Does anyone know what schools superscore the MCAT (i.e. the practice when the adcom looks at the highest section scores received across multiple administrations of the same test.👍)?
Thanks!
Thanks!
-
CycleTrack and SDN are teaming up to make medical school admissions more transparent and accessible! Read the announcement to learn how we’re supporting the future of CycleTrack’s free application-tracking tools .
Superscoring MCATs
Started by medicalman83
Get help with your application
Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.
mmmcdowe
Duke of minimal vowels
Staff member
Administrator
Volunteer Staff
Lifetime Donor
15+ Year Member
I think the caution that needs to be dispensed is that MCAT superscoring is not the same as sat. They can still see all of your mcat scores, so while some might be more lenient in terms of seeing you maximum potential, they still will see if you bombed it a bunch of times and take that into account.
I've heard some do, but have yet to see a school mention the practice publicly. From my understanding, most schools will consider your most recent or highest test, but still note all previous attempts.
4
487806
Based upon what I read in WAMC, I doubt MD schools will superscore the MCAT, but the practice is common among DO schools. All scores will be seen by schools regardless, so it's crucial to do well the first time.
This. The more you take the MCAT the more medical schools expect you to improve. If you got a 33 and you retake the MCAT you better walk out with at least a 36, if not more. As a result retaking the MCAT with a score that is on par with 32 or above, is not such a great idea. 32 is the threshold because that is the average MCAT score of admitted medical students in the year of 2012.
Except that a score greater than 36 is better than the top 2% of test takers and no school in the country has an average that high. That is an exaggeration. However, I agree it wouldn't be wise to retake a 33 unless you've been scoring way higher on all practice AAMC exams.
I don't think superscoring is common practice at MD or DO schools.
Many of the top research schools have averages around or a bit above 36. IIRC UPenn and WUSTL have averages of around 37. To answer the OP, I agree that superscoring is seldom done. I think some schools also take the average of your attempts.
I am aware a couple schools have 36 avgs, but felt saying at least a 36 is an exaggeration. It's not a helpful practice to advise someone they need at least a 36 MCAT score on a low 30s retake. It applies to <1% of people taking the test and is applicable to a couple schools. This is about context.
I'm surprised that any of them would even need to do that. It's a seller's market, after all. Some DO programs do it (mine did, but not anymore).
This is the equivalent of data dredging so if it is being done I think it should be acknowledged by the school.
George Washington University School of Medicine in DC explicitly states on their website that they superscore if an applicant has taken the MCAT multiple times: "The Committee on Admissions accepts the highest score in each section."
