IQ connected to the MCAT?

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Does anyone know of any statistical data on IQ scores verse MCAT scores? I know there are a bunch for the SAT and my IQ matched my SAT score dead on, so I am hoping I will be able to estimate my future MCAT score as a mere freshmen.

 

[Will Ferrell]

I tilt my head one way, i see Alfalfa frowning (Little Rascals). I tilt the other way and I see Satan (with the goatee and horns). Your username is weird.

BTW, this is a pointless thread. There's a thread about this a couple pages down. The answer is that they're loosely related like IQ and everything else.

 

[tacrum43]

Does anyone know of any statistical data on IQ scores verse MCAT scores? I know there are a bunch for the SAT and my IQ matched my SAT score dead on, so I am hoping I will be able to estimate my future MCAT score as a mere freshmen.

MCAT scores don't count for IQ societies like MENSA because the MCAT is a knowledge based test, so there is no correlation.

If you want to know what you would get on an MCAT, the best predictor is to take practice MCATs. But seeing as you are a freshman, you won't know a lot of the material, so you'll just have to wait. Sorry.

You're gonna make a great SDNer though, you've already got the paranoid thing down and the MCAT is still at least two years away from you. On the other hand, be glad, because you get to take the computer based one that is shorter and I think offered more often.

 

[doctorJP]

MCAT scores don't count for IQ societies like MENSA because the MCAT is a knowledge based test, so there is no correlation.

If you want to know what you would get on an MCAT, the best predictor is to take practice MCATs. But seeing as you are a freshman, you won't know a lot of the material, so you'll just have to wait. Sorry.

You're gonna make a great SDNer though, you've already got the paranoid thing down and the MCAT is still at least two years away from you. On the other hand, be glad, because you get to take the computer based one that is shorter and I think offered more often.

I agree, go and look up the definition of correlation coefficients and you will find it to be 0 in this case. An interesting quote based on this:

There is an inverse correlation between the power a government has and the nation's foreign and domestic peace and the welfare of its people.

 

[SensesFail]

I tilt my head one way, i see Alfalfa frowning (Little Rascals). I tilt the other way and I see Satan (with the goatee and horns). Your username is weird.

Hahaha, these lines are the highlights of this entire thread.

 

[seadizzle]

Of course it is correlated. You think smart and average people given the same information will do similarly on the test? That's absurd! The mcat is partially knowledge based, but at its core it is a reasoning test where you apply basic knowledge.

 

[blkkd]

Of course it is correlated. You think smart and average people given the same information will do similarly on the test? That's absurd! The mcat is partially knowledge based, but at its core it is a reasoning test where you apply basic knowledge.

This man knows what he is saying. Yes it is a knowledged based test but regardless of the testmakers claims the verbal section HIGHLY correlates with IQ. The test overall has relatively less of a correlation but at the end of the day if someone with an IQ of 160 takes the exam and someone with 120 takes the exam, given the same preparation time and information, the person with 160 is going to do proportionately better...

 

[tacrum43]

This man knows what he is saying. Yes it is a knowledged based test but regardless of the testmakers claims the verbal section HIGHLY correlates with IQ. The test overall has relatively less of a correlation but at the end of the day if someone with an IQ of 160 takes the exam and someone with 120 takes the exam, given the same preparation time and information, the person with 160 is going to do proportionately better...

I would suspect that they both would do fairly well if they were adequately prepared, given that the average IQ of college professors is only about 117.

 

[Scewby Doo 1973]

there is indeed a direct correlation between IQ and MCAT scores. for example, my IQ = 31, and so does my MCAT score.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

there is indeed a direct correlation between IQ and MCAT scores. for example, my IQ = 31, and so does my MCAT score.

LMAO!! I love it!!! 😀

 

[seadizzle]

I would suspect that they both would do fairly well if they were adequately prepared, given that the average IQ of college professors is only about 117.

Exceptionally intelligent people succeed at basically everything they try without working as hard as average people. Why would the MCATs be an exception?

And your evidence isn't related to your conclusion in any way I can figure out.

 

[FutureDoc2010]

Just so people don't get too tied up with this IQ/SAT/ACT correlation idea...

I took the ACT 3 times and achieved a whopping 24 each time. It was a little discouraging to say the least. I knew I was a smart kid, but that exam really shattered my confidence. However, I have done exceptionally well as a college student. I've maintained nearly a 4.0, tutored physics and chemistry, taught O-chem as a TA, published research, and more. When the MCAT rolled around I thought I was going to be doomed, just as i had been on the ACT, but I managed to swing a 35! I work hard, but I don't see myself working any harder than many of my peers. I have a friend who was a HS valedictorian and nailed a 31 on the ACT. He currently has a 2.8 and isn't sure if he can get into chiropractic school. Granted there are correlations, but that's all they are. Moral of the story is, don't let an exam score get to you and define what you believe you are capable of.

 

[seadizzle]

Just so people don't get too tied up with this IQ/SAT/ACT correlation idea...

I took the ACT 3 times and achieved a whopping 24 each time. It was a little discouraging to say the least. I knew I was a smart kid, but that exam really shattered my confidence. However, I have done exceptionally well as a college student. I've maintained nearly a 4.0, tutored physics and chemistry, taught O-chem as a TA, published research, and more. When the MCAT rolled around I thought I was going to be doomed, just as i had been on the ACT, but I managed to swing a 35! I work hard, but I don't see myself working any harder than many of my peers. I have a friend who was a HS valedictorian and nailed a 31 on the ACT. He currently has a 2.8 and isn't sure if he can get into chiropractic school. Granted there are correlations, but that's all they are. Moral of the story is, don't let an exam score get to you and define what you believe you are capable of.

I agree completely, even if you believe in the validity of IQ tests, it is just a measure of some type of potential. Even if you have a 160 IQ you aren't entitled to anything in life. Having 160 IQ doesn't mean anything if you don't put it to use, it is just unused potential. You still need to have drive to achieve anything in life. Likewise, even if you have an "average" 100 IQ, that doesn't mean you can't accomplish a lot of incredible things through hard work.

 

[absolutemercury]

Just so people don't get too tied up with this IQ/SAT/ACT correlation idea...

I took the ACT 3 times and achieved a whopping 24 each time. It was a little discouraging to say the least. I knew I was a smart kid, but that exam really shattered my confidence. However, I have done exceptionally well as a college student. I've maintained nearly a 4.0, tutored physics and chemistry, taught O-chem as a TA, published research, and more. When the MCAT rolled around I thought I was going to be doomed, just as i had been on the ACT, but I managed to swing a 35! I work hard, but I don't see myself working any harder than many of my peers. I have a friend who was a HS valedictorian and nailed a 31 on the ACT. He currently has a 2.8 and isn't sure if he can get into chiropractic school. Granted there are correlations, but that's all they are. Moral of the story is, don't let an exam score get to you and define what you believe you are capable of.

I get pretty ticked off when people think they're better than others because of standardized tests. Tests aren't the absolute measures of someone's potential. I got a 1310 on the SAT, which is pretty good, but below average at my college. For the MCAT I was determined to prove to myself that I wasn't limited by the numbers. I ended up getting a 38 (99th percentile). Don't let others determine your worth.

 

[Will Ferrell]

I get pretty ticked off when people think they're better than others because of standardized tests. Tests aren't the absolute measures of someone's potential. I got a 1310 on the SAT, which is pretty good, but below average at my college. For the MCAT I was determined to prove to myself that I wasn't limited by the numbers. I ended up getting a 38 (99th percentile). Don't let others determine your worth.

Wow, we share nearly the same exact story!

 

[75969]

You're gonna make a great SDNer though, you've already got the paranoid thing down

 

[blkkd]

I would suspect that they both would do fairly well if they were adequately prepared, given that the average IQ of college professors is only about 117.

I realize that the iqs i used were high but i have read that the average physician has an IQ of around 126 so i think using those 2 values to represent a difference in scoring potential is justified...

 

[sunnyjohn]

You're gonna make a great SDNer though, you've already got the paranoid thing down and the MCAT is still at least two years away from you.

 

[medicomel]

Hahaha, these lines are the highlights of this entire thread.

 

[tacrum43]

And your evidence isn't related to your conclusion in any way I can figure out.

Well obviously your IQ is just too low. (j/k)

 

[tacrum43]

I realize that the iqs i used were high but i have read that the average physician has an IQ of around 126 so i think using those 2 values to represent a difference in scoring potential is justified...

There are very few people who get a 160, that's like 99.99 percentile. 120 is maybe 95 percentile or so. They probably do have some difference in "scoring potential", but I'm sure that the 120 person could do just as well if they study hard. You can't reason your way to the correct answer of a question like "Which arrow is pointing to the A-band of this sarcomere?"

An IQ test isn't worth very much anyway in my opinion. Even for tests where there is supposed to be a comparison like with the SAT, my scores didn't correlate well (IQ was higher FYI).

 

[Scewby Doo 1973]

There are very few people who get a 160, that's like 99.99 percentile. 120 is maybe 95 percentile or so. They probably do have some difference in "scoring potential", but I'm sure that the 120 person could do just as well if they study hard. You can't reason your way to the correct answer of a question like "Which arrow is pointing to the A-band of this sarcomere?"

An IQ test isn't worth very much anyway in my opinion. Even for tests where there is supposed to be a comparison like with the SAT, my scores didn't correlate well (IQ was higher FYI).

this might be dangerously tangential from the IQ topic, but: sadly, most of the mcat didn't ask about sarcomeres, and that sort of stuff. it was mainly the genetics of rat brains...you know, mol gen. and tons of it. WHY GOD WHY?!?!?!

okay, i bring you back to your regularly scheduled IQ=relevant vs IQ=irrlevant debate.

 

[doctorJP]

I find it hard to believe there isn't at least one psychology major here who did an honours project about the efficiency of standardized testing and the relevance of these scores when it comes to predicting the "greatness" this person will achieve. Come on, you know you have something to add to this discussion.

I don't have much to say about this other than the fact that here in North America we rely on these tests to group people into "neat little packages" (quote taken from simpsons episode where Bart and Lisa think Ned murdered his wife Maud) and then everybody has a good category to fall into. And as the greatest American who ever lived once said "No child will be left behind" (GWB), I'm sure there are a few that have been. There are so many concerns that our children aren't producing math and science scores equivalent to age groups in other leading industrial countries like China and that we need to do something about it. Well guess what, they go to school for 8-10 hrs a day (with breaks in between of course), so that might have something to do with it, not the quality of teaching or lack of resources.

Bit off topic there, back to the IQ and MCAT. In an earlier post someone said that naturally intelligent people are going to succeed at everything they try, more easily than an average person would. I once believed that everybody had the same potential and given a particular task, two people had the potential to do equally well. I guess it all lies in the word "potential", and someone earlier said that an IQ test is a measure of potential, which I do agree with. My opinion is the MCAT is merely some indication of how you will perform in first/second year medical school and has absolutely nothing to do with your abilities as a physician. I love in Kaplan and other books that introduce the MCAT and why its important, one of the main reasons they give concerns ideas like working under stress as a physician and your ability to think critically and analytically.

"Just before I give you that critical diagnosis ma'am, let me break out my AAMC booklet, decipher this problem on quantum mechanical tunnelling, and I'll get back to you". Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but I think the most relevant part of the MCAT and your abilities as a physician come from VR and the writing sample. I think everybody has had at least one experience, not necessarily in the context of medicine, in which they had to deal with someone that couldn't communicate their ideas and found it frustrating. One of the greatest abilities of my family doctor is not his wealth of knowledge, but his ability to make me feel comfortable by just knowing the right things to say at the right time. The other stuff comes with experience and there is no standardized test that can compensate for that.

I'm sure lots of people will disagree with me, especially those with 35+ MCAT marks that will be attending HMS and Yale, but I've got my armour on and never afraid to get a few dents in it. I can't speak for American premeds, someone else might, but some Canadian premeds I know (and I do know quite a few) tend to have an overinflated ego and they revel in the fact they are going into a profession regarded as the elite among all professions; of course they want to help people and are willing to make personal sacrifice, but I think everybody loves that one moment when you see the reaction of a new face when you say "I'm a physician", as to be injected with a shot of egobooster.

 

[Iwy Em Hotep]

Does anyone know of any statistical data on IQ scores verse MCAT scores? I know there are a bunch for the SAT and my IQ matched my SAT score dead on, so I am hoping I will be able to estimate my future MCAT score as a mere freshmen.

A first-year? Study. There's no point in trying to game the system - you have to know your stuff first.