How does your MCAT score equate to the percentage you got?

[TheBellCurve]

What percentage (80%, 90%, 95% etc...) would a certain MCAT score equate to?
What percentage would you need to get on the exam to get, say, a score of 32?

Presumably, a score of 0 would equate to 0% and a score of 45 would be 100%, so if the scoring system is linear, would a score of 22.5 equal 50%?, and a score of 30 would equal 66%? Is this correct? Getting 66%, I hate to sound arrogant, doesn't sound very hard. I'm on the "MCAT Question of the Day" website and I'm getting at least 80-90% of the questions.

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[Lamel]

Your username is really ironic.

 

[Ismet]

The scoring system is not linear, not in the slightest.

Here's a sample scale I found on another thread for a practice test:

 

[Beargryllz]

The score isn't based off the % you got right, it is influenced by how hard the questions are. If you're getting the questions right that nobody else is, your score will be higher than average even if you had the same number of questions correct as the person next to you. If you are missing questions that all the other people are getting right, your score will drop pretty hard. This is how I understand it.

 

[Ismet]

The score isn't based off the % you got right, it is influenced by how hard the questions are. If you're getting the questions right that nobody else is, your score will be higher than average even if you had the same number of questions correct as the person next to you. If you are missing questions that all the other people are getting right, your score will drop pretty hard. This is how I understand it.

Very close, but not quite. It's a common misconception that the exam is curved based on the performance of the people taking the same exam as you on the same day as you. In reality, the creators of the test have already determined the "difficulty" of each question based on experimental questions and passages from previous tests. So the scale is already determined when you take your test.

 

[Meihua]

What percentage (80%, 90%, 95% etc...) would a certain MCAT score equate to?
What percentage would you need to get on the exam to get, say, a score of 32?

Presumably, a score of 0 would equate to 0% and a score of 45 would be 100%, so if the scoring system is linear, would a score of 22.5 equal 50%?, and a score of 30 would equal 66%? Is this correct? Getting 66%, I hate to sound arrogant, doesn't sound very hard. I'm on the "MCAT Question of the Day" website and I'm getting at least 80-90% of the questions.

The scoring system is not linear. From AMCAS's Understanding Your Scores:

Each score that you achieve on the three scored multiple-choice sections is based on the number of questions you answer correctly. This raw score is a reflection of your correct answers only. This means that a wrong answer will be scored exactly the same as an unanswered question; there is no additional penalty for wrong answers. Therefore, even if you are unsure of the correct answer to a question, you should make your best guess.

The scores from each of these three sections will be converted to a scale ranging from 1 (lowest) to 15 (high). For example, if your raw score on one of the sections is between 40 and 43, your converted score might be 11. Scores ranging from 44 to 46 might have a converted score of 12, and so forth. The voluntary Trial Section is not scored.

Using their example (which looks like it refers to raw scores out of a possible high of 52, the number of questions in PS/BS), a 11 in one of those sections would be 77-83% for that test.

 

[Arbor Vitae]

What percentage (80%, 90%, 95% etc...) would a certain MCAT score equate to?
What percentage would you need to get on the exam to get, say, a score of 32?

Presumably, a score of 0 would equate to 0% and a score of 45 would be 100%, so if the scoring system is linear, would a score of 22.5 equal 50%?, and a score of 30 would equal 66%? Is this correct? Getting 66%, I hate to sound arrogant, doesn't sound very hard. I'm on the "MCAT Question of the Day" website and I'm getting at least 80-90% of the questions.

Look at the reports for the most recent MCATs. Every year they publish this exact data for that year showing what percentage get which score. This shows exactly what you are looking for: MCAT percentiles

 

[aspiring20]

Look at the reports for the most recent MCATs. Every year they publish this exact data for that year showing what percentage get which score. This shows exactly what you are looking for: MCAT percentiles

32-33 is the 90th percentile? that's pretty incredible. i thought these scores are the 80th percentile.

 

[aspiring20]

Very close, but not quite. It's a common misconception that the exam is curved based on the performance of the people taking the same exam as you on the same day as you. In reality, the creators of the test have already determined the "difficulty" of each question based on experimental questions and passages from previous tests. So the scale is already determined when you take your test.

so the exam is not scored this way?

so if the exam contains harder questions than previous exams, then the curve should be adjusted accordingly as well, right? for example, an exam with easier questions require a 46/52 for a 12, while an exam with harder questions only require a 42/52 for a 12? is my understanding correct? if the AAMC increases the difficulty of the exam, they have to address the scoring conversion as well in order to remain fair.

 

[Arbor Vitae]

32-33 is the 90th percentile? that's pretty incredible. i thought these scores are the 80th percentile.

Yep, but also take into account how many take the test and how many spots for incoming students there are. It says n = 89,452, and if a 32 is the 87.5 percentile, then 11,181 people scored at least 32. That's already a little more than 1/2 the MD spots. If you go down to an MCAT of 30, that's the 78.7 percentile, and roughly 19,050 spots, which is practically all the MD spots. This means you pretty much need a 30 except for those rare cases.

 

[Ismet]

so the exam is not scored this way?

so if the exam contains harder questions than previous exams, then the curve should be adjusted accordingly as well, right? for example, an exam with easier questions require a 46/52 for a 12, while an exam with harder questions only require a 42/52 for a 12? is my understanding correct? if the AAMC increases the difficulty of the exam, they have to address the scoring conversion as well in order to remain fair.

Yes the exam is scaled based on the difficulty. Different exams are not the same level of difficulty. The scale is there so that different exams on different days are able to be compared to each other. The scale is already set when you sit down to take your exam, so it doesn't matter how the person next to you does, that won't affect your score.

When you take the MCAT, there are "experimental" discretes and passages that are not included in your score, but your performance on them is used for statistical purposes and those questions may be used in future exams. So technically, you don't even have to get 100% of the questions correct to get a 45, since a couple might be experimental.

 

[yehhhboiii]

Your username is really ironic.

hahahahaha

 

[aspiring20]

Yes the exam is scaled based on the difficulty. Different exams are not the same level of difficulty. The scale is there so that different exams on different days are able to be compared to each other. The scale is already set when you sit down to take your exam, so it doesn't matter how the person next to you does, that won't affect your score.

When you take the MCAT, there are "experimental" discretes and passages that are not included in your score, but your performance on them is used for statistical purposes and those questions may be used in future exams. So technically, you don't even have to get 100% of the questions correct to get a 45, since a couple might be experimental.

gotcha. this is really helpful.

 

[Tots]

Moved to MCAT forum, the appropriate place for this discussion.