Old (1977) MCAT score intrepretation...

[bobgolfer]

This may be *way* off-topic, but, I just dug my old (1977) scores out of a file and I have *no* idea what they mean:

Biology 10
Chemistry 12
Physics 10
Science 11
Reading 10
Quantitative 11

For what it's worth, the scores were good enough to get me invites to every school I applied to and accepted at half of them (that and a 3.9 UGPA)...

Anybody got a resource to interpret these? AAMC doesn't seem to have anything anymore...

TIA,

bobgolfer

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[ChubbyChaser]

This may be *way* off-topic, but, I just dug my old (1977) scores out of a file and I have *no* idea what they mean:

Biology 10
Chemistry 12
Physics 10
Science 11
Reading 10
Quantitative 11

For what it's worth, the scores were good enough to get me invites to every school I applied to and accepted at half of them (that and a 3.9 UGPA)...

Anybody got a resource to interpret these? AAMC doesn't seem to have anything anymore...

TIA,

bobgolfer

So whats the difference bw physics, chem, biology And science???

My guess would be that it was on the 1-15 scale as well with 6*8=48 being average and 10*6= 60 being what everyone is shooting for.

Your 65 might be considered a 32 or 33 today, so 85-90%

This is all speculation though.

 

[iA-MD2013]

So whats the difference bw physics, chem, biology And science???

My guess would be that it was on the 1-15 scale as well with 6*8=48 being average and 10*6= 60 being what everyone is shooting for.

Your 65 might be considered a 32 or 33 today, so 85-90%

This is all speculation though.

i would agree with amwatts...but also an assumption. you cant really tell without knowing the average on that test so that you could determine your percentile.

 

[bodonid]

Anyone got a parent in medicine they can ask? I would be interested too...

 

[bobgolfer]

So whats the difference bw physics, chem, biology And science???

😕 Beats me. I looked at that and said, "What the he** was the Science section!" I guess I did OK...

Of course, I'm old, so I have an excuse...

bobgolfer

 

[bozz]

This may be *way* off-topic, but, I just dug my old (1977) scores out of a file and I have *no* idea what they mean:

Biology 10
Chemistry 12
Physics 10
Science 11
Reading 10
Quantitative 11

For what it's worth, the scores were good enough to get me invites to every school I applied to and accepted at half of them (that and a 3.9 UGPA)...

Anybody got a resource to interpret these? AAMC doesn't seem to have anything anymore...

TIA,

bobgolfer

1977!? damn.. most of us weren't even born then... I didn't know the MCAT was that old... thought it started in the 90s lol... I'm so naive

 

[ChubbyChaser]

My dad took it in 88 I think and it was also 6 sections, he doest remember how he did though or how it was scored.

 

[xiaoyi666]

I was talking with a few physicians who took their exam....well, probably in the 70s. They said they had ridiculous questions on there regarding music and stuff. Took their word for it, dunno.

 

[xiaoyi666]

So whats the difference bw physics, chem, biology And science???

My guess would be that it was on the 1-15 scale as well with 6*8=48 being average and 10*6= 60 being what everyone is shooting for.

Your 65 might be considered a 32 or 33 today, so 85-90%

This is all speculation though.

Dunno about that....6 sections 15 points max = 90 highest score. 65/90 = 90th percentile? that other 25 points must be ridiculous.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Dunno about that....6 sections 15 points max = 90 highest score. 65/90 = 90th percentile? that other 25 points must be ridiculous.

33/45 is about equal to 90%ile so it would make sense for 65/90 to be fairly close to that, but once again im not sure about this thing.

 

[bobgolfer]

1977!? damn.. most of us weren't even born then... I didn't know the MCAT was that old... thought it started in the 90s lol... I'm so naive

You're right. If any of you are from north Dallas area, I might have delivered you!!

 

[tf2medic]

i was born 10 years later hahaha

 

[bodonid]

I was talking with a few physicians who took their exam....well, probably in the 70s. They said they had ridiculous questions on there regarding music and stuff. Took their word for it, dunno.

Section called 'general knowledge'. I know someone who was asked "in which museum does the blankity blank (Mona Lisa?) painting hang?" Kids today would probably bomb that section. Plus, could you imagine studying for that? People on SDN would freak out and start talking about gothic art and folk music of the 18th century. Utter chaos.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

This may be *way* off-topic, but, I just dug my old (1977) scores out of a file and I have *no* idea what they mean:

Biology 10
Chemistry 12
Physics 10
Science 11
Reading 10
Quantitative 11

For what it's worth, the scores were good enough to get me invites to every school I applied to and accepted at half of them (that and a 3.9 UGPA)...

Anybody got a resource to interpret these? AAMC doesn't seem to have anything anymore...

TIA,

bobgolfer

http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/research/bibliography/mcgag001.htm

I took the MCAT's in 1978 right after the change in 1977, The scaling was relatively similar to now although I believe a 10 was a slightly higher percentile score than it is now, but I don't know the exact difference. Overall, your scores would easily have been in the 90th %ile or slightly higher. The scale was to 15 as noted in the article but I only had one friend who got a 15 in any section.

 

[tf2medic]

Section called 'general knowledge'. I know someone who was asked "in which museum does the blankity blank (Mona Lisa?) painting hang?" Kids today would probably bomb that section. Plus, could you imagine studying for that? People on SDN would freak out and start talking about gothic art and folk music of the 18th century. Utter chaos.

i dont think anyone would miss what museum the mona lisa is in. only ****ing idiots...but i guess that's most premeds. dannnng BURN

 

[BrainBuff]

Ok..I asked my parents who took it in the early 80s.

Back then, they tell me the goal was to score above a 10 across the board. Most people had lower scores in Quantitative and Reading ( less than 10 ) which apparently did not count that much. A 15 on any subject was pretty much unheard of. The GPA appeared to have been more important perhaps.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Ok..I asked my parents who took it in the early 80s.

Back then, they tell me the goal was to score above a 10 across the board. Most people had lower scores in Quantitative and Reading ( less than 10 ) which apparently did not count that much. A 15 on any subject was pretty much unheard of. The GPA appeared to have been more important perhaps.

So pretty much exactly like today, especially since the average verbal score is universally lower than the sciences.

 

[bodonid]

Okay, according to wikipedia, the scoring from 1962-1977 was in the hundreds, like the SAT. So for the OP to have 10s & stuff, they had to have taken the 1977-1991 version.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

This may be *way* off-topic, but, I just dug my old (1977) scores out of a file and I have *no* idea what they mean:

Biology 10
Chemistry 12
Physics 10
Science 11
Reading 10
Quantitative 11

For what it's worth, the scores were good enough to get me invites to every school I applied to and accepted at half of them (that and a 3.9 UGPA)...

Anybody got a resource to interpret these? AAMC doesn't seem to have anything anymore...

TIA,

bobgolfer

So I dug through the dust covered archives of the old materials and practice exams from BR in 1989 and 1990. Assuming it's the same thing, here is what I found.

100 Questions on biology (40), chemistry (30), and physics (30). Then there was a science problems section which had short descriptions followed by three or four questions. These were DOUBLE scored. Physics ones counted for both your physics score and science problems score. Same for chemistry and biology.

Reading was way different than now, with a bunch of questions having only three choices (supports, refutes, cvannot be determined).

The quantitative section required reading random graphs. I stopped at the graph showing corn growth distribution across the US. The questions emphasized your ability to read and interpret data.

All of the sections were scored on a 1-15 scale, so AMWatts is exactly right that a 32-33 now equates to a 65 then.

But I was amazed at how different the exam was. The calculations and memorization on that exam looks insane and there were five choices on many of the questions. The weirdest question I found was converting from meters/second into furlongs/fortnight. I guess doctors back then really needed to know such things to serve their patients. Thankfully HMOs make it so a patient can be helped despite a doctor not being able to conver 300 m/s into furlongs/fortnight.

 

[bodonid]

But I was amazed at how different the exam was. The calculations and memorization on that exam looks insane and there were five choices on many of the questions. The weirdest question I found was converting from meters/second into furlongs/fortnight. I guess doctors back then really needed to know such things to serve their patients. Thankfully HMOs make it so a patient can be helped despite a doctor not being able to conver 300 m/s into furlongs/fortnight.

I find furlongs and fortnights about as useful as electricity and magnetism. At least they were up front with the irrelevance of the topics back then.

 

[Danbo1957]

I find furlongs and fortnights about as useful as electricity and magnetism. At least they were up front with the irrelevance of the topics back then.

The "converting from meters/second into furlongs/fortnight" problem is solved using simple algebra. At the time, 1978-ish, evaluating general knowledge was involved in all standardized tests. Back then, it was expected that one knew what a "furlong" was... 😀

The MCAT test score mean difference: a section score of 10 on the 1977-1991 MCAT is valued as an 11 section score on the current MCAT. And yes, one's GPA was given more weight than the MCAT score in the application process.

 

[student1799]

People on SDN would freak out and start talking about gothic art and folk music of the 18th century.

That sounds like an improvement over most of the discussions around here.🙂

 

[student1799]

.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

The "converting from meters/second into furlongs/fortnight" problem is solved using simple algebra. At the time, 1978-ish, evaluating general knowledge was involved in all standardized tests. Back then, it was expected that one knew what a "furlong" was... 😀

The MCAT test score mean difference: a section score of 10 on the 1977-1991 MCAT is valued as an 11 section score on the current MCAT. And yes, one's GPA was given more weight than the MCAT score in the application process.

...What is a furlong? Was GPA given more weight because this was before our current state of grade inflation?

 

[ksmi117]

...What is a furlong? Was GPA given more weight because this was before our current state of grade inflation?

1 furlong = 201 meters = 1/8 of a mile.

I would assume GPA was more important then, since the MCAT was a little different, less people took it, less people went to college and therefore less grade inflation. Also, less people applied so I'd assume it'd be easier for adcoms to take other things into account, instead of just looking at the numbers first.

 

[student1799]

1 furlong = 201 meters = 1/8 of a mile.

When I was studying PS for the '08 MCAT, I came across some practice problems in Kaplan that had "foot-pounds" and "slugs" as units. Slugs????? I would have expected them in the bio section instead.

When I looked these up in Wikipedia, I discovered that they're units of force/energy and mass, respectively. They are considered obsolete since we now use the metric system exclusively, with its nice familiar units like "joules" and "kilograms." Does the AAMC still expect students to learn the old units?

 

[ksmi117]

When I was studying PS for the '08 MCAT, I came across some practice problems in Kaplan that had "foot-pounds" and "slugs" as units. Slugs????? I would have expected them in the bio section instead.

When I looked these up in Wikipedia, I discovered that they're units of force/energy and mass, respectively. They are considered obsolete since we now use the metric system exclusively, with its nice familiar units like "joules" and "kilograms." Does the AAMC still expect students to learn the old units?

I highly highly highly doubt foot-pounds or slugs will be on your MCAT. I don't even think they'd ask you to convert from newtons to pounds. Just go with learning the SI-derived units.

 

[ChairmanMao]

But I was amazed at how different the exam was. The calculations and memorization on that exam looks insane and there were five choices on many of the questions. The weirdest question I found was converting from meters/second into furlongs/fortnight. I guess doctors back then really needed to know such things to serve their patients. Thankfully HMOs make it so a patient can be helped despite a doctor not being able to conver 300 m/s into furlongs/fortnight.

So it seems as though the MCAT still asked the same kinds of random, irrelevant questions back then as it does now. This would be an easy question if you were provided with a conversion unit (i.e. 1 furlong = 1/8 mile = 201 m; what is a forthnight though? Is it 336 hours or the amount of time that would pass for two weeks?). If you knew this, you could easily convert it into whatever unit they ask for (1 furlong / 1 forthnight = 201 m / (336 hr x 3600 sec). Did the actual question provide you with such a conversion unit though? Or were you supposed to have somehow memorized this?

 

[student1799]

what is a forthnight though?

A fortnight is two weeks, or 14 days. (The word "fortnight" comes from "fourteen nights.") So, if you were converting from seconds, that would be 336 h*3600 s/h=1.2096^6 s

Look what you can learn by hanging around with the lit-major crowd. 🙂

 

[ChairmanMao]

A fortnight is two weeks, or 14 days. (The word "fortnight" comes from "fourteen nights.") So, if you were converting from seconds, that would be 336 h*3600 s/h=1.2096^6 s

Look what you can learn by hanging around with the lit-major crowd. 🙂

I read many revolutionary texts to learn all of this 👍

To improve low verbal score, pick up and read many revolutionary texts by Lenin, Marx, and Mao. Garanteed you will improve verbal comprehension.

 

[student1799]

I read many revolutionary texts to learn all of this 👍

To improve low verbal score, pick up and read many revolutionary texts by Lenin, Marx, and Mao. Garanteed you will improve verbal comprehension.

Yes, classic works like "Message of Greetings to the First International Congress of Revolutionary Trade and Industrial Unions." What a page-turner.

 

[tiedyeddog]

Anyone got a parent in medicine they can ask? I would be interested too...

My dad graduated from a big allopathic school in 1954 (I am not joking, I am 21 and he is really that old. He was in WWII, so that makes him older...)

Anyway, He has told me on numerous occasions that the MCAT tested on many different subjects, many within the humanities. He said there was a whole section on roman architecture... Not a verbal section that related to it but standalone questions about pillars and stuff of that ilk.

Also, he said there was no real guide on what the MCAT would test but his undergrad instructed him to take the prereqs first.... Also, he said he doesn't recall ever getting a score back, but he could have gotten one and just doesn't remember... Old guy has some trouble recalling stuff from over half a century ago....

Edit: Also, he had a 3.8 in undergrad(and four kids before med school, 3 during....haha) so I don't think he really needed to do well on the MCAT and he speculates that the MCAT counted for almost nothing.

 

[Virgil Hilts]

I took the MCAT in 10/77 and got the following scores:

Biol: 9
Chem: 12
Phys: 11
Sci Prob: 10
Skills Read: 8
Skills Quan: 9
Total: 59

These scores with a 3.89 GPA got me accepted to my #1 choice school in January of my junior year in college. I didn't do Kaplan or any other prep courses--just studied my notes from my undergrad courses.

Virgil

 

[radon222]

Previous to 1991 the MCAT was very heavily based on calculations and memorization. US students were actually not doing very well on the test compared to foreign students. When the test shifted, it went to a reading comprehension test that required a mastery of the English language.

This is why if English is not a student's first language they typically struggle on the MCAT.
http://aamc.org/students/mcat/examineedata/sum2005.pdf

Radon222

 

[ChairmanMao]

I took the MCAT in 10/77 and got the following scores:

Biol: 9
Chem: 12
Phys: 11
Sci Prob: 10
Skills Read: 8
Skills Quan: 9
Total: 59

These scores with a 3.89 GPA got me accepted to my #1 choice school in January of my junior year in college. I didn't do Kaplan or any other prep courses--just studied my notes from my undergrad courses.

Virgil

How much was this out of? I know that the full score on the MCAT today is a 45 and that a 32 corresponds to an 85% percentile today. So if you had a 59, would that correspond to a 80-85% percentile range?

 

[ChairmanMao]

Previous to 1991 the MCAT was very heavily based on calculations and memorization. US students were actually not doing very well on the test compared to foreign students. When the test shifted, it went to a reading comprehension test that required a mastery of the English language.

This is why if English is not a student's first language they typically struggle on the MCAT.
http://aamc.org/students/mcat/examineedata/sum2005.pdf

Radon222

Yeah, this seems to reflect the fact that the US medical system is moving away from accepting foreign medical school graduates. There's been a lot of talk about US medical school increasing their classes so that there will be 30,000 seats instead of the 20,000 seats that we have now. Given the fact that the number of residency spots would remain the same at 50,000, the number of foreign students applying to medical school and foreign medical school graduates will probably decrease in the future.

It seems as though the US medical system wants to keep all of the students education centered in the US. That way, they have better control over the quality and uniformity of education that future doctors receive.

 

[ChiDO]

Most of the docs I shadowed, talked to, or received LORs from said that no one gave any crap about the MCAT back then. Most of them said since it was a required test, they just scheduled it for a Saturday, showed up, and took it.

No prep courses, no extra studying, basically just winged it..

I'm sure most of the students on SDN would indeed freak out about this way of taking the MCAT let along taking 5 sections.

 

[ChairmanMao]

Most of the docs I shadowed, talked to, or received LORs from said that no one gave any crap about the MCAT back then. Most of them said since it was a required test, they just scheduled it for a Saturday, showed up, and took it.

No prep courses, no extra studying, basically just winged it..

I'm sure most of the students on SDN would indeed freak out about this way of taking the MCAT let along taking 5 sections.

Yes, this reminds me of the FE engineering exam that I had to take when I graduated from undergrad. The FE exam (I think it stands for fundamental of engineering) is also an 8 hour long exam that engineering majors from ABET accredited schools have to take in order to become a certified engineer or something.

Anyway, I know that some schools are big on studying and prepping for this exam, but no one in my class really seemed to care about it (this was in May of senior year). As far as I know, no one studied harcore for it. We basically went to class on a Friday, sat down, and took the exam (the exam resembled the Physical Science portion of the MCAT, except it was 8 hours long, asked some advanced level questions, and had a business and ehics section) - and I think most people passed it.

There are a lot of exams that we take for admissions and certification, but in terms of usefulness, the MCAT seemed to be just a formality back then. Just as with the FE exam, no one really took time to prep for it, and what you scored on it didn't matter to anyone who was going to hire you or let you into their graduate programs.