Low MCAT = Low Level/Step Scores = No Specialty Residency?

[gensurghopeful]

Poor MCAT score... managed to get into a US DO program, but does this really mean I'm going to face the same issues when taking COMLEX and USMLE exams?

Any advice going forward? I am going to be an OMS1 starting this July 31st.

Thanks!

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[Goro]

Stop thinking like a premed that your destiny is tied to your MCAT.

The MCAT is at best, a WEAK predictor of Board scores.

Your pre-clinical GPA is the best predictor, and/or NBME shelf exams

 

[gensurghopeful]

Stop thinking like a premed that your destiny is tied to your MCAT.

The MCAT is at best, a WEAK predictor of Board scores.

Your pre-clinical GPA is the best predictor, and/or NBME shelf exams

Appreciate the input as always Goro

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

People with low MCAT scores do well on Step every year, while people with high scores do poorly.

It all comes down to you

 

[Preston Garvey]

USMLE/COMLEX comes down to time invested. You want a super competitive specialty? be ready to nolife it for a couple years.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

If you scored poorly, that just means you're going to need to work a hell of a lot harder. So get to it.

 

[atomheart]

While I haven't seen data on this, the MCAT has always been something of a test of raw cognitive ability. By contrast, I don't think more than a handful of USMLE questions substantially screen for IQ - its a knowledge test.

Have you taken either step? The USMLE is more than a knowledge test, and I've never heard anyone call it that after taking it. COMLEX on the other hand...

Regarding CK, I felt there were tie-ins to verbal reasoning on the MCAT, particularly recognizing unimportant or misleading information and reading between the lines. But YMMV. On the whole, I agree with Goro, but standardized testing skill applies both to the MCAT and the USMLE. A skill that can be acquired for both tests by doing tons of questions.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

While I haven't seen data on this, the MCAT has always been something of a test of raw cognitive ability. By contrast, I don't think more than a handful of USMLE questions substantially screen for IQ - its a knowledge test.

I don't think either test has any valid ability to analyze IQ. They are term tests that examine knowledge up to a set point and your ability to be proficient with said knowledge.

They are however incidentally associated with intelligence as a proxy because smarter people will do better on them. But to claim that one is better than the other in this regard is a disagreeable point.

 

[Who Knows!]

Mcat 28
step 1 ~ 245
Majority of people I have spoke with are in DO school due to low Mcat scores. There are a good amount of people who score above average on step. Its not correlated, you took one exam and did poorly. Don't let it define you.
Feel free to message me if you have any questions.
Congrats on getting into medical school.
Cheers.

 

[Cell Nucleus]

While I haven't seen data on this, the MCAT has always been something of a test of raw cognitive ability. By contrast, I don't think more than a handful of USMLE questions substantially screen for IQ - its a knowledge test.

Mcat 28
step 1 ~ 245
Majority of people I have spoke with are in DO school due to low Mcat scores. There are a good amount of people who score above average on step. Its not correlated, you took one exam and did poorly. Don't let it define you.
Feel free to message me if you have any questions.
Congrats on getting into medical school.
Cheers.

Neither of these statements are accurate based on the information I have received thus far (Barring your personal experience). MCAT is definitely not a test of "raw cognitive ability". I wouldn't have scored as high as I did if it was. The MCAT was both a knowledge test and a cognitive test. More of the former though. And according to the data that many Adcoms have, MCAT scores are correlated to scores on Board exams. And sGPA is related to performance in medical school. That is what I have been told.

With that said, I do not see any reason why a low MCAT score should hold OP or anyone back from performing well on board exams. I am sure admissions committees' would disagree with me, but I sincerely believe that someone with a low MCAT score can do very well on the board exams as long as they put the work in. Both Step/Level tests are knowledge tests which means effort matters more than anything else. And I think the same is true for the MCAT to a lesser extent.

 

[yankees527]

To give some encouragement, Mcat 27, USMLE >255, Comlex >700.

Put the Mcat in the past, it is nothing like boards.

 

[sab3156]

Several studies have shown moderate correlation between MCAT and Step 1. But it really depends on the situation. If someone worked really hard, maxed out his potential and did plenty of practice questions to the best of his ability, and received a 24 MCAT score, I would be willing to bet money on a less than stellar Step 1 performance. But such a person may be able to greatly develop himself through preclinical classes and do well. It is up to the individual and their real potential.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Several studies have shown moderate correlation between MCAT and Step 1. But it really depends on the situation. If someone worked really hard, maxed out his potential and did plenty of practice questions to the best of his ability, and received a 24 MCAT score, I would be willing to bet money on a less than stellar Step 1 performance. But such a person may be able to greatly develop himself through preclinical classes and do well. It is up to the individual and their real potential.

This is my general view as well. But in truth more times than not someone who was too lazy to crack open the materials relevant to getting a decent mcat isn't going to work hard enough to get a decent score. Most of the people who I knew that did poorly on both exams inevitably did so because their quality of studying or the amount was poor enough to never get them close enough to the point where your intellectual advantage or test taking skills would start to make the difference in scores.