highest MCAT median possible for a school

[lacrossegirl420]

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522? 524? esp considering scores are rising each year. and let's assume they want to ensure diversity etc so they don't just take all the highest scores

 

[KnightDoc]

522? 524? esp considering scores are rising each year. and let's assume they want to ensure diversity etc so they don't just take all the highest scores

Literally, or practically? If they're not just taking the highest scores, then you're not really asking what's the highest possible median! 😎

So, what IS your question?? There are already a few schools at 522, and, as you note, scores are creeping up, so you KNOW 523 and 524 are possible.

Beyond that? If a school was focused on it (they NEVER would be to this degree!), all you need to know is that there are around 400 +/- every year at 524+. If a top school cared about nothing but MCAT scores, they could target these candidates with offers they couldn't refuse (this would never work for a mid tier or lower school, but a T10 could offer full rides to these people and fill their class with them, although they'd lose a few to peers like NYU and UCLA doing the same), and maybe achieve a median somewhere between 524 and 526.

Beyond that, if scores keep creeping up, percentiles will start creeping down, so you'll have more people with top scores, and the median could then theoretically approach 527 until the scale is reset by AAMC. Obviously, if it ever got to the point that 528 was 99%ile, then you could theoretically have 528 medians at top schools, just like you have 522s today, but I don't think that's what you're asking.

 

[lacrossegirl420]

@KnightDoc : in my post i said if they wanted to maintain a balanced/diverse class which i know is also a goal for them (in which case they couldn't just take all the 525+ scorers or smtng). from last year it seems like no school went beyond 522 (only NYU and washU were 522?) wondering if it were possible any school would climb to 523 or 4 this year though (esp since 523 dropped to 99th % and scores in general are increasing)

 

[KnightDoc]

@KnightDoc : in my post i said if they wanted to maintain a balanced/diverse class which i know is also a goal for them (in which case they couldn't just take all the 525+ scorers or smtng). from last year it seems like no school went beyond 522 (only NYU and washU were 522?) wondering if it were possible any school would climb to 523 or 4 this year though (esp since 523 dropped to 99th % and scores in general are increasing)

Sure! I'm not sure why you are asking, or what difference it would make, but sure. If scores creeping up causes the math to change, then sure, but it wouldn't reflect anything other than people scoring higher. And, sure, if they care less about diversity than stats, then the median could also rise. Again, what's the relevance?

 

[Goro]

@KnightDoc : in my post i said if they wanted to maintain a balanced/diverse class which i know is also a goal for them (in which case they couldn't just take all the 525+ scorers or smtng). from last year it seems like no school went beyond 522 (only NYU and washU were 522?) wondering if it were possible any school would climb to 523 or 4 this year though (esp since 523 dropped to 99th % and scores in general are increasing)

It's not just whether they can take all the top scorers, it's also do the top scorers want to go to those schools in the end?

 

[MyOdyssey]

There are already a few schools at 522,

NYU and Wash U?

 

[KnightDoc]

NYU and Wash U?

And several right below at 521. They could all be higher if the schools wanted them to be.

 

[lull]

It's not just whether they can take all the top scorers, it's also do the top scorers want to go to those schools in the end?

I'd take free-tuition NYU in a heartbeat, don't care about the COL

 

[lull]

@lull : i think we all would LOL

well unfortunately NYU couldn't make it into the top 3, so I'm sure it's had its heart broken a few times by those who had higher US News ranking standards, I can humbly lower my standards a bit for NYU

 

[Goro]

well unfortunately NYU couldn't make it into the top 3, so I'm sure it's had its heart broken a few times by those who had higher US News ranking standards, I can humbly lower my standards a bit for NYU

The only people who care about US Snooze ranking are ignorante pre-meds and med school Deans.

Here are the schools with MCAT medians of >520:
NYU
Columbia
WashU
Vanderbilt
Yale
JHU
U Chicago
U Penn
Northwestern
Harvard
Mayo
Cornell

And FYI:

519:
Stanford
Case
Duke
Sinai
U VA

518:
BU
Baylor
UCSF
Pitt

 

[lacrossegirl420]

@Goro : what would you consider an "unbalanced" subsection for the schools with >=520 medians (not URM or ORM), if overall score is >520? 127, 126, lower?

 

[Goro]

@Goro : what would you consider an "unbalanced" subsection for the schools with >=520 medians (not URM or ORM), if overall score is >520? 127, 126, lower?

I think the learned @LizzyM has stated that at her T-Stratospehere school, it's rare that she sees people with <128-129ish in all categories.

Divine Miss M, what say you?

 

[lacrossegirl420]

@Goro RIP thats unfortunate to hear :/ my breakdown is 522 w/ 127 CARS which i'm thrilled about obviously but not sure how the 127 will be viewed by top programs

 

[LizzyM]

I think the learned @LizzyM has stated that at her T-Stratospehere school, it's rare that she sees people with <128-129ish in all categories.

Divine Miss M, what say you?

I generally see people with 127 or higher in all sections and 130 or higher in at least 3. It is not at all unusual to see applicants with 130 or higher in all four sections.

 

[KnightDoc]

well unfortunately NYU couldn't make it into the top 3, so I'm sure it's had its heart broken a few times by those who had higher US News ranking standards, I can humbly lower my standards a bit for NYU

Just give them a few years. I'm not sure how or if free tuition impacts rankings, but while peer schools say they don't pay attention and are committed to using available resources to meet financial needs rather than to compete with free tuition, it's funny how many T10-20 schools have expanded merit offerings in the past two years. 😎

 

[LizzyM]

I don't make the decision to make an interview offers but a 522 would get some respect even if the CARS is 126 but every school is different. When USNews uses total MCAT in its ratings, that is going to be the driver for schools that highly value their rank on that list.

 

[lull]

but a 522 would get some respect even if the CARS is 126 but every school is different

Is cars the subsection that gets the most leeway? Is it because of students that express language barriers, or is this consistent with everyone?

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

I believe it's percentile game for each section. Interestingly CARS 126 percentile (72) is higher than Biology 126 (62), even though everyone says CARS is hardest. on MSAR you can see percentiles for each section.

https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fastly.net/production/media/filer_public/d9/04/d904b7f4-c3d0-4469-aed1-e5afff500d05/mcat_total_and_section_score_percentile_ranks_2020_for_web.pdf

 

[Goro]

Is cars the subsection that gets the most leeway? Is it because of students that express language barriers, or is this consistent with everyone?

If you look at MSAR, CARS is generally the lowest performing subsection

At Albany, for all aceptees: CARS 127; others 128-129

For Case: CARS 129, all others: 130

For pretty much all MD schools, a 124 CARS is their 10th %ile. The other categories run higher.

I believe the explanation for this is the high number of immigrants or 1st gen. Americans who apply.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

@EdgeTrimmer : a higher percentile for the same score means that section is harder (in this case, cars)

My mistake, you are correct.

 

[deleted997951]

Just give them a few years. I'm not sure how or if free tuition impacts rankings, but while peer schools say they don't pay attention and are committed to using available resources to meet financial needs rather than to compete with free tuition, it's funny how many T10-20 schools have expanded merit offerings in the past two years. 😎

Which t10-20 have expanded merit offerings in the past 2 years because from what I recall the schools that use to offer merit scholarships still do, Im not aware of schools that just started. Most of the top 10 only offer need based like UCSF, Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, Columbia, Hopkins.

 

[deleted997951]

@KnightDoc : in my post i said if they wanted to maintain a balanced/diverse class which i know is also a goal for them (in which case they couldn't just take all the 525+ scorers or smtng). from last year it seems like no school went beyond 522 (only NYU and washU were 522?) wondering if it were possible any school would climb to 523 or 4 this year though (esp since 523 dropped to 99th % and scores in general are increasing)

You know what I do notice to be honest, schools in the top 10 are getting more diverse while there median MCAT score is increasing. Just food for thought.

 

[KnightDoc]

Which t10-20 have expanded merit offerings in the past 2 years because from what I recall the schools that use to offer merit scholarships still do, Im not aware of schools that just started. Most of the top 10 only offer need based like UCSF, Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, Columbia, Hopkins.

I was thinking of Penn, Vandy, UCLA, Pitt, WashU, Chicago, Emory, Michigan, Duke, Mayo, UVA, Northwestern, Stanford has Knight-Hennessy, etc. I honestly don't know how old those programs are, but it sure feels like they have expanded since NYU made its announcement.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

I was thinking of Penn, Vandy, UCLA, Pitt, WashU, Chicago, Emory, Michigan, Duke, Mayo, UVA, Northwestern, Stanford has Knight-Hennessy, etc. I honestly don't know how old those programs are, but it sure feels like they have expanded since NYU made its announcement.

Half of them are T10 🙂

 

[LizzyM]

You know what I do notice to be honest, schools in the top 10 are getting more diverse while there median MCAT score is increasing. Just food for thought.

I think that there is an arms race for the top scoring applicants who are URM or otherwise bring diversity to the class. Schools that value high stats can be very liberal in how they define URM so as to have their cake and eat it too.

 

[spottedcory]

I was thinking of Penn, Vandy, UCLA, Pitt, WashU, Chicago, Emory, Michigan, Duke, Mayo, UVA, Northwestern, Stanford has Knight-Hennessy, etc. I honestly don't know how old those programs are, but it sure feels like they have expanded since NYU made its announcement.

I was looking around Pitts site but couldn't find mention of merit, only need

 

[KnightDoc]

I was looking around Pitts site but couldn't find mention of merit, only need

I was taking it from this website:

Medical School Merit Scholarships - Blog

Medical school merit scholarships are offered at an array of medical schools.

www.thompsonadvising.com

but I also thought I remember people on SDN last year talking about merit money at Pitt. I'll see if I can find it.

Edit: I think you are correct, since I don't see anything on last year's Pitt thread about merit money.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

I was taking it from this website:

Medical School Merit Scholarships - Blog

Medical school merit scholarships are offered at an array of medical schools.

www.thompsonadvising.com

That's the go to site for me also.