Why are the average MCAT scores so high?

[devang1987]

http://www.admissionhub.com/medical.php?viewall=all

How come most of the the mean MCATs are mid 30s. I can't believe some average high 30s. I thought high 30s was considered quite exceptional. Do you think the site is reliable?

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[chad5871]

Those are the averages of accepted students. Overall, the average accepted is about a 30.

 

[devang1987]

Well now I see not most but there are some with mid-30s. Anyhow...does the site look reliable?

 

[slipstream99]

i don't see why they would just make up all that stuff. and all the ones with the mcats in the mid-30s are really good med schools...duke, harvard, nyu. obviously they're going to have high mcat averages

 

[mindquick]

yeah those stats are real. they are pretty much what is listed on the MSAR.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

I thought Johns Hopkins MCAT score was arounda a 35, not a 31. Is that a typo??

 

[jamilla_w]

Do they mean Accepted or matriculated? I think matriculated... those numbers are way too low for acceptances.

 

[PreMD86]

You should refer to MSAR for more reliable numbers. Not only are some of these schools off, but whoever wrote the site cannot add (check out the stanford MCAT).

The average matriculant has a 32, while the average ivy league matriculant has a 35.

 

[jamilla_w]

You should refer to MSAR for more reliable numbers. Not only are some of these schools off, but whoever wrote the site cannot add (check out the stanford MCAT).

The average matriculant has a 32, while the average ivy league matriculant has a 35.

A 32?!?!??! I thought 30 was average? Oh my God, I'm screwed.

 

[PreMD86]

A 32?!?!??! I thought 30 was average? Oh my God, I'm screwed.

The current avg stands at 11P,10V,11B
avg for ivy's is 12P,11V,12B.
However, if you have a well balanced 30 (10s across the board), no school will reject you simply based on your score. (ok except for WashU)

 

[jamilla_w]

The current avg stands at 11P,10V,11B
avg for ivy's is 12P,11V,12B.
However, if you have a well balanced 30 (10s across the board), no school will reject you simply based on your score. (ok except for WashU)

Did they go up just in this past year? In January, my premed advisor said 30.5 was the average accepted MCAT score.

 

[greg1184]

You should refer to MSAR for more reliable numbers. Not only are some of these schools off, but whoever wrote the site cannot add (check out the stanford MCAT).

The average matriculant has a 32, while the average ivy league matriculant has a 35.

The median MCAT of a matriculant is a 32.

 

[PreMD86]

Did they go up just in this past year? In January, my premed advisor said 30.5 was the average accepted MCAT score.

Your premed adviser also told you to buy the MSAR. I guarantee it.

 

[jamilla_w]

Your premed adviser also told you to buy the MSAR. I guarantee it.

And I did (in January- I think they have a new one out now though.) It says 10/10/11 is average. And she said the 11 in BS was more like a 10.5.

 

[greg1184]

Your premed adviser also told you to buy the MSAR. I guarantee it.

The median, not the average is a 32.

 

[mindquick]

yes the median score is more important than the average score (think about this), and it is a 32. for the top-tier schools, it's 35+.

 

[jamilla_w]

yes the median score is more important than the average score (think about this), and it is a 32. for the top-tier schools, it's 35+.

I see. I wish I had known this before applying this year.

 

[PreMD86]

The median, not the average is a 32.

Hmm, interesting. What's the logic behind providing the median rather than avg? Also, I doubt the two differ by much with such a large sample size.

 

[jon stewart]

yes the median score is more important than the average score (think about this), and it is a 32. for the top-tier schools, it's 35+.

yea and avg gpas are on the rise too!

 

[mindquick]

yea and avg gpas are on the rise too!

yeah it's weird man. the acceptance rates for med school are actually going up, yet the GPA and MCAT scores of those accepted are also getting higher and higher. i think there seems to be more and more self-screening going on.

 

[FutureeMD]

Did anyone look at those ridiculous tuitions, how can you seek out to be a family practitioner if you took out a loan to pay for those monstrous (lol) tuitions

 

[BrokenGlass]

Did anyone look at those ridiculous tuitions, how can you seek out to be a family practitioner if you took out a loan to pay for those monstrous (lol) tuitions

Yeah, I read an article a couple of days ago about med school debt getting out of hand. It's definitely worse than it used to be a while ago.

 

[greg1184]

Hmm, interesting. What's the logic behind providing the median rather than avg? Also, I doubt the two differ by much with such a large sample size.

Supposedly the median is a better "middle" indicator than the mean. The average at northwestern for example is about a point below its median. It really depends on the sample.

 

[FIREitUP]

i'm not sure this website is very accurate.

 

[Lshapley]

The number of applicants seems a little low to me.

 

[Lshapley]

I take that back...the applied number is in line with the MSAR.

 

[utahjazz]

This thread is depressing.

 

[FIREitUP]

This thread is depressing.

take those numbers with a huge grain of salt. i doubt they are accurate.

 

[zeeTexas]

I just checked against MSAR - admissionhub's numbers are similar.

 

[Nikki2002]

those numbers sound about right...but that is a mean..of course there are those above and below. just do the best you can--be well rounded

 

[devang1987]

What's up with Puerto Rico?

Their In-state tuition: $8,565
Their out-state tuition: $75,880

where is the logic?

 

[chad5871]

What's up with Puerto Rico?

Their In-state tuition: $8,565
Their out-state tuition: $75,880

where is the logic?

I think it may be like the University of Colorado, where you can claim citizenship after the first year. Therefore you'd pay:

Year 1: $75,880
Years 2-4: $8,565
TOTAL: $101,575 or $25,394 per year

I'm not 100% sure, though - can anyone confirm?

 

[xrevision]

Maybe its like that because a lot of people who end up going to the carib... drop out?

 

[FIREitUP]

those numbers sound about right...but that is a mean..of course there are those above and below. just do the best you can--be well rounded

i don't know...the average for SUNY Upstate is on the high side. On their website it said the average for class of 2009 was 3.54 with an average MCAT of ~9.7. I don't think there is that much of a discrepancy in grades in just a couple years. It says on the website that the average is 3.7 with an MCAT of 31.

 

[RPedigo]

i don't know...the average for SUNY Upstate is on the high side. On their website it said the average for class of 2009 was 3.54 with an average MCAT of ~9.7. I don't think there is that much of a discrepancy in grades in just a couple years. It says on the website that the average is 3.7 with an MCAT of 31.

However, the class of 2009 includes only matriculated students. All other publicly available data is for accepted students. Students with high scores get accepted to more than one institution, thereby inflating the numbers reported in, say, the MSAR or on the website in the original post. If someone has a 45T and a 4.0, he or she will get accepted into numerous schools; this inflates the numbers in the MSAR, but would not inflate the numbers for SUNY Upstate's class of 2009 data on their website if the student did not decide to matriculate there. In this way, we would get a discrepancy. Nobody except each individual institution publishes data for matriculated students, but the AAMC has access to data for accepted students.

Edit: Clarification.

 

[FIREitUP]

However, the class of 2009 includes only matriculated students. All other publicly available data is for accepted students. Students with high scores get accepted to more than one institution, thereby inflating the numbers reported in, say, the MSAR or on the website in the original post. If someone has a 45T and a 4.0, he or she will get accepted into numerous schools; this inflates the numbers in the MSAR, but would not inflate the numbers for SUNY Upstate's class of 2009 data on their website if the student did not decide to matriculate there. In this way, we would get a discrepancy. Nobody except each individual institution publishes data for matriculated students, but the AAMC has access to data for accepted students.

Edit: Clarification.

Ahh, understood. So that must give many of us hope out there. thank you for clarifying that.

 

[werd]

i agree with above; since those with higher scores get more acceptances, their scores are weighted more, and this makes the "average student accepted to anywhere" different from the "average student accepted at a given school." also, this site underestimates my school's tuition by $8-9000... this makes me suspicious of the data.