Taja29

Its coming to decision time and I have one important question to help me decide. I want to know how hard getting a 30 on the MCAT really is. I kno this is a very vague question with many possible answers.

I got a 2120 on my SATs
610CR
800M
710W

i got a decent score on my SATs, but my CR sucked! I tried really hard, studied and still only managed to get a 610. I'm just worried that even if i can break a 30 on the MCAT, does it seem that it may be difficult for me to meet a minimum requirement on each section (8) in the english part? I don't want to choose the wrong school and i think that any input to this question could really help me decide.

Taja29

oh and idk if this helps with answers but
sat2's

math1 720
math IIc 740
Physics 760


Please help! Any insight would help.

illinois187

IMO if you're smart, getting a 30 is pretty easy. All those people you hear who struggle with the mcat are really the same people now who didn't score very high on the SAT and ACT (like if they got 30 or lower on ACT, or below 700 on the math or CR section on the SAT).

I got a 740 on the reading, and I took the mcat verbal section (no, i'm not a neurotic study whore. I took two verbal tests while at a hotel the day before one of my interviews..i had nothing to do), and scored a 11 and a 12 on it.

Getting a 30 is doable, not necessarily easy, for the people who had to study a ton for the SAT/ACT and get a high score on it, or for the people who have an above average score on their standardized tests. All they have to do is study a ton for it.

norcalguy

Average MCAT score of a Princeton med school applicant is a 32.

Taja29

illinois >> thanks that helped put things in perspective a little

norcalguy>> is that a joke?

any1 else?

norcalguy

No, it's reality. The average MCAT score of a medical school applicant from Princeton is 32.

Taja29

oh haha, i thought u were saying the average score of applicants to the non existing princeton medical school was a 32

Taja29

bumpp bump bump

FutureDr08

ok seriously, you can't compare the MCAT to SAT/ACT from college students and medical school students I have talked to

just to give you an idea though: 30 MCAT generally requires a 2-4 months of studying and preparation and if you are smart with a good ACT/SAT, you will do fine on the MCAT

I was stressing about it too, but people tell me if you work hard, you will do fine, we shouldn't get crazy about it when it's like 2-3 years from now

enjoy graduating first

Taja29

yeah i know they are impossible to compare but what i am concerned with is how the MCAT is all reading comprehension based. That is the ONE SKILL I SUCK at. My CR score wasnt tooo great and it will be a miracle if i get a 4 on the AP eng lit test in may.

That said, would it be wise to choose a program with no MCAT but the other aspects (social/area/etc) are not up to par with what i wanted or a school with a 30 requirement for the program with everything i almost ever wanted in a school

illinois187

MCAT scores most certainly can be predicted from SAT scores with a high degree of confidence. There's a reason for the BA/MD program requirements on SAT/ACT. Google the correlation between MCAT and SAT/ACT scores

dont' worry too much about the mcat. If verbal will kill you buffer it up with high bio and physical sci scores

bluedevilmike

The SAT and MCAT are very RELATED skills. That's not to say that anybody, at this time, can establish any kind of prediction using just the SAT. An excellent SAT score is a good sign for an excellent MCAT score, and poor scores are a bad sign, but the exact math is unclear.

Second, biology and physical science are NOT content-based. They are also reading comprehension. They just happen to be reading ABOUT biology and physical science.

norcalguy

If you have a poor SAT score (especially a poor verbal score), you should worry.

If you have an excellent SAT score, it's still tough to tell whether or not you will do excellent on the MCAT because the MCAT test taking pool is so much stronger than the SAT test taking pool. Like I said, the average med school applicant at places like Duke, MIT, Princeton have MCAT scores of 30-32. In this day and age, a score of 30 is really a ho-hum type score. We used to quote 3.6/30 as the minimum stats to have a comfortable shot at med school. But, right now, the average ORM matriculant actually has stats closer to 3.7/32.

angad19

I actually know PLENTY of people (from UCLA and USC) who had 3.7/32 ish and got rejected from US MEd schools. many of them ended up going to the Caribbean or to India or defecting to dentistry (you only become a dentist if you can't become a doctor).

Even though those may be the median scores necessary, you probably won't stand a chance at any respectable med school till you can pull off like a 35 or higher on your MCATs, which, realistically speaking, isnt THAT hard. It is just like a 12/15 in each section.. really, not that big of a deal.

FutureDr08

yes if you have a program with no MCAT and the school is pretty good, take it because you don't want to risk it, according to me, unless the other school with a high MCAT requirement is offering you scholarships or the program is your dream program, then just go for it and believe in yourself because lately I have had the same problems and doubts