❓What’s a Good MCAT Score? - Answered by ME, Logan, a Kaplan instructor 👨‍🏫😊

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The MCAT is an important exam that is required for acceptance to most medical schools in the US and Canada. As you embark on your MCAT journey, you might find yourself asking: What’s a good MCAT score?

 

Unfortunately, there isn’t one simple answer to point to saying, “this is it – the GOOD score!” Really, the question of “What is a good MCAT score” is not the one you should be asking yourself. The better question is: “What score will get me into medical school?”

Let’s start our discussion by reviewing how the MCAT is scored. The MCAT is broken up into 4 sections, where each section is scored from 118 as the lowest score, and 132 as the highest score. A more detailed breakdown of the test structure of the MCAT can be found here. The scores from these sections are then summed up to give the total score, which ranges lowest to highest from 472 to 528. There is no pass/fail cutoff for the MCAT, but rather, the scores are reported with a percentile. As of 2023, a score of 501-502 equates to about the 50th percentile.

 

So now that we understand the range of score possibilities, what should you be aiming for? While there’s no singular answer for any one student, given the number of other pieces in your application packet, there are a couple factors to consider when deciding what score is “good.”

 

The first thing to think about is what medical schools you are applying to. Since 2018, the average MCAT score for US MD matriculants has consistently been around 511-512, while US DO matriculants have averaged about a 502-504 since 2016. However, these numbers do not tell the whole story. Different schools have varying averages of MCAT scores of their matriculants: Harvard Medical School matriculants, for example, had an average MCAT score of around 521 in 2023. On the other hand, the average MCAT score for 2023 matriculating students at the University of South Carolina, School of Medicine in Columbia was around 508. In other words, if you’re shooting for Harvard, you’ll want your MCAT score to be closer to a 521. But if you’re looking to train in South Carolina’s capital city, a 508 is a great target score.

 

For more information about the MCAT scores for individual schools, the AAMC’s MSAR is a helpful database that allows users (for a fee of $28/year) to look up information on MD schools. The reports include charts with in-depth information on the MCAT scores of matriculants, including the range of MCAT scores of matriculants and the MCAT score percentiles. This information can give a more nuanced perspective than simply the median or average MCAT score for a given school. AACOM’s DO Explorer is the MSAR equivalent for DO programs and is free after sign-up.

 

A second consideration when deciding what MCAT score to shoot for is your undergraduate GPA (graduate or other post-grad coursework is not discussed here for simplicity’s sake). According to the AAMC, from 2021-2024, there was an overall 42% acceptance rate to MD programs. For students with GPAs above a 2.00, higher MCAT scores indicates a higher acceptance rate: For example, students that had a GPA between 3.2 and 3.6 had a 26%-28% acceptance rate when MCAT scores were between 502-505. However, the acceptance rate jumped up to about 41%- 45% when MCAT scores were between 510-513. The full dataset looking at GPA and MCAT scores vs. acceptance % can be found here.

So what is a good MCAT score? Whatever score gets you in! There are many considerations when deciding on what your target MCAT score should be, including the schools you want to apply to and the strength of the rest of your application.

 

My advice would be to sit down early in your prep, consider the schools you want to apply to, and use the resources linked in this post to set your own goal score. Then, take a practice test! Kaplan’s Free Practice Test is a great place to start. The AAMC’s Free Practice Exam (released in 2022) is also an option, but many students like to save that resource until closer to their Test Date. With your goal score and a baseline score set, you can make an informed decision on how to go about your MCAT prep. Students in Kaplan’s MCAT Prep courses show an average increase of 15 points. If you want more reassurance, Kaplan’s Premium Tutoring, new Premium Course, and Bootcamp programs all come with a guarantee of a 515 or better if your baseline exam score is 500+, or a 15+ point increase if you start below a 500. You can always call 1-800-KAPTEST to speak with a Service Agent to help identify the right options to reach your goals!