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May 18, 2023 · At the 39 with the highest MCAT scores, the average score was 518. Here's a closer look at the 39 medical schools where students performed the best on the MCAT, listed from the lowest to...
- Table of Contents
- How Are MCAT Scores, Percentiles, and GPA calculated?
- How Important Are MCAT Scores and GPA?
- Is Your MCAT Score High Enough?
- Is Your GPA Good Enough?
- What’s A Good MCAT Score For Medical Schools Ranked in The Top 100 Nationwide?
- What’s A Good GPA For Medical Schools Ranked in The Top 100 Nationwide?
- Takeaway
This post will answer the following questions: 1. How are MCAT scores, percentiles, and GPA calculated? 2. How important are MCAT scores and GPA in med school admissions? 3. Is your MCAT score high enough? 4. Is your GPA good enough? 5. What are good MCAT scores for medical schools ranked in the top 100 nationwide? 6. What’s a good GPA for medical ...
MCAT Scoring
In 2015 the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)debuted a new version of the MCAT, making big changes to format, content, and (most notably for the purposes of this post) the score range. On the old version of the MCAT, students were scored between 1-15 for each of the three sections, adding up to a perfect score of 45. With the addition of an entirely new fourth section on the revised MCAT, the AAMC chose to revamp the whole scoring system to avoid confusion (since a score in the...
How do percentiles work?
After taking the MCAT, you’ll be sent an MCAT score report, which will include not only your numeric score in each category but also your score percentile. MCAT score percentilesmeasure where your score falls on the bell curve of everyone who’s taken the MCAT over the course of the same year as you. In some ways, this percentile is more useful than your actual numerical MCAT score, because it shows you where you stand relative to your peers–after all, they’re the ones you’ll be competing with...
Do Medical Schools Recognize GPAs above 4.0?
GPA is calculated by dividing the amount of grade points you earn in a course by the course’s number of credit hours. Your grade point average may range from 0.0 to a 4.0. However, at several colleges (including Stanford, Columbia, and Cornell) students are allowed to earn A+ grades, which are scored as a 4.3. But don’t let this worry you! The admissions committees at medical schools are aware that grading policies vary between institutions, and so they’ve come up with two standardized proces...
The two most important pieces of your medical school application are your undergrad GPA and MCAT score. There is still debate as to which of these two factors is more important, since different medical school admissions departments tend to place different emphasis on the various med school application requirements. However, if you look at med schoo...
The 25th Percentile
If your MCAT score falls into a med school’s 25th percentile range, that means your score was better than the scores of 25% of that school’s recently admitted students–which also means that 75% of recently admitted students scored higher than you did. Falling into a med school’s bottom 25th percentile means your MCAT score is not competitive for this program. While a 25th percentile score in no way disqualifies you from admissions–after all, a quarter of admitted students scored the same or l...
The 50th Percentile: Average MCAT Score
Your score is the median for this med school. If you score within a school’s 50th percentile, then your MCAT score is pretty good. There’s a realistic chance that you’ll be accepted into this program. At this point, other components of your application (like your GPA, recommendation letters, personal statement, and work experience) are now very important. If you’ve scored in the 50th percentile and you don’t plan to take the MCAT again, spend your time and energy making the rest of your appli...
The 75th Percentile
A 75th percentile score means that you performed as well or better than 75% of the school’s newly admitted class, and your chances of admission are very high. In fact, if your score falls above the 75th percentile of your dream school you have a good chance of consideration (unless we’re talking a top ten school, in which case things are still insanely competitive!) and you should consider applying to some higher ranked schools. There’s nothing wrong with having a reach school or two. Also re...
It probably comes as no surprise that the medical school admissions process is incredibly competitive when it comes to GPA. Undergrads are generally expected to maintain, at the very least, a GPA of 3.5 or higher if they want a shot at acceptance into a top-tier program. And grades earned in science courses will be especially scrutinized, so that’s...
For the top 100 medical schools, the 50th percentile of MCAT scores for accepted students ranges from 505 to 522, with a median of 514. For the top 10 schools the range is shifted up, from 515 to 522, with a median of 519. Depending on which med schools you’re looking at, you’re probably going to want to aim for an MCAT score in the upper teens or ...
For the top 100 medical schools, the average GPA for accepted students ranges from 3.58 to 3.96, with a median GPA of 3.77. For the top 10 schools, that range moves up: from 3.86 to 3.96, with a median of 3.88. This means that 3.58 is really around the bottom limit of where your undergraduate GPA can be if you’re applying to any of the top 100 prog...
MCAT scores and GPA are the two biggest factors in determining your acceptance to med school. And while it takes years of hard work to cultivate and maintain your GPA for med school, your MCAT scores are something you have much more short term control over–so you should definitely invest a whole lot of time and effort into your MCAT prep plan. Depe...
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See the top ranked medical schools in primary care and research and find the best medical school for you at US News.
Sep 11, 2023 · GPA and MCAT scores are indicators of an applicant’s academic readiness for the rigor of medical school. They demonstrate a candidate’s ability to handle the demanding coursework and clinical rotations that come with medical education.
Below are the best medical schools in the U.S. based on U.S. News medical school rankings for research and average MCAT scores.
SchoolStateAverage GpaAverage McatA.T. Still UniversityAZ3.45505A.T. Still University of Health Sciences ...MO3.69504Alabama College of Osteopathic MedicineAL3.45504Albany Medical CollegeNY3.6511Discover the schools where you are competitive! Compare med schools using criteria including avg GPA, MCAT scores, medical school acceptance rates, rankings, and selectivity.
With the U.S. News rankings of the top medical schools for research, narrow your search by location, tuition, school size and test scores.
