MCAT correlation with undergraduate school

[currentlybc]

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I am a sophomore at Georgetown University and our Pre-med courses are really challenging compared to some of my friends going to other colleges. Does going to a highly ranked school have any correlation with how you score on the MCAT? Also, is there any way that I can get an idea on how well I will do on my MCAT? My gpa is a 3.55 and my science is a 3.47.

 

[advair250]

It's up to the individual in its entirety, if you really learned the material and can recall it vividly, then yes you'll have an easier time preparing. If you've done well but never really remembered the content, then you'll have to do the typical review.

As an anecdote, i have friends with near 4.0 that did the typical 3 month study grinds to pull low 30's. Then i have other friends who have lower 3.3-3.5 ranges who studied for 2 weeks just doing practice tests, as although they weren't high gpa scorers, they retained the material well, that was enough to also score low 30's.

TLDR: It's too variable and you won't get any real answer, so do a search, and just get studying.

 

[JFK90787]

MCAT scores correlate with how hard you study for the MCAT. You will learn this when you actually start doing practice tests. Google AAMC 3, it is a free full-length test that will help you gauge where you stand right now.

 

[Barcu]

There's really no way to tell for sure.

Begin studying early (at least 3 months) and take practice tests (you can buy them, do that). That's the best way to gauge how you will do on the MCAT.

 

[IncognitoGuy]

Work smarter, not harder. Do stuff that will actually help you come test day, such as practice passages and tests. All the reading and review in the world won't help when you haven't practiced how well you retain it. Honestly, there is no way to assess, because you're going to (hopefully) keep improving as you practice more and more.

 

[487806]

I am a sophomore at Georgetown University and our Pre-med courses are really challenging compared to some of my friends going to other colleges. Does going to a highly ranked school have any correlation with how you score on the MCAT? Also, is there any way that I can get an idea on how well I will do on my MCAT? My gpa is a 3.55 and my science is a 3.47.

College doesn't influence how you do well on the MCAT. This includes all those "intensive premed training", which really doesn't sound as effective as you think. Doing well is entirely self-motivation. Prepare yourself for the MCAT by using various review books and see SN2ed's method of MCAT preparation. Keep doing practice tests, and you're good.

 

[gettheleadout]

Work smarter, not harder. Do stuff that will actually help you come test day, such as practice passages and tests. All the reading and review in the world won't help when you haven't practiced how well you retain it. Honestly, there is no way to assess, because you're going to (hopefully) keep improving as you practice more and more.

What does this have to do with the OP's question? He/she hasn't started studying yet...

OP no, there isn't really any way to gauge how you'll do because as everyone has said it's less a measure of your undergrad science courses preparing you or your natural intelligence and more of how you train yourself in preparation for it. Don't concern yourself with this at this point, focus more on getting your GPA above average.


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[currentlybc]

I have a year and a half until I actually take it. How would you recommend I prepare for the MCAT, specifically the verbal section which is the hardest for me? Is there a long term method for preparing for the verbal section?

 

[mmmcdowe]

You can look at your school on MD applicants and see how people did, but it is a weak correlation at best.

 

[487806]

I have a year and a half until I actually take it. How would you recommend I prepare for the MCAT, specifically the verbal section which is the hardest for me? Is there a long term method for preparing for the verbal section?

See here

 

[Ansar]

Check to see if your school keeps records on its applicants

Here at Cornell there's a binder full of successful applicants from last application cycle and their GPA/MCAT at the Pre-med advising center

 

[darkjedi]

I am a sophomore at Georgetown University and our Pre-med courses are really challenging compared to some of my friends going to other colleges. Does going to a highly ranked school have any correlation with how you score on the MCAT? Also, is there any way that I can get an idea on how well I will do on my MCAT? My gpa is a 3.55 and my science is a 3.47.

Correlation sure, smarter kids get go to better undergrad schools because they score well on tests.

Whether or not Georgetown can directly improve your MCAT score is likely improbable. Much bigger factors such as your work ethic, study habits, and individual intelligence will reflect in your potential score.

To get a good idea of how you might score on the real MCAT, take the official practice MCATs that are provided by the AAMC.

 

[ClotBuster]

Check to see if your school keeps records on its applicants

Here at Cornell there's a binder full of successful applicants from last application cycle and their GPA/MCAT at the Pre-med advising center

You remind of Andy from the Office the way you keep bringing up that you go to Cornel lol

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[Ansar]

You remind of Andy from the Office the way you keep bringing up that you go to Cornel lol

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

I am also in the a capella group Nothing but Treble. /s

I figured it could be useful if the person happens to be a Cornell student. 😕

 

[I like meowmix]

You guys are just kidding yourselves if you don't think there is a statistical correlation (not saying causation). I went to a top10 usnwr school with a average mcat of 34, I know princeton has a 34 average as well.

 

[Narmerguy]

You guys are just kidding yourselves if you don't think there is a statistical correlation (not saying causation). I went to a top10 usnwr school with a average mcat of 34, I know princeton has a 34 average as well.

Did you read the thread? 😕 Even if there is a correlation, this is probably because of the students that are coming into schools like Princeton, and not some magic pedagogy that Princeton has.

 

[plumhill]

There might be a correlation, but going to a lesser-ranked school doesn't guarantee that you'll get a lower score, and going to a higher-ranked school doesn't guarantee you'll get a higher score. I have attended two schools, one Ivy and one state school. I know a good number of people at the Ivy who have scored sub-30, and I know a good number of people people at the state school who have scored 38+. Now I'm sure that there are people at the Ivy who scored 38+ and those at the state school who have scored sub 30, but this just shows that it is your level of motivation and how hard you're willing to work that determine how well you do on the MCAT. Higher-ranked schools probably have more people scoring higher simply because they (usually) have a more motivated, harder-working, and perhaps slightly more intelligent student population, but by no means should you think you can get a good score on the MCAT simply because of your institution.

 

[Spinach Dip]

The two most-correlated factors to scoring high on the MCAT are:

1. How you score on the official AAMC practice tests.
2. How much and how efficiently you understand the topics the test covers.



Anything else is vaguely correlated at best.

 

[KnuxNole]

Did you read the thread? 😕 Even if there is a correlation, this is probably because of the students that are coming into schools like Princeton, and not some magic pedagogy that Princeton has.

This. A school can have students who have an average MCAT score of a 34, but you could still end up being the outlier getting a 24 or lower.

 

[DrEnderW]

I don't think it correlates.

I went to a quality liberal arts school with a very challenging science curriculum. The material was more aligned with people wanted to get a PhD in the subject fields and not the more simple MCAT material. For example, in physics, we skipped light, radiation, mirrors/lens, but had calculus based magnetism derivations.

MCAT studying prepares you for the MCAT only.

 

[sliceofbread136]

There are simply too many confounding variables to tell.