Aim For the Average MCAT Score or Better

Do you know the average MCAT score, good MCAT scores, and hopefully not a low MCAT?

The average MCAT score for everyone who applies to medical school is 28. Unfortunately this will not be good enough to get you into medical school because this number includes those who were accepted and also those who were rejected.

Obviously you will need a better MCAT score than the average to get admitted. Good MCAT scores for admission stick pretty close to a 30 or better. For instance, on the first day of classes for a Masters level medical school preparatory program the director gave all the students straightforward advice.

If you apply to medical school with a MCAT score over 30 and a 3.5 GPA or better there is no reason why you shouldn’t get into at least one medical school.

To be honest this statement doesn’t ring true today.

If you study medical school admissions statistics for the most recent first year medical school class the average MCAT score of accepted applicants was 32. So I would say you need to strive for comparable numbers or better.

Good MCAT Scores

Realistically it is difficult to tell you what good MCAT scores will get you admitted to medical school. Everyone is unique and there are a number of factors which must be considered for each applicant. In short, you must consider:

• Which medical schools you are applying to
• Your GPA
• Undergraduate institution attended

These are just a few aspects to consider when predicting good MCAT scores. There is no hard and fast rule when it concerns your average MCAT score.

If you are dead set on hearing numbers about good MCAT scores I would venture to say having a 36 or better as a combined score will open a lot of doors to the best medical schools. I am sure you realize this means achieving a 12 or better on each section of the MCAT it may seem high for some but it is possible.

Doing better than the average MCAT score comes down to:

• Preparation
• Knowing the exam
• Being confident

Low MCAT Scores

What can you do about a low MCAT score?

First life does not end with a low MCAT score and there is no concrete answer on what is considered a bad score. Your goal is to do as well on possible on this exam and strive to score a 30 or better.

If you find that you have a score of 24 or below then I would suggest you seek assistance to figure out what you can do to improve your test taking and MCAT prep skills. I mention this because generally anything below a 24 is going to wipe out your chances of getting admitted to medical school.

Improving Your Verbal Reasoning Score

Most students have problems with the verbal reasoning portion of the MCAT which is designed to test your ability to reason via reading passages. You can take steps to improve your reasoning ability.

Since you must do reading one simple tip is to expand the topics which you read, or for some to actually start reading in the first place. What I mean by this is to find books on subjects which are unfamiliar to you and read about these topics.

Read everything from:

• History
• Psychology
• Law
• Humanities

You have to do this because the reading passages on the MCAT covers a broad range of topics and you need to become familiar with the vocabulary, style, and grammar used in each genre.

How you’ll benefit…

When you are taking the MCAT instead of struggling to understand the reading topics you can now devote your attention to answering the critical questions found at the end of each passage.

Practice, practice, practice...

You must do a lot of practice exams to boost a low MCAT score in Verbal Reasoning.

When you first start out taking practice tests begin by taking as much time as necessary to get through the passage and answering the questions. As your reasoning ability improves then begin to complete the passages under timed conditions. Doing this will help to boost your low MCAT score.

Improving Physical & Biological Sciences

It is much easier to improve your average MCAT score in these two sections.

It comes down to knowing the general facts and concepts from physics and biology something you should have learned in your premedical classes.

The best way to get good MCAT scores in these sections is to take as many practice tests as possible. Each time you take a practice test you will be forced to recall aspects from the basic sciences ultimately improving your retention for the MCAT.

Overcoming a Low MCAT Score

You must do two things to ensure you have great MCAT scores:

• Know what content will be tested
• Knowing how to take the test

If you follow these two steps you are well on your way to getting better than the average MCAT score.

Use Practice Tests to Your Advantage

The MCAT is about reasoning and is different from the tests you take in your premedical courses. Premed classes teach you basic science concepts whereas the MCAT tests whether you can reason using those basic concepts.

Half of the MCAT battle is being comfortable with your reasoning ability. The only way to do this is to take a lot of practice exams.

Here's an analogy for those who do not like taking full-length practice exams. You would never train for a marathon by only doing half the distance and then expecting to run well in the actual race. The same goes for the MCAT you need to build up your endurance and stamina in-order to compete.

After taking any practice test you need to review what you got correct and wrong and know why.

Far too often students take a practice test and simply mark what they got wrong but never understand why. If you are taking the time to take practice tests be sure to put in the time to learn from each exam.

Here’s a little known tip that can make a huge difference…

My MCAT advisor always stated you should spend twice the amount of time that you took to take the test for scoring your MCAT. You want to dedicate a lot of your time to gaining a full understanding of why certain questions were correct and why some were wrong. When you do this you will be surprised at how much sticks with you for the next exam.

Seek Out Help

As always, with specific questions of this nature I strongly advise speaking with individuals who are more familiar with your situation. A premedical advisor can accurately review your academic record and give you insight as to how other students at your undergraduate institution fared on the MCAT.

This provides valuable insight as to which types of medical schools you should apply to. Asking the admissions staff at the medical schools you are interested in can be a good option too.

Most medical schools will tell you the MCAT scores of accepted students and they will always tell you to aim for a competitive score. I have not come across a medical school admissions officer who has flat out told an applicant to not apply based on their MCAT score.

Instead they will advise you to carefully consider where you are applying and to select a broad range of institutions to enhance your chances of success.

The best thing you can do is to be well prepared for the MCAT so you only have to take it once and only once. If you take full-length practice exams and review your scores I am confident you will walk away doing better than the average MCAT score.