MCAT and ACT/SAT

[hnbui]

Are there any correlations between the mcat and the act/sat?

I'm asking because my act score isn't the greatest, but i do preform pretty well in class.

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["Electrolights"]

Probably just coincidence, but I scored the same score on both.

 

[mikedc813]

I also did similarly on the SAT and MCAT (1360/29R). Both pretty good scores, but nothing spectacular.

I have heard from numerous sources that the MCAT is not a reliable predictor of how well you perform in med school though. I'm not in med school yet, so I don't know how accurate this is though...

 

[Blake]

I also did similarly on the SAT and MCAT (1360/29R). Both pretty good scores, but nothing spectacular.

I have heard from numerous sources that the MCAT is not a reliable predictor of how well you perform in med school though. I'm not in med school yet, so I don't know how accurate this is though...

I know it sounds insane, but I know plenty of med students who have told me that the 2nd year of college was a tad harder than med school. Then again, we have a different education system in french canada, so... But let's just say that I'm confident I can't possibly study more than I studied in college. Yea, it was that intense and I overworked, but it was worth it...

 

[blz]

why does this dumb thread always seem to be started again and again. use the search.

 

[MoosePilot]

I also did similarly on the SAT and MCAT (1360/29R). Both pretty good scores, but nothing spectacular.

I have heard from numerous sources that the MCAT is not a reliable predictor of how well you perform in med school though. I'm not in med school yet, so I don't know how accurate this is though...

I don't think those scores are that similar. Assuming your SAT scores were roughly balanced, you're in the mid 90s percentile wise on the SAT compared to college bound testers (http://www.eskimo.com/~miyaguch/sat.html) and between about the 70-75% on the MCAT (stats on Apr 04 test from www.aamc.org). The only reason I even looked any of this up was I think my MCAT score and SAT correlate pretty well, too, but are totally different, which made me wonder why the disparity.

I'm not trying to down you, but the tests in general don't line up that well. Why? Totally different populations to start. The SAT population is pretty much everyone who wants to go to college. Take that population, weed out a number of them in the first two years of college, and then take some of the more competitive members of the group that's left in college and they're the ones taking the MCAT. Second, the tests are pretty different. The MCAT is less of an aptitude test. It's got some of that flavor, but you've got to know your facts too. Less room for the brilliant but slacker crowd, because you've got to know your stuff or not.

 

[willthatsall]

I failed the SAT with a 990, but I passed the MCAT. It is hard to say how they correlate because you have to get 1000 to pass the SAT, but you only have to get 30 to pass the MCAT. So I guess you could say that 30 MCAT = 1000 SAT, since passing scores should be equal. I don't know, I haven't had statistics in college yet.

 

[superdevil]

MCAT/ACT didn't line up for me. MCAT was 5 points higher (thank god). my pre-med advisor subscribes to the MCAT=ACT+/-2pts. thing, but honestly, you should prepare for the MCAT WAY, WAY more than the ACT. thus, MCAT scores are often higher.

 

[ifailedmcat]

I also did similarly on the SAT and MCAT (1360/29R). Both pretty good scores, but nothing spectacular.

I have heard from numerous sources that the MCAT is not a reliable predictor of how well you perform in med school though. I'm not in med school yet, so I don't know how accurate this is though...

Hey I almost got the same scores 1360/31O for SAT and MCAT. But for the SAT I didn't take a class and for practice I took like 5 practice tests. For MCAT I studied for about 2-3 months took TPR and went through 7 practice tests.

 

[MoosePilot]

Hey I almost got the same scores 1360/31O for SAT and MCAT. But for the SAT I didn't take a class and for practice I took like 5 practice tests. For MCAT I studied for about 2-3 months took TPR and went through 7 practice tests.

Ok, maybe those scores do seem to click. I got 1400/31 the first time, so I'm in the same general area.

My ACT was higher than my first MCAT, 1 point higher than my 2nd, and 3 points lower than my 2004 score.

 

[MoosePilot]

I failed the SAT with a 990, but I passed the MCAT. It is hard to say how they correlate because you have to get 1000 to pass the SAT, but you only have to get 30 to pass the MCAT. So I guess you could say that 30 MCAT = 1000 SAT, since passing scores should be equal. I don't know, I haven't had statistics in college yet.

Failure? How are you defining failure? The SAT has definitely changed since I took it, so I may be missing the point of that. I see you're defining passing as conventional wisdom "good score" on the MCAT, is that what the 1000 is or is it more formal?

 

[willthatsall]

Yeah, I thought it would be easier to get a higher score on the MCAT because the scores seem so much lower compared to SAT, but I heard that you have to get more questions right for each point so I guess that is what makes it harder.

 

[liverotcod]

Yeah, I thought it would be easier to get a higher score on the MCAT because the scores seem so much lower compared to SAT, but I heard that you have to get more questions right for each point so I guess that is what makes it harder.

Moosey, I think you missed this one...

 

[MoosePilot]

Moosey, I think you missed this one...

Well, I'll fall for a lot, but once it's obviously bait

 

[g3pro]

I have no idea why people even mention the SAT in this topic because the SAT is an aptitude test, while the ACT is more of a knowledge-based test. Essentially, the ACT and MCAT are identical in what they want to test: how well you know your material and how well you can apply what you just learned.

There has to be a fundamental correlation between the two. It's just not as defined as some would like.

 

[medic170]

I failed the SAT with a 990, but I passed the MCAT. It is hard to say how they correlate because you have to get 1000 to pass the SAT, but you only have to get 30 to pass the MCAT. So I guess you could say that 30 MCAT = 1000 SAT, since passing scores should be equal. I don't know, I haven't had statistics in college yet.

And who said that if you did not get above a 30 that you failed the MCAT. I guess about one half of all med students actually failed the MCAT since about half of med students scored below a 30. It is not a pass/fail test. I mean, the average for all test takers is a 24 and the average for matriculants is 29. So, the average test taker is just stupid, and the average matriculant failed the MCAT by your definition.

 

[dave613]

There is an exact thread on this in the MSTP forum.

 

[bludevla4]

I think that you will do well on both tests if you tend to be good at standardized testing. The MCAT is like the SAT in that it actually tests aptitude more than memorization IMO. My scores correlated fairly well in terms of percentiles: 1570 and 39.

 

[MoosePilot]

And who said that if you did not get above a 30 that you failed the MCAT. I guess about one half of all med students actually failed the MCAT since about half of med students scored below a 30. It is not a pass/fail test. I mean, the average for all test takers is a 24 and the average for matriculants is 29. So, the average test taker is just stupid, and the average matriculant failed the MCAT by your definition.

He's messing with me, dude. It's a joke

 

[MoosePilot]

There is an exact thread on this in the MSTP forum.

Post a link?

 

[willthatsall]

And who said that if you did not get above a 30 that you failed the MCAT. I guess about one half of all med students actually failed the MCAT since about half of med students scored below a 30. It is not a pass/fail test. I mean, the average for all test takers is a 24 and the average for matriculants is 29. So, the average test taker is just stupid, and the average matriculant failed the MCAT by your definition.

Well if you don't get 1000 on the SAT you can't go to college and if you get under 30 on the MCAT you have to go to the Caribbean or DO, so that means you fail. I had to go to junior college because of my SAT, but luckily I passed the MCAT. Just barely though.

 

[medic170]

Well if you don't get 1000 on the SAT you can't go to college and if you get under 30 on the MCAT you have to go to the Caribbean or DO, so that means you fail. I had to go to junior college because of my SAT, but luckily I passed the MCAT. Just barely though.

How can you say that when half of all MD students at US schools scored below a 30 on the MCAT? Obviously, scoring below a 30 DOES NOT mean you can only go DO or tropical. Its not a pass fail test and your logic is very flawed. Saying anyone who scores below a 30 on the MCAT failed it is just down right ignorant!

 

[ifailedmcat]

I know more sub-30 people who got in compared to the 30+ peeps.

 

[amnesia]

If you go to the carribean, then you can still make a ton of money being a doctor i am sure

 

[MoosePilot]

I know more sub-30 people who got in compared to the 30+ peeps.

Probably because you know more sub-30 folks.

 

[W222]

My MCAT score and SAT scores are totally off. Also, my MCAT score doesnt really make sense considering my verbal very good but the rest was just ok.

 

[medic170]

Probably because you know more sub-30 folks.

Maybe, but the fact remains that they did not "fail" because they were sub 30 since they got in!

 

[g3pro]

I think that you will do well on both tests if you tend to be good at standardized testing. The MCAT is like the SAT in that it actually tests aptitude more than memorization IMO. My scores correlated fairly well in terms of percentiles: 1570 and 39.

Huh? It's more like the ACT, d00d. They're both knowledge/achievment tests.

 

[bludevla4]

Huh? It's more like the ACT, d00d. They're both knowledge/achievment tests.

Obviously the ACT is more like the MCAT than the SAT. I was just trying to say that people often think of the MCAT as being all memorization, when in reality most of the answers can be found in the passages. People that are good at standardized tests such as MCAT, SAT, ACT etc will tend to do well on any or all of the tests.

 

[principessa]

I think there's some correlation, but it's probably not that tight. If you're intelligent and good at taking standardized tests, you'll have a better chance of doing well on any standardized test. That's obvious. Beyond that, the MCAT is pretty different from the SAT and ACT. First, you can improve your score immensely by studying. Second, you're competing with different people, so the percentiles may not match up.

 

[ridirkulous]

MCAT/ACT didn't line up for me. MCAT was 5 points higher (thank god). my pre-med advisor subscribes to the MCAT=ACT+/-2pts. thing, but honestly, you should prepare for the MCAT WAY, WAY more than the ACT. thus, MCAT scores are often higher.

I think your advisor's formula is messed up because it doesn't consider that one may not have worked at all in high school prior to taking the ACT but busted their tail through college and actually prepared for the MCAT. I got ten points higher on the MCAT than I did on the ACT. Plus, that means that even one who'd gotten a perfect score on the ACT couldn't get above a 38 on the MCAT? I know a kid who got below a thirty on the ACT and got a 41 on the MCAT. Poor performance on past standardized tests don't mean you can't absolutely kill the MCAT. You just have to know that you may have to work a little harder.

 

[g3pro]

Obviously the ACT is more like the MCAT than the SAT. I was just trying to say that people often think of the MCAT as being all memorization, when in reality most of the answers can be found in the passages. People that are good at standardized tests such as MCAT, SAT, ACT etc will tend to do well on any or all of the tests.

Ahhh, ok. You're right.

 

[ifailedmcat]

Probably because you know more sub-30 folks.

Yea you're right actually. Now that I think about it, all the 30+ people I know got in.