class of 2015/16?)....handshake agreement at 29.75? Final offer.

 

[gyngyn]

Thanks Grapes, I'll update shortly.

I really dislike that they start at 1st percentile and go to 100th - why fill the natural place to begin looking with all the values too low for exact percentile to be meaningful? Maybe they have some psychological reasoning, helps your esteem to climb up the percentiles as you scan towards your score instead of descending to it....

Today, I'm going to wait for your conversion.
I wasted a half day last time and yours was easier to read and better formatted.

 

[efle]

Today, I'm going to wait for your conversion.
I wasted a half day last time and yours was easier to read and better formatted.

What's currently there has been updated! Good to hear it's representative of the kind of thing adcoms will be doing (much to the AAMCs chagrin)

 

[Mcat513]

.

 

[MEDINALDO]

Going to bump this thread because AAMC has updated their score percentiles for April 2016 through the next year @efle take a look

https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fast...repercentileranks_and_bar_chartsv2_merged.pdf

Nothing groundbreaking at all, but basically this is a bit more generous to people taking the test in the next year. 505 is the new 29, 513 is a 33 now, 510 is a borderline 31-32, 507 is the new 30, 516 the new 35 etc.

Question is what should people who took the MCAT in 2015 who are applying this year use as their score conversion, not that it really matters much at all. I doubt schools will use two separate scoring scales for 2015 test takers and 2016.

Edit: The biggest thing I noticed was for those lower end borderline CARs scores. They made 124 38th-49th percentile which almost perfectly corresponds to 8 on the verbal on the old scale.

...bit more generous...?



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[efle]

...bit more generous...?

Some of the percentiles went up 1-3 points

 

[MedScholar18]

Was the MCAT harder or something this year?

 

[Lucca]

Was the MCAT harder or something this year?

With more people taking the test they just had
More data to work with. It's not far fetched to think they tweaked the exam either

 

[rjkbuny]

You need to get several more questions wrong to drop from 132 (13-15 equivalent) to a 131 (~12 equivalent). And only 1-2 questions wrong will still assure a 132.

Doesn't that actually make the exam more difficult? In order to achieve the same percentile of a 13 on the old exam, you actually have to get a 132 instead of 130, which would be technically the equivalent if you count 118=1 and 132=15. (Not sure if my logic is right...)

 

[efle]

Doesn't that actually make the exam more difficult? In order to achieve the same percentile of a 13 on the old exam, you actually have to get a 132 instead of 130, which would be technically the equivalent if you count 118=1 and 132=15. (Not sure if my logic is right...)

Saying 132 = 15, 131 = 14, 130 = 13 is not correct. Everyone who would have scored 13-15 (99.7th - 99.9th percentile on the old test) is now all awarded a 132.

 

[ace_inhibitor111]

Saying 132 = 15, 131 = 14, 130 = 13 is not correct. Everyone who would have scored 13-15 (99.7th - 99.9th percentile on the old test) is now all awarded a 132.

The most likely reason for the percentile changes on the new MCAT are the huge amount (34%) of people taking the new exam who have also taken the old exam (vs. 12% for a typical year). Since CARS is nearly the same as verbal, it is likely the earlier distribution was skewed since retakers show slight improvements in all sections. If you look at the distribution on the top end, I feel like after the next year, a 132 = 14-15, 131 = 13, 130 = 12.

 

[Okazaki Frag Grenade]

So my 514 is a 34 rather than a 33. I'll take it!

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Yeah my 515 went up 1 percentile point. we should probably reapply right?

 

[efle]

The most likely reason for the percentile changes on the new MCAT are the huge amount (34%) of people taking the new exam who have also taken the old exam (vs. 12% for a typical year). Since CARS is nearly the same as verbal, it is likely the earlier distribution was skewed since retakers show slight improvements in all sections. If you look at the distribution on the top end, I feel like after the next year, a 132 = 14-15, 131 = 13, 130 = 12.

As it is, a 13 meant 0.2-3% outscored you while a 131 means 0.5-6% outscore you. I'd be surprised if 132s became twice as scarce over the next year, but time will tell, if we see 131 jump to ">99" percentile it will be very similar or identical to a 13!

What I'm really curious about is the raw percent correct to percentile conversion between the two tests - I'd love to make these curves for the MCAT 2015 and compare.

 

[efle]

Updated with the new percentiles May 2017 - April 2018.

Please be advised that your AAMC score report does get updated with the new percentile. For example you may have taken the test last year and seen that your score was 519 - 98th percentile. If you check now it will say 519 - 97th percentile.

 

[sh.h]

Updated with the new percentiles May 2017 - April 2018.

Please be advised that your AAMC score report does get updated with the new percentile. For example you may have taken the test last year and seen that your score was 519 - 98th percentile. If you check now it will say 519 - 97th percentile.

one more reason to take the MCAT, once for all (and only once) and kill it, and never look back, so it never comes back "hunting" me, because I will use my MCAT score in a few years , and god knows what changes until then !

 

[Lucca]

@efle has been awarded a much overdue Amazon gift card for his work in putting this (and many other helpful charts and graphs) together for SDN. Check your inbox!

 

[efle]

Updated to reflect the new 2018-2019 percentiles released a couple days ago. Probably the last time I'll update this since I think it's now the final cycle that any schools are accepting old scores.

In general there was a small upwards score creep, likely due to prep materials getting better. For examples: up at the high end a 523 is no longer 100th percentile, and a 518 is now where an old 35 was instead of old 36