What is considered a decent MCAT?

[NRAI2001]

What would you consider a decent mcat score. I dont mean a great score like a 35, but an acceptable score to apply to most lower to mid ranking schools.

I have a 3.4 gpa, decent ECs, research.

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[Law2Doc]

What would you consider a decent mcat score. I dont mean a great score like a 35, but an acceptable score to apply to most lower to mid ranking schools.

I have a 3.4 gpa, decent ECs, research.

The average for matriculants overall is about 30, so 30 is decent. Lots of folks get in places just shy of that too, but your odds drop off precipitously the further away from average you get.

 

[Church]

It got up to 30 this year? Wowsers. When I applied, it was 28 for the matriculants, and 26 for test-takers overall. Maybe showing my age.

 

[robh]

What would you consider a decent mcat score. I dont mean a great score like a 35, but an acceptable score to apply to most lower to mid ranking schools.

I have a 3.4 gpa, decent ECs, research.

Shoot for 30+ and nothing less than 8 in a subject area.

 

[SailCrazy]

It got up to 30 this year? Wowsers. When I applied, it was 28 for the matriculants, and 26 for test-takers overall. Maybe showing my age.

Yeah, for allopathic schools I think its now ~25-26 for test-takers, ~28 for applicants, and ~30 for matriculants.

 

[boulux]

60 Z

 

[crys20]

It all depends what kind of schools you are applying to and want to go to. I'll assume that you are applying widely (at least 10+, hopefully around 15ish schools?), to your state schools, and to out-of-state schools that aren't top 20 types.

I think 29 is a decent score. 28 you might have trouble, and I'd apply and warm up to DO schools. 30 is what everyone talks about, and 30 is pretty safe IMO. Going to have trouble at lots of places, but should have an ok time getting in SOMEPLACE (likely in state). Breakdown is SO key though. Anything below an 8 in a section warrants retake in my book.

 

[Northerner]

Could someone move this to pre-allo.

 

[top]

I agree with everyone else...a 30 is decent. With your (very short) self-description, you should definitely shoot for a 30+.

 

[NRAI2001]

Could someone move this to pre-allo.

Sorry, i posted this thread in the allo forum bc I wanted to get the opinnion of students who have already been through the process........you get nothing but rumors and hearsay in the preallo forums.

-NRai

 

[NRAI2001]

I agree with everyone else...a 30 is decent. With your (very short) self-description, you should definitely shoot for a 30+.

I took the mcat once and I didnt get a 30....got a 28. I know its not a spectacular score, but it doesnt seem sooo bad in my opinion. Was wondering if some of the lower ranking schools (RFU, albany, tufts, nymc, drexel,...etc) might atleast consider interviewing me? I was gonna retake this august........but other things came up and I heard that unless if i get like a 34 and up applying early with my 28 might be a better strategy.

 

[beponychick]

I took the mcat once and I didnt get a 30....got a 28. I know its not a spectacular score, but it doesnt seem sooo bad in my opinion. Was wondering if some of the lower ranking schools (RFU, albany, tufts, nymc, drexel,...etc) might atleast consider interviewing me? I was gonna retake this august........but other things came up and I heard that unless if i get like a 34 and up applying early with my 28 might be a better strategy.

The thing is, your GPA is not super high so you will need a higher MCAT score to offset it. I basically had the same numbers as you comming from undergrad (similar GPA and the same MCAT score) and was able to get 5 interviews and 2 acceptances from those. However, I also had a masters GPA that was significantly higher than my undergrad GPA. In your case, assuming you do not have any additional coursework in terms of a masters or post-bac, you should definitely shoot for a 30+.

Good luck.

 

[beefballs]

It's a big piece of the pie, but the more stuff you have in the pie (life experiences, accomplishments etc.) the smaller it becomes. For us older apps we hopefully did something with our lives before we came to medicine, so we could demonstrate ability and thta crap elsewhere. If you are just a straight student with the garden variety of ECs that aren't stellar you may need a little more oomph from your scores.
take this advice for what you paid for it

 

[MuDPhuDShane]

According to AMCAS, the average MCAT/GPA for 2005 applicants was (27.5(P), 3.48) and the average MCAT/GPA for 2005 matriculants was (30.2(P), 3.63).

For a more detailed breakdown and statistics from previous years, see:

http://www.aamc.org/data/facts/2005/2005mcatgpa.htm

 

[cbgray]

What would you consider a decent mcat score. I dont mean a great score like a 35, but an acceptable score to apply to most lower to mid ranking schools.

I have a 3.4 gpa, decent ECs, research.

Multiply your GPA by 10 and add your projected MCAT score.

<60 = needs some help
60 - 65 = low-to-average
65 - 70 = average-to-high
>70 = golden

With a 28, you've broken 60. There is nothing wrong with this. Make sure you have volunteer and other interesting ECs, and definitely apply to your state school.

Don't sell yourself short: apply to a wide range of schools based on location, reputation, and "competitiveness." You never know whose eye you will catch.

Good luck.

 

[Law2Doc]

Multiply your GPA by 10 and add your projected MCAT score.

<60 = needs some help
60 - 65 = low-to-average
65 - 70 = average-to-high
>70 = golden

With a 28, you've broken 60. There is nothing wrong with this. Make sure you have volunteer and other interesting ECs, and definitely apply to your state school.

Don't sell yourself short: apply to a wide range of schools based on location, reputation, and "competitiveness." You never know whose eye you will catch.

Good luck.

Don't fall too in love with formulas like this though. You will find many many exceptions to your breakdown - in both directions. Adcoms really don't make acceptance decisions this way, and there are a lot of more subjective components that carry huge import (eg interviews) that really don't fit well into formulas.

 

[trudub]

Don't fall too in love with formulas like this though. You will find many many exceptions to your breakdown - in both directions. Adcoms really don't make acceptance decisions this way, and there are a lot of more subjective components that carry huge import (eg interviews) that really don't fit well into formulas.

Many schools do use an objective formula like this one though to make the first cut and decide who gets a secondary or sometimes even who gets an interview. I am a student rep on our AdCom and I have friends on two other AdComs and two of the three schools use a formula like this someplace in the process.

 

[crys20]

really all i think it comes down to in the end is who picked up your file when it came to picking people to interview. it's very easy to impress the hell out of one person while a different person would have just thrown your file in the reject or hold pile. suchhhh a crazy game admissions is but if you have SOMETHING there that's good you are bound to get a look here and there.

 

[NonTradMed]

The average for matriculants overall is about 30, so 30 is decent. Lots of folks get in places just shy of that too, but your odds drop off precipitously the further away from average you get.

Go with this rule of thumb since your GPA is borderline.

Since your stats is 3.4/28, that is very much on the border. I had stats similar to yours and I think I got kind of lucky with my acceptances. It is for people with stats like this that other things like ECs (missions? publications?), majors (engineering? marketing?), academic reputation of school (Harvard? CC?) may really tip the balance in your favor. I'd say apply high and low but also prepare for contingency, maybe aim for retake sometime in March of the application year (since by that time you should know how you stand with application process) or prepare to apply to a post-bacc.