how to get a 45 mcat score?

[jayhov]

Does anyone have any suggestions for achieving a 45 on the mcat? Can anybody reccomend books or courses in particular?How much time should I spend? Should I go over my class notes or textbook. Are there any textbooks that anybody reccomends which explain every topic thoroughly.

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[deez4life]

getting a 45 is like winning the lottery. out of about 26,000 test-takers in april 2003, less than 12 even got above a 41.

however, if you mean you want to do very well (ie 32+), i recommend the examkracker materials in conjunction with kaplan. that's what worked for me. kaplan's classroom instruction by itself is not very useful, but their library of test material more than makes up for that. using ek to build your knowledge base, and kaplan tests to practice your test-taking skills, you're setting yourself up for an excellent showing on the mcat.

good luck.

 

[lotrfan81]

I don't even think that excessive amounts of studying can grant you a 45. It is exactly like winning the lottery. People study for months for hours and hours a day and don't score over 35.

I think Examkracker Books and either Kaplan or Princeton Review depending on the area. Good luck.

 

[AlternateSome1]

Just sell me your soul. You will be granted one 45. I need that signed in blood please.

~AS1~

 

[enamine]

Originally posted by deez4life
getting a 45 is like winning the lottery. out of about 26,000 test-takers in april 2003, less than 12 even got above a 41.

less than 12? That doesn't seem right, where is this info from?

 

[WatchingWaiting]

AAMC only gives limited precision, but, as you can see, once you're at a 41, you're at the 99.9th percentile:

http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/examineedata/table0403.pdf

 

[deez4life]

Originally posted by enamine
less than 12? That doesn't seem right, where is this info from?

alas, it is correct. check it out on the aamc website on the link given by watchingwaiting. the validity of your mcat score is lost when you look at the absolute scale. a 30 is only 67% of 45, but it puts consistenly puts you in the ~80th percentile, and a 35 is only 78% of 45, but puts you in the ~95th percentile.

its best to think of mcat scoring based on standard deviations above the mean, where the mean is ~24, and the sd is ~5.5. this how the aamc standardizes the test. looking at it that way, a 45 is almost 4 full sd's above the mean!! statistically speaking, a 45 is scored by a negligible amount of test-takers. in reality, probably none.

 

[commy-superman]

one word: pray

 

[WatchingWaiting]

As soon as you're in the high 30s, not getting into a top 10 program only occurs if you have serious deficiencies in personality, activities, or essays. Also, realize that a 14 on any of the sections has required a 96% on recent test administrations and a 15 has required 98% (see the scoring for AAMC exams 3R-6R-- usually, a 74 out of 77 is required for a 14 and a 76 out of 77 for a 15). Thus, it is basically impossible to consistently get those scores, especially on all three sections of one administration.

 

[OrthoFixation]

My suggestion for achievement of a 45 on the MCAT:

Don't miss any questions



Other than that, get yourself a photographic memory, study, and pray. Divine intervention may be required.

 

[MeowMix]

I agree with others that it is primarily luck. If you look at the AAMC statistics for repeat test-takers, those who score above about a 12 on any section often go DOWN on the retake. To me, this suggests that the results for 36 and above are not reproducible; there are other factors at work (i.e. luck). In other words, simply studying more and retaking the MCAT cannot guarantee a 45.

 

[dmitrinyr]

My theory is that there is no difference in the study habits, test-taking skills or level of knowledge and intelligence of a person who scores mid to high 30's and of the one that scores in the 40's, it is just those that score in the 40's get more questions right on which they guessed on. I figure that tests such as the mcat are specifically designed so that you will get a certain number of questions wrong doesn't matter who you are. So lets say that this number is 5-10 total questions out of 200 and something on the whole test. Those that get 5-10 wrong total on the test will get in the 40's or high 30's. Those that get these questions wrong plus a few more will get in the mid-30's. I am still trying to get 10 questions wrong per section, so what do I know.

dmitri

 

[Califlower]

Originally posted by AlternateSome1
Just sell me your soul. You will be granted one 45. I need that signed in blood please.

~AS1~

 

[DrThom]

Find all the right people to sleep with. Remember, sex sells....or buys in this case

 

[Blanch]

getting a 45 is like winning the lottery. out of about 26,000 test-takers in april 2003, less than 12 even got above a 41.

But there are 8 scores above 41 on the MD Applicants Site, which only represents about 10% of all applicants. Where did you get this number?

 

[lotrfan81]

How does 8 scores represent 10% of all applicants??

 

[deez4life]

Originally posted by Blanch
But there are 8 scores above 41 on the MD Applicants Site, which only represents about 10% of all applicants. Where did you get this number?

it seems people are having a hard time grasping the rarity of scores in the 40's. ok, i'll break it down:

1) go here: http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/examineedata/table0403.pdf

2) go to the second page, and look at the table for perecentiles and composite scores for the April 2003 mcat.

3) do the basic math: ~26,000 takers, 0.0% scoring at > 41. so at most, 0.049% scored > 41, and the chart rounded it down to zero. the closest non-fractional number of takers translates to 12 for 0.049% of 26,000. so 12 or less people scored that high this past april.

mdapplicants.com needs to be taken with a grain of salt. it is skewed heavily upward. just like sdn.

enjoy

 

[WatchingWaiting]

Re: mdapplicants.com needs to be taken with a grain of salt. it is skewed heavily upward. just like sdn.

I'd point out that, in spite of the pointlessness of such activity, people do lie on anonymous surveys.

 

[chikantikka]

Originally posted by commy-superman
one word: pray

one more word: cheat

 

[zinjanthropus]

Yeah, I don't think people have a clear understanding of what a good and what a great score really is

I think you can consider a good score to be anything in the 80th percentile or above. That means you did better then 8 out of 10 people who the exam at the same time as you. Now, if you look at the scores, the 80th percentile is a 30. As a score increases from a 30, you quickly jump up into higher percentiles. For example, 25,972 people took the MCAT in April, however only 14% of the test takes scored a 32 or higher. That's only 3635 people. If you get a 33 you are basically in the 90th percentile and a score of 35 or above puts you in the company of only 1,402 out of 25,972 people.

Medical schools accept about 17,000 people a year. The point is that if you have scores in these areas, you score will most likely not be the factor that keeps you out of a program

 

[doctorpepper]

Another thing about getting a score in the high 30's to 40's, the closer you get to the coveted 45, the less questions you need to miss to go down a whole point.

Taking the practice tests with the AAMC MCAT computererized tests, if I miss 1-2 questions on any given section, my score drops down from say a 13 to a 12. So to even get a 12 on say Verbal, you are only allowed to miss about 5 or so questions. Of course this various slightly w/ each administration.

That's why it's such a gamble (especially for verbal). There will always be those few questions that you're uncertain about.

2003 MCAT KAPLAN BOOKS (Bio and Phys) - WILL SELL FOR CHEAP - $70 [email protected]

 

[Jonkst]

Originally posted by WatchingWaiting
As soon as you're in the high 30s, not getting into a top 10 program only occurs if you have serious deficiencies in personality, activities, or essays. Also, realize that a 14 on any of the sections has required a 96% on recent test administrations and a 15 has required 98% (see the scoring for AAMC exams 3R-6R-- usually, a 74 out of 77 is required for a 14 and a 76 out of 77 for a 15). Thus, it is basically impossible to consistently get those scores, especially on all three sections of one administration.

I wouldn't go that far Watching. Getting into a top ten program is a seriously difficult thing. I'm sitting here with a score in the very high thirties, and while I'm applying to 5 or 6 of the top ten, trust me, I'm not feeling the garantee.

 

[AlternateSome1]

Originally posted by doctorpepper
Another thing about getting a score in the high 30's to 40's, the closer you get to the coveted 45, the less questions you need to miss to go down a whole point.

Taking the practice tests with the AAMC MCAT computererized tests, if I miss 1-2 questions on any given section, my score drops down from say a 13 to a 12. So to even get a 12 on say Verbal, you are only allowed to miss about 5 or so questions. Of course this various slightly w/ each administration.

That's why it's such a gamble (especially for verbal). There will always be those few questions that you're uncertain about.

And an optimist would look at this and say...well...once you have a 12..its only a few questions more correct to get a 13...and then even fewer to get a 14 after you have obtained a 13. Is anyone left an optimist after the MCAT's reign of terror?

~AS1~

 

[WatchingWaiting]

Re: sitting here with a score in the very high thirties, and while I'm applying to 5 or 6 of the top ten, trust me, I'm not feeling the garantee.

If you felt a guarantee of admission to top 10 schools, you would be exhibiting arrogance. This would be the kind of personal deficiency that could keep you out. I should have added that you also need to have a high gpa to match the high mcat, since med schools aren't into high-potential/good test-taking skills but low motivation for sustained, long-term work.

Anyway, I didn't mean that someone with a 38+ MCAT was likely to get into all top 10 programs, or even many, but that once your score is in the 38+ range, if you applied to six or seven of the top 10, you would 95% probably get admitted to at least one, unless you had personal or activity deficiencies.

 

[....]

"very high thirties"

this just sounds odd. No number but 39 would fulfill this....
EXTREMELY HIGH THIRTIES!!!!!

 

[All-Star14]

Originally posted by WatchingWaiting
As soon as you're in the high 30s, not getting into a top 10 program only occurs if you have serious deficiencies in personality, activities, or essays. Also, realize that a 14 on any of the sections has required a 96% on recent test administrations and a 15 has required 98% (see the scoring for AAMC exams 3R-6R-- usually, a 74 out of 77 is required for a 14 and a 76 out of 77 for a 15). Thus, it is basically impossible to consistently get those scores, especially on all three sections of one administration.

Wait...I though the scores were curved.

 

[WatchingWaiting]

Re: I though the scores were curved

It's "curved"-- the problem is that the test does not have enough hard questions to differentiate scores in the 13,14,15 range. For example, the scoring for the physical sciences on 6R is as follows:

Scaled Raw Percent Required
08 48 62.3%
09 53 68.8%
10 57 74.0%
11 61 79.2%
12 65 84.4%
13 70 90.9%
14 74 96.1%
15 76 98.7%

 

[kmnfive]

If you felt a guarantee of admission to top 10 schools, you would be exhibiting arrogance. This would be the kind of personal deficiency that could keep you out

hahahah... lmao.. amen!

As soon as you're in the high 30s, not getting into a top 10 program only occurs if you have serious deficiencies in personality, activities, or essays.

HAHAHAHAH... "personality" ... lol.

 

[noy]

Getting a 42 and 45 is the same thing, as far as I can tell (no, I dont have a 42 or a 45)...

For those with that level of MCAT ability, there will be a distribution of 3-4 points simply because of the numbers of questions where one has to guess, and the sensitivty of the exam to guessing at the high end...

But these kind of scores require (for me, at least):
practice
a deep fundamental understanding of the science underlying the questions
the speed to read and answer
a good ability to guess when needed
an understanding of how verbal reasoning works (on any standardized test)
advanced courses in all the science fields (electronics, phys chem, mol bio)..

 

[Sean2tall]

What is the best score anyone has laid eyes upon (or believed) in real life?

 

[greggth]

Originally posted by noy
Getting a 42 and 45 is the same thing, as far as I can tell (no, I dont have a 42 or a 45)...

For those with that level of MCAT ability, there will be a distribution of 3-4 points simply because of the numbers of questions where one has to guess, and the sensitivty of the exam to guessing at the high end...

But these kind of scores require (for me, at least):
practice
a deep fundamental understanding of the science underlying the questions
the speed to read and answer
a good ability to guess when needed
an understanding of how verbal reasoning works (on any standardized test)
advanced courses in all the science fields (electronics, phys chem, mol bio)..

I agree 100%. I would add 4 things: 1) the ability to make quick numerical estimations, 2) a big vocabulary, 3) familiarity with many different specific experiments and facts and 4) a broad range of NON-SCIENCE knowledge for the Verbal section (history, literature, political science, etc.)-- because you can understand a passage more quickly and easily if you have studied the topic before.

The claim that the verbal section does not require outside knowledge is not true, I think. First of all, you have to have a good English vocabulary, and isn't that outside knowledge? Second, for some passages, you have to know a few basic things about the topic.

I think the Verbal section is skewed, probably unintentionally, so that Americans will have an easier time than people who grew up in other countries. Because in each practice test I see at least one passage that has to do with the United States. Where are the passages about Indian politics, Chinese or African or South American history? All I see is European history and American politics (except one passage about Zoroastrianism). Therefore the Verbal section actually is, in part, an indirect measure of outside knowledge. If they wanted to get a true test of logical reasoning ability, that had absolutely no dependence on outside knowledge, they would have passages about extremely esoteric topics like the history of Guatemala or Mozambique, that nobody would be very familiar with. Of course you would get one or two people who were scholars in those areas, but they would be so few that it would not make a big difference.

 

[unregistered]

That's true, there is, in my opinion, a bias towards American/European passages on the MCAT as there was on the SAT, b/c most the writers probably do not read too much indian, african, asian literature.

But here is one thing that gets me: Asian Americans consistently have to score extremely high to gain admission, esp. at UCs, because med schools want diversity and don't want too high a % in their class. While i do respect and approve of med school's desire to diversify, it creates this kind of racial grouping, where you basically have to score higher than other ethnic groups and whites. To take a non-scientific approach, think of all the asians you know in medical school and what their gpa/mcat was, and how many got in with 'lower' mcat scores? not many


The only case this is not true is at top med schools, where everyone is so damn good that no one group's scores stand out. However, there have been studies nationwide comparing scores and blacks & latinos are consistently admitted to med school in general even with lower gpa and mcats. does anyone see the unfairness in this double-standard?

 

[daphilster]

i know a girl who was 1 of 2 ppl during mcat 2 yrs ago who got a 45, not even 43-45... they give you 45 if you miss 0 on all sections

ironically, she's asian and the European passages didn't seem to trip her up, so maybe the verbal is 'fair'? haha, i'm j/k i can appreciate your points about cultural bias

 

[sgilani]

6 people in the history of the exam have gotten 45.
set a realistic goal, a good study schedule and stick to it.

 

[rgporter]

Originally posted by sgilani
6 people in the history of the exam have gotten 45.
set a realistic goal, a good study schedule and stick to it.

Really? Where did you get this information? It would be most useful in refuting the claims of the many trolls who live in these forums.

 

[deez4life]

Originally posted by rgporter
Really? Where did you get this information? It would be most useful in refuting the claims of the many trolls who live in these forums.

According to the 2004-2005 MSAR, the highest MCAT score accpeted in last year's cycle was a 43. The year before that it was a 42. Extrapolating from the fact that the average accepted MCAT score increases every year (where last year's scores were the highest average ever) even 6 people with a 45 seems like an immodest number. I'd say it's closer to 0.

deez

 

[PianoGirl04]

Originally posted by Sean2tall
What is the best score anyone has laid eyes upon (or believed) in real life?

I don't really like to toot my own horn, but since you asked...I got a 42 (15VR, 14PS, 13BS, Q) on the April 2003 test. I didn't realize how rare scores like this were until I read deez's posts, though. I'm sure there are some people here who have a 43 or 44, but getting a 45 is incredibly difficult. Therefore, I agree that people shouldn't be asking "how can I get a 45," but something more like "how can I get above 35." Somebody mentioned in another thread that once you get above 90th percentile, the rest is just gravy. For my sake, I hope not...but it's probably true.

I think getting a really good score depends on all the stuff noy said, along with a general ability to do well on standardized tests. Some people are just really good test-takers...of course, that's probably a skill that can be learned. Plus, there's definitely an element of luck involved.

 

[gary5]

How to get a 45:

1) Get a 4.0 in high school
2) Ace the ACT 4 years ago
3) Ace the SAT 4 years ago
4) Get a 4.0 in college

If you didn't do 1-4 above, have your goal be to get a 30+.

Here's a reality check: The average for Harvard is 33.3.

 

[PianoGirl04]

Originally posted by gary5
Here's a reality check: The average for Harvard is 33.3.

Very true. The bottom line is that you don't need a 45 to get into top programs. There's more to an applicant than MCAT scores and GPA.

 

[Nutmeg]

Originally posted by PianoGirl04
Very true. The bottom line is that you don't need a 45 to get into top programs. There's more to an applicant than MCAT scores and GPA.

..which probably bums you out.

 

[STi555]

I will give my little bit of advice on what I think one needs to do to score well (I think we have established that aiming for 45 is a little too high). To score really high I think you need to have a solid understanding of the science, not just memorizing little phrases. I didn't use any memory devices when I took the MCAT. Also, when you read a passage on the mcat you have to make yourself think about it as if it were something that you were really interested in. I know that sounds impossible and cheesy but it worked for me (40-42).

 

[Nutmeg]

Originally posted by STi555
I will give my little bit of advice on what I think one needs to do to score well (I think we have established that aiming for 45 is a little too high). To score really high I think you need to have a solid understanding of the science, not just memorizing little phrases. I didn't use any memory devices when I took the MCAT. Also, when you read a passage on the mcat you have to make yourself think about it as if it were something that you were really interested in. I know that sounds impossible and cheesy but it worked for me (40-42).

I've tried telling people to be interested. They all thought I said to fake interest. It's funny to me, because deciding to be interested is so much easier than studying your ass off. You and I are the lucky ones.

 

[gary5]

I think the Harvard average says that very few people get over 11 or 12 on every section. Maybe higher on bio but lower on verbal, etc.

 

[Nutmeg]

The average Wash U MCAT is 36.6 Q. They seem to be the school that places the most emphasis on the MCAT--they're also the only top-tier school that asked me to apply based on my MCAT score (that probably doesn't mean anything, but I'd like to think it does. )

 

[PianoGirl04]

Originally posted by Nutmeg
..which probably bums you out.

LOL...I post my stats in 2 threads and now all of a sudden I'm a score wh0re!

But seriously...yeah, sometimes I wish med school admissions were more like law school...where they take your LSAT and GPA (weighted for your undergrad school), turn it into one number, and if you're above a cutoff, you're in. It's so much easier that way, provided you have good scores.

But I'm not going to delude myself into thinking that my scores alone will get me in. Sure, scores are important, but you also have to be compassionate, articulate, well-rounded, levelheaded, etc...these are things that no standardized test can tell the adcoms. That's where ECs, personal statements, and LORs come into play. Do I hope my scores will compensate for some weaker aspects of my application? Sure! Do I expect to just slide through the admissions process without putting any effort into the rest of my application? Of course not. I think that's the basic messages that we're all giving to the OP...and it's very true.

 

[STi555]

Originally posted by PianoGirl04
But seriously...yeah, sometimes I wish med school admissions were more like law school...where they take your LSAT and GPA (weighted for your undergrad school), turn it into one number, and if you're above a cutoff, you're in. It's so much easier that way, provided you have good scores.

I have thought about how nice that would be for those of us with high numbers. But really do you want doctors to be like lawyers?

 

[PianoGirl04]

Originally posted by STi555
I have thought about how nice that would be for those of us with high numbers. But really do you want doctors to be like lawyers?

LMAO! You're right...if doctors were like lawyers, the world would not be a very nice place...

 

[destined_wind]

Originally posted by chikantikka
one more word: cheat

Hahahaha...

 

[Bad Mojo]

I figure cover all of your bases. Sure, you can study and cheat and sleep around. Also, covering all of your spiritual bases wouldn't hurt. I think it was Pascal who was religious because he said if its true, hes in. If its false, he didn't lose anything. Granted a lot of people will be banking on this, so go for quantity. Watch Major League 1 and get a troll doll and sacrifice chickens to the great Jo-Bu. It worked for Soriano...

 

[jbing]

Originally posted by stealth-sigrho
Does anyone have any suggestions for achieving a 45 on the mcat? Can anybody reccomend books or courses in particular?How much time should I spend? Should I go over my class notes or textbook. Are there any textbooks that anybody reccomends which explain every topic thoroughly.

i would imagine if you got a PhD in the following subjects you would have a pretty deep understanding of the material required to do well on the mcat:

Quantum Physics
Organic Chemistry
Physical Chemistry
Molecular Biology
Anatomy
Comparative Literature

so start working on your PhD in those 6 subjects and you will be on your way to a 45. with each PhD program averaging about 4 years to complete, 4 * 6 = 24, you should plan to register for the 2027 mcat, preferably the april exam since the august one will put you behind the rest of the crowd. good luck.