MCAT Percentiles Changing in 7 Months

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toddgurley

toddgurley

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Current one is only for until April 2017. Any guesses if they usually lower our rankings and by how much or mostly stay the same? I really don't want my reported percentile to go down...
 
They never change by much. I took the exam in 2015 and the percentiles were updated in May 2016. My overall percentile stayed the same, but my percentile in Psych/Soc went up by one percent.
 
To quote myself when the percentiles updated last time:


efle said:
Interestingly, a lot of scores climbed a bit, only a few at the bottom dropping. Changes, for those curious, were:

Gain 3 percentile: 504, 502
Gain 2 percentile: 509-505, 503, 501-496
Gain 1 percentile: 515-510, 495-491, 488, 486
Drop 1 percentile: 482-479, 475
Click to expand...

As you can see, no big changes
 
My CARS score changed from 87th to 90th percentile. That was fun 🙂
 
ChrisMack390 said:
My CARS score changed from 87th to 90th percentile. That was fun 🙂
Click to expand...

Sweet dude just blabber all over this forum about how sick your cars score is and how much more sick it is now that the new percentiles are out we all get it we can't measure up to you in any way shape or form of the word stop making us feel so subpar to you we all understand that we just can't be @ChrisMack390 ok just leaves us all alone and let us cope with that dude im sick and tired of you busting our chops every day and night on student doctor network premedical forum for premedical people.
 
JB50 said:
Sweet dude just blabber all over this forum about how sick your cars score is and how much more sick it is now that the new percentiles are out we all get it we can't measure up to you in any way shape or form of the word stop making us feel so subpar to you we all understand that we just can't be @ChrisMack390 ok just leaves us all alone and let us cope with that dude im sick and tired of you busting our chops every day and night on student doctor network premedical forum for premedical people.
Click to expand...

Um....

Woah.
 
JB50 said:
Sweet dude just blabber all over this forum about how sick your cars score is and how much more sick it is now that the new percentiles are out we all get it we can't measure up to you in any way shape or form of the word stop making us feel so subpar to you we all understand that we just can't be @ChrisMack390 ok just leaves us all alone and let us cope with that dude im sick and tired of you busting our chops every day and night on student doctor network premedical forum for premedical people.
Click to expand...


665486.jpg
 
The last update bumped my overall percentile from the equivalent of a 33 to the equivalent of a 34. So, I guess it can have an effect but it's minimal.
 
Why would you worry about the percentiles anymore after you've taken it? It doesn't really matter because you can't change it unless you want to retake the whole exam over a few points (at very most). So don't worry about it. It's not going to make an impact on your application.
 
JB50 said:
Sweet dude just blabber all over this forum about how sick your cars score is and how much more sick it is now that the new percentiles are out we all get it we can't measure up to you in any way shape or form of the word stop making us feel so subpar to you we all understand that we just can't be @ChrisMack390 ok just leaves us all alone and let us cope with that dude im sick and tired of you busting our chops every day and night on student doctor network premedical forum for premedical people.
Click to expand...


My cars went from 100th% to 100th%. Is that helpful?
 
holdthemayo said:
My cars went from 100th% to 100th%. Is that helpful?
Click to expand...

Sweet dude just blabber all over this forum about how sick your cars score is and how much more sick it is now that the new percentiles are out we all get it we can't measure up to you in any way shape or form of the word stop making us feel so subpar to you we all understand that we just can't be @ChrisMack390 ok just leaves us all alone and let us cope with that dude im sick and tired of you busting our chops every day and night on student doctor network premedical forum for premedical people.
 
JB50 said:
Sweet dude just blabber all over this forum about how sick your cars score is and how much more sick it is now that the new percentiles are out we all get it we can't measure up to you in any way shape or form of the word stop making us feel so subpar to you we all understand that we just can't be @ChrisMack390 ok just leaves us all alone and let us cope with that dude im sick and tired of you busting our chops every day and night on student doctor network premedical forum for premedical people.
Click to expand...
665486.jpg
 
toddgurley said:
https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school/faq/mcat-faqs/ underneath 'How do I understand my percentile ranks' it says "On May 1 2017, the percentile ranks will again be updated, this time to include all exam results from the prior two years".
Click to expand...

The AAMC magicians determined the initial percentiles with limited data and a few assumptions, they are simply refining them as more people take the test and more information is obtained. Going forward they will rely on a rolling two year window of data to determine the percentiles. Nobody who has already taken the exam will have his/her percentiles changed.
 
So if the percentile gets updated, my MCAT percentile automatically changes too? (If i reapply?)


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
StocktonStudent said:
I see so this line on the AAMC:
"On May 1 2017, the percentile ranks will again be updated, this time to include all exam results from the prior two years."
So they saying they are using this data for the new percentiles but not changing our previous score percentiles?

Sent from my SM-G935V using SDN mobile
Click to expand...

The data from the previous two years will be used to determine the percentiles of future MCAT takers. The baseline assumption is that past takers and current takers will have similar performance characteristics, or at least they will change very slowly.

Think of it this way (numbers pulled from thin air): pretend a million people took the MCAT over the past two years, and for them getting 75% of the questions correct averages to the 85th percentile. Someone who takes the MCAT tomorrow and gets 75% correct would therefore receive a score in the 85th percentile.

Now pretend another million take the test over the next two years, and for that cohort getting 75% of the questions correct averages to the 80th percentile. A taker on November 6, 2018 who gets 75% of the questions correct would therefore receive a score in the 80th percentile.

The upshot is that the MCAT will be using a rolling window of two years of prior data to determine percentiles for future examinees. Do not expect a letter saying your test results have been revised.
 
The New MCAT percentiles are already posted at AAMC. Percentiles went down from last year🙁
 
JB50 said:
Sweet dude just blabber all over this forum about how sick your cars score is and how much more sick it is now that the new percentiles are out we all get it we can't measure up to you in any way shape or form of the word stop making us feel so subpar to you we all understand that we just can't be @ChrisMack390 ok just leaves us all alone and let us cope with that dude im sick and tired of you busting our chops every day and night on student doctor network premedical forum for premedical people.
Click to expand...
@JB50 what a great piece of epiphany-like humor, this joke is beautiful.
 
Med Ed said:
No. Any adjustments are prospective.
Click to expand...
Actually, unfortunately, your percentile does change based on current percentile rankings. When I scored a 515 it was in the 94th percentile, but on my AMCAS application it shows up as the 93rd percentile, in line with the current rankings.
 
SocialJusticeWarrior said:
Actually, unfortunately, your percentile does change based on current percentile rankings. When I scored a 515 it was in the 94th percentile, but on my AMCAS application it shows up as the 93rd percentile, in line with the current rankings.
Click to expand...

Wow, that is a significant change.
 
How is it fair if we score one percentile and get downgraded bc the aamc can't scale exams for a year well?
 
Aw man I went down 1%. Oh well. I guess everyone went down 1?
 
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