Understanding MCAT Performance

[Radon XP]

Here's something I was wondering about.

https://www.aamc.org/students/download/320554/data/combined12.pdf.pdf

The median score in 2013, across all administrations, was ~25. That means half of all test takers scored <25, at which point gaining admissions into US MD programs is the remarkable exception.

Reading SDN, it would seem that a 29 or 30 is the minimum you need to be considered "solid", at least to the extent that the score is not hurting you even if it isn't helping you a great deal. Yet a 29 is in the 73rd percentile, well above the median. So here's the question: how many of the MCATs that are taken each year are "throwaway" tests, i.e, where the test taker either didn't prepare at all, underprepared, or didn't take it seriously, among other things?.

I wish there was information on the correlation between MCAT score and time spent studying, among other considerations, to really answer this question.


This is analogous to the issue of medical school acceptance rates. Overall, 45% of applicants in 2012 found a seat somewhere, but, while that is low, that includes throwaway apps, desperate apps, incomplete apps, etc, etc

It seems more reasonable to me that the fact that the median MCAT score is well below admissions standards is because such a score does not reflect the maximal output of the average, dedicated pre-medical student, than that most test-takers bust their asses and still can't get higher than a 25. I have to reserve judgment since I have not taken the MCAT and would love to hear opinions from those who have, or are more knowledgeable.

Take a 33, for example. It's in the ~92nd percentile, yet people here on SDN talk about it as if it is a realistic score for somebody to get with sufficient preparation. Now, is that because people on SDN are geniuses, or because most MCATers aren't preparing sufficiently/taking the test seriously/whatever else?

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[jeghaber]

The MCAT is taken by a variety of students, not just students heading to MD programs. DO programs, as well as podiatry programs require the MCAT and have lower average scores in accepted students.

 

[A7X]

SDN is not a good representative sample of the Pre-med population.

 

[Radon XP]

The three options are:

1) Successful pre-meds must be geniuses

2) Medical schools have unreasonably high expectations

3) Most test takers aren't preparing sufficiently for the test


I find the third option to be the best explanation.

 

[DoctorWhoo]

sdn is not a good representative sample of the pre-med population.

qft

 

[Frazier]

The three options are:

1) Successful pre-meds must be geniuses

2) Medical schools have unreasonably high expectations

3) Most test takers aren't preparing sufficiently for the test


I find the third option to be the best explanation.

If medical schools can continually fill their classes every single year, they must not have unreasonably high expectations.

Like you said, a great majority just don't prep well... some lacked the foundation knowledge to even prep effectively... and yet others, unfortunately, just don't "have it".

 

[deleted526486]

If medical schools can continually fill their classes every single year, they must not have unreasonably high expectations.

Like you said, a great majority just don't prep well... some lacked the foundation knowledge to even prep effectively... others, unfortunately, just don't "have it".

I completely agree. Even if all the people who score <30 on the MCAT were somehow able to get 30+, there are still only a (relatively) fixed number of spots in first year medical school. Medical schools have to be very very high expectations because they simply can't just accept under-performing students.

Whether their under-performance comes from lack of preparation or lack of ability can only really be judged on a case by case basis. I've definitely seen both.

 

[Radon XP]

I completely agree. Even if all the people who score <30 on the MCAT were somehow able to get 30+, there are still only a (relatively) fixed number of spots in first year medical school. Medical schools have to be very very high expectations because they simply can't just accept under-performing students.

Whether their under-performance comes from lack of preparation or lack of ability can only really be judged on a case by case basis. I've definitely seen both.

What I'm asking is how much of it is the MCAT just being a really hard test/medical schools having really high expectations, and how much of it is just pre-meds not being sufficiently prepared?

i.e, is it that scoring a 30 on the MCAT is a reasonable goal, but med schools are okay because they know most kids won't put in the time or preparation to get such a score...or is it that scoring a 30 is a feat that is genuinely exclusive?

 

[Noggin]

What I'm asking is how much of it is the MCAT just being a really hard test/medical schools having really high expectations, and how much of it is just pre-meds not being sufficiently prepared?

i.e, is it that scoring a 30 on the MCAT is a reasonable goal, but med schools are okay because they know most kids won't put in the time or preparation to get such a score...or is it that scoring a 30 is a feat that is genuinely exclusive?

In my opinion scoring a 30 (I scored a 30 btw) is something that many premeds can achieve if they were decent students in college (getting A's and B's). What can make the MCAT difficult is if you suck at a section. For example, I have always sucked at verbal. Luckily, I was able to score a 9 on the real thing because I busted my buns to improve from a 7 on my practices. Some people naturally do not have the ability to get a decent score on verbal reasoning. Maybe its that they didn't read enough as kids, or maybe their education didn't emphasize critical reading. I scored a 30 by making up my points on the Bio section. I think with enough time and preparation, (and also provided that you aren't naturally terrible at verbal), I think it is very reasonable for many people to be able to achieve a 30 score. Many of the people who score in the low 20's are only applying to Podiatry, Caribbean, or just generally don't care.

 

[Frazier]

What I'm asking is how much of it is the MCAT just being a really hard test/medical schools having really high expectations, and how much of it is just pre-meds not being sufficiently prepared?

i.e, is it that scoring a 30 on the MCAT is a reasonable goal, but med schools are okay because they know most kids won't put in the time or preparation to get such a score...or is it that scoring a 30 is a feat that is genuinely exclusive?

It is a mix of all of the above. There is no data on this so all we have to draw a conclusion on is keyboard conjecture.

That said, look at it more from a percentiles point of view [as you did in you OP]. The "30" itself is arbitrary, but it represents the 75-80th percentile. <- That's what's important.

In a few years a "30" will be a TERRIBLE score (the new mcat is on something like an out-of-60 scale, IIRC). The new 30 will be whatever the 75-80th percentile is at that point.

You pose a question "do med schools like the 30 because they know people are too lazy to score that high, or is it a feat that is 'geneuinely exclusive'"... I ask you back, why should med school's care why someone scored a 30? Does it matter if the person that scored a 24, in reality, is a "smarter" person than their peer that scored a 30, but so lazy that they didn't prepare enough to exhibit such? Does it matter that the person that scored a 30 really went hardcore and studied 5x harder than his neighbor that scored a 30? The mcat demonstrates performance and that is what adcoms take from it.

Just using very rough figures and oversimplifying everything into a fairy tale vacuum... there are ~45k applications pumped out each year for medical school. There are seats available for ~16k incoming students.

So there are spots available for ~30% of the pool.

It makes sense that schools would have an interest in selecting the "brightest" of the herd to fill their incoming class.

So take the top ~30% of mcat takers and give them an acceptance to med school in this fantastical hypothetical...it happens that those same people score 29+ on the mcat on today's scale.

 

[Spinach Dip]

The MCAT is a test solely designed to thresh out the number of kids who THINK they have what it takes to be successful in med school, but are either too dense or too unmotivated to perform well on the darn thing.

The MCAT is the great equalizer. It doesn't care if your dad is an airline pilot and your mom is a heart surgeon. It doesn't care if you were born to millionaires or on the backstreets of Detroit. It doesn't care if you graduated first in your class from MIT or barely graduated from Middle of Nowhere U.

The problem is: most people don't realize this. They think that they are special because they went to an Ivy league college. Or because they took calculus. Or because they have a 3.7 GPA that they barely had to work for. Thus, they don't study. Or, make such an infinitesimal effort that it makes no difference. Most aren't aware of the resources (such as this website) that are available to all, and thus do not avail themselves of it.



Final word: I actually heard someone say: "I'm not going to study for OChem, because I got a B in Ochem II at XYZ University." I think they got an 8 on BS.

 

[kilpty]

Does anyone know the average MCAT of the applicant pool for MD schools? (not people who matriculated, 30-32, or the group of people who took the MCAT this year, 25)... like OP I assume that many people who took the MCAT and didn't score well might not apply MD, or will apply OD or pod. so the "25" seems a little low... were as the matriculated score might be a little high.

 

[Radon XP]

Does anyone know the average MCAT of the applicant pool for MD schools? (not people who matriculated, 30-32, or the group of people who took the MCAT this year, 25)... like OP I assume that many people who took the MCAT and didn't score well might not apply MD, or will apply OD or pod. so the "25" seems a little low... were as the matriculated score might be a little high.

I don't know if you can find that information for all test takers, but you can find it for individual schools if you look up their statistics. It usually lags a couple of points behind matriculant MCAT.

 

[chenzt]

Does anyone know the average MCAT of the applicant pool for MD schools? (not people who matriculated, 30-32, or the group of people who took the MCAT this year, 25)... like OP I assume that many people who took the MCAT and didn't score well might not apply MD, or will apply OD or pod. so the "25" seems a little low... were as the matriculated score might be a little high.

https://www.aamc.org/download/321494/data/2012factstable17.pdf

28.3

 

[Lsegura83]

MCAT its dumb and pointless. It is a tough exam. But how much each relevant for med school? who knows? I dont think even med school knows this. Many of us, including myself, score a 24 or lower on the mcat, get into med school and still do good on boards. Your set of mind in undergrad isnt the same for med school. It doesnt measure intelligence, or maybe it does, who knows, who cares. What I do know is that "supposedly" academic success has nothing to do with intelligence, as I am sure many criminals would probably kick our butts in the MCAT if they studies enough for it. "Supposedly" academic success is based on 2 things. 1. Motivation 2. Self-Awareness of what works for you when you study. If you havent taken the mcat yet and are stressing about your score. Don't. Have fun with whatever you are doing. MCAT is just a number and a majority of schools really look beyond it.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

SDN is not a good representative sample of the Pre-med population.

👍

 

[gobigorgohome22]

MCAT its dumb and pointless. It is a tough exam. But how much each relevant for med school? who knows? I dont think even med school knows this. Many of us, including myself, score a 24 or lower on the mcat, get into med school and still do good on boards. Your set of mind in undergrad isnt the same for med school. It doesnt measure intelligence, or maybe it does, who knows, who cares. What I do know is that "supposedly" academic success has nothing to do with intelligence, as I am sure many criminals would probably kick our butts in the MCAT if they studies enough for it. "Supposedly" academic success is based on 2 things. 1. Motivation 2. Self-Awareness of what works for you when you study. If you havent taken the mcat yet and are stressing about your score. Don't. Have fun with whatever you are doing. MCAT is just a number and a majority of schools really look beyond it.

I disagree. I do think MCAT can be correlated with intelligence along with effort. It is definitely a tough exam but thats because not everyone should be allowed to be a physician. I consider myself to be of average intelligence. If I had taken the MCAT without any prep, I probably would have gotten around 25 (my diagnostic score for KAPLAN was 19) but it was my effort and dedication (studied for ~6 months) that helped me get to the score I got (31). I know people who are incredibly intelligent, much more so than I, and they were able to score +35 with only a few weeks of effort. To get a "good" MCAT score, you either have to be "naturally intelligent" or work hard.

 

[engineer16]

I think it's a reflection of being unprepared, either by your class experience or by your level of studying for the test itself. BS and PS are things you can learn through your major and you'll just have to brush up on before the test. I think the verbal reasoning section is a reflection of how much studying you'll put yourself through for the test. You want to analyze the passages critically but they want you to empathize with the author and see things from their perspective. Not to mention that you have very little time to do that in.

How to explain that 50% of test takers get below a 25? You'd have to be unprepared for at least 2/3 of the test, my guess would be it's people who didn't study enough and were unchallenged in class to prove themselves.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

There are multiple factors:

1) Many pre-meds who fail to score high enough give up on their med school aspirations after getting their MCAT score back, or at least hold off on applying until they can get their score up.

2) It's not just pre-MDs taking the MCAT. You have pre-DOs for whom a score in the 20s is totally fine. You also have other pre-health students like pre-pod for whom the average MCAT scores for successful matriculants are even lower (I believe it's somewhere in the high teens to low 20s). That does a lot to bring the average down.

3) The test is hard. Even straight-A students need to study their asses off to do well, and the logic needed for the test (especially on VR and BS) is something that many colleges fail to teach their students. As a result, a 30+ score is actually hard to achieve for most people. It doesn't help that a some kids get cocky, and legions more think they should prepare for the MCAT the same way they did the SAT/ACT (grab a single prep book and study for a month or two). In fact, poor prep is actually the norm from what I've seen.

The average MD applicant score is 28, which accounts for the first two points. The fact that that means still more than half of MD applicants score less than 30 is accounted for by the third point. As for why the average for accepted students is 31, there are 44000 applicants vying for 20000 seats and the MCAT is one of the most important factors in admission. Med schools have the luxury of being able to pick only high scorers.

 

[Narmerguy]

What I'm asking is how much of it is the MCAT just being a really hard test/medical schools having really high expectations, and how much of it is just pre-meds not being sufficiently prepared?

i.e, is it that scoring a 30 on the MCAT is a reasonable goal, but med schools are okay because they know most kids won't put in the time or preparation to get such a score...or is it that scoring a 30 is a feat that is genuinely exclusive?

It is a mix of all of the above. There is no data on this so all we have to draw a conclusion on is keyboard conjecture.

That said, look at it more from a percentiles point of view [as you did in you OP]. The "30" itself is arbitrary, but it represents the 75-80th percentile. <- That's what's important.

In a few years a "30" will be a TERRIBLE score (the new mcat is on something like an out-of-60 scale, IIRC). The new 30 will be whatever the 75-80th percentile is at that point.

You pose a question "do med schools like the 30 because they know people are too lazy to score that high, or is it a feat that is 'geneuinely exclusive'"... I ask you back, why should med school's care why someone scored a 30? Does it matter if the person that scored a 24, in reality, is a "smarter" person than their peer that scored a 30, but so lazy that they didn't prepare enough to exhibit such? Does it matter that the person that scored a 30 really went hardcore and studied 5x harder than his neighbor that scored a 30? The mcat demonstrates performance and that is what adcoms take from it.

Just using very rough figures and oversimplifying everything into a fairy tale vacuum... there are ~45k applications pumped out each year for medical school. There are seats available for ~16k incoming students.

So there are spots available for ~30% of the pool.

It makes sense that schools would have an interest in selecting the "brightest" of the herd to fill their incoming class.

So take the top ~30% of mcat takers and give them an acceptance to med school in this fantastical hypothetical...it happens that those same people score 29+ on the mcat on today's scale.

I agree a lot with Frazier here on this point. It's a mixture of a lot of things and that's partially why the rest of the application can provide some insight into how best to interpret the MCAT. The issue I have is with the lazy perspective that somehow a higher score necessarily tells you something useful about the applicant. That I got a high score is in many ways a testament to my preparation and grasp of the material, sure. But it also is a testament to the time that I had to study, and the willingness on my part not to do many other, very worthwhile things with my time rather than study. I don't think students should be punished for making those sorts of choices, and this narrow usage of the MCAT whereby a difference of 3-4 points (say between a 33 and a 37) can mean a very different application season. I am quite confident that I would score nothing close to my current MCAT score if I took the MCAT now. Have I somehow become dumber? Am I less prepared now for medical school than I was a year ago? Not likely. MCAT scores are useful but their use becomes overrated, particularly at elite institutions, once the scores reach beyond a particular threshold. I think it's not hard to figure out why schools feel the pressure to "hunt" for the top scores despite this.

There are multiple factors:

1) Many pre-meds who fail to score high enough give up on their med school aspirations after getting their MCAT score back, or at least hold off on applying until they can get their score up.

2) It's not just pre-MDs taking the MCAT. You have pre-DOs for whom a score in the 20s is totally fine. You also have other pre-health students like pre-pod for whom the average MCAT scores for successful matriculants are even lower (I believe it's somewhere in the high teens to low 20s). That does a lot to bring the average down.

3) The test is hard. Even straight-A students need to study their asses off to do well, and the logic needed for the test (especially on VR and BS) is something that many colleges fail to teach their students. As a result, a 30+ score is actually hard to achieve for most people. It doesn't help that a some kids get cocky, and legions more think they should prepare for the MCAT the same way they did the SAT/ACT (grab a single prep book and study for a month or two). In fact, poor prep is actually the norm from what I've seen.

The average MD applicant score is 28, which accounts for the first two points. The fact that that means still more than half of MD applicants score less than 30 is accounted for by the third point. As for why the average for accepted students is 31, there are 44000 applicants vying for 20000 seats and the MCAT is one of the most important factors in admission. Med schools have the luxury of being able to pick only high scorers.

This is likely very true. It's a hard test and most applicants don't have the time, the background, or the resources to truly maximize their ability to score well.