Good score and correlation on MCAT self-assessment?

[imsn234234]

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I just took the MCAT self-assessment for bio and I'm wondering what's considered a good score? They're so ambiguous with interpreting the results. They said I got 20% more questions correct than the average applicant, but what does that even mean since the ranges for averages (25 in 2010, 28 in 2011) vary so wildly? Anyways, what would be considered a good overall percentage correct? Thanks.

 

[rjosh33]

I'd say a percentage like yours in the mid-80s is good.

However, what's exponentially more important is what you can learn from the questions you got wrong. The great part about the Self-Assessments is that they can really help diagnose your weak areas and allow you to tailor your studying to hit your weak spots. And I'm not just talking about content areas either. Make an effort to fully understand why you got the questions wrong, and then formulate a study plan to fix it.

For example, if you're making too many "dumb" mistakes, consider slowing down during a FL and concentrating a little more during each question. Perhaps some questions are wrong due to missing details in the passage. Or maybe you're missing key words in the question stem. Or, of course, maybe it's just content deficiency.

The point is, scoring well on assessments can be a confidence boost, but that isn't what they're there for, IMO. The key to improving on the MCAT is turning weaknesses into strengths. The first step to making that transition, though, is knowing what your weaknesses are -- all of them. Diagnosing them will make your studying more efficient, and, hopefully, your MCAT score improve.

 

[big study]

Also the score breakdown in the test overview that you are referencing is saying the the average TEST TAKER recieved a 25. The average Med school APPLICANT applied with a 28 and the average ACCEPTED student had a 31. Shooting for an allopathic program one needs to be above the curve no doubt. 20% is a great start- I finish my assessment tomorrow!

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

It's hard to say. All AAMC tells us is that they're comparing your % correct to what the average test taker (ie the guy who gets a 25) would get right. It's my biggest complaint about the self-assessments since that average tells you nothing about how close you are to where you need to be. I think it's safe to say though that you definitely want to be well above average. Any area where you're only average or, even worse, below average is a major weak spot that needs to be addressed.

On the bright side, no matter how well you do the assessments are still good for telling you what your strongest and weakest areas are even if you score above average in everything.

 

[TwinsFan]

I would use AAMC 11's scales and convert to a percentage to get a ballpark of where you're at.

i.e. 85% in Bio = 0.85 x 52 = 44.2 ==> 12

Raw Scores
15 52-52 40-40 50-52
14 49-51 39-39 48-49
13 47-48 37-38 47-47
12 45-46 36-36 44-46
11 42-44 32-35 41-43
10 38-41 29-31 36-40
9 35-37 27-28 33-35
8 31-34 24-26 29-32
7 26-30 21-23 27-28
6 22-25 18-20 24-26
5 19-21 16-17 22-23
4 16-18 14-15 19-21
3 11-15 12-13 16-18
2 6-10 10-11 15-15
1 0-5 0-9 0-14