<p>I've been told the ACT is a pretty good predictor of one's MCAT score, primarily because they are similar formats. I'm a bit skeptical, but thought I'd ask. For those who've taken both, did you see a correlation?</p>
<p>I got 34 on ACT and got 20 on first MCAT diagnosis</p>
<p>The ACT and SAT are not good predictors of MCAT, and the format is nothing alike.</p>
<p>Remember that the pool of test takers is also different; everybody takes the SAT/ACT, but only students (generally speaking) who scored extremely well on the SAT/ACT take the MCAT.</p>
<p>SAT/ACT are easy, mostly middle school level. I heard that MCAT is brutal experience for even very top with college GPA=4.0</p>
<p>If you didn’t score well on the ACT, you probably won’t score well on the MCAT.</p>
<p>If you scored well on the ACT, you may or may not do well on the MCAT</p>
<p>how does mcat compare to subject tests? (Not an idle question, since I would assume that most successful college premeds have high subject test scores.)</p>
<p>Both ACT and MCAT have the letters A, C, and T.</p>
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I’m not buying it. Do you have a source to back this up?</p>
<p>There actually are okay Pearson-r values (slight to moderate correlations w/ effect sizes around d=0.4-0.84; GPA – esp sGPA – and GRE scores are actually much better predictors w/ effect sizes about twice as large)…but you will always have exceptions and you shouldn’t assume you will do well on the MCAT just because you did well on the ACT, SAT, or any other test. You can, however, expect that if you have consistently done well on previous standardized exams and adjust Z-scores to account for population changes (based on one study, MCAT and GRE populations are likely to be ~1 SD above the populations of the ACT & SAT, so if you scored at the 84th %ile on the ACT or a 26, you should expect to get the around the 50th percentile on the MCAT or a 25; if this is true, you’re really nowhere near “safe” unless you scored in the 98th percentile on the ACT or a 31+…)</p>
<p>Ultimately, though, you should never “assume” you will get a given score just because you did well on previous tests.</p>
<p>Don’t scores depend more on amount / seriousnes of prep.? We have to assume here that all pre-meds are top caliber students, otherwise they have no chance at getting to Med. School ( one need high GPA in addition to reasonable MCAT). So, since intellectual level is high across the board than the quality of prep. is going to make a difference. Analyisis of correlation between ACT and MCAT seems to be futile. If the same person did not spend time preparing for one test but spend considerable time preparing for another, there will be no correlation. This is the reason for: “I got 34 on ACT and got 20 on first MCAT diagnosis”. The same happened to my D. (33 on ACT - took once after one week of self-prep, and 25 on first MCAT diagnosis w/o any prep.)</p>
<p>Whatever correlation may exist, if any, don’t lull yourself to sleep thinking a top 1% SAT or ACT and every other standardized test you’ve ever taken means you don’t have to prepare all out for the MCAT. With the “one and done” preference most med schools prefer for the MCAT , preparation should be thorough, comprehensive, and several other words meaning “study your :eek: off , this for keeps”.</p>
<p>I’m a newbie --whats a low , med and high MCAT score thanks Dan</p>
<p>Depending on the MCAT stats of your state’s med schools (and about a hundred other factors) IMO a 27-28 is a marginal candidate, 29-31 is a reasonable candidate, and 32 and up is a likely candidate for admission to some U.S. allopathic medical school.</p>
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<p>Obviously, there are many factors going into an MCAT score: preparedness, natural ability, exposure to material, etc. Generally, someone who prepares a lot for one test (by comparison to the mean) is likely do so for another. Correlations and analysis can be useful but we should take care in their use. Where I might see them being of more use would be in determining whether you are likely to improve your score w/ more preparation (once you have, in fact, prepared quite thoroughly). That is, for one person a 30 on 2-3 AAMC practice tests might indicate that person’s maximum (i.e., any more preparation is unlikely to make a difference), whereas for another, that 30 might be a gross underachievement (i.e., 1-2 mos add’l prep could result in a 35+).
I do not agree, btw, that “all premeds are top-caliber students.” I have known many a premed who worked his butt off to get that 3.6+ GPA and bombed the MCAT due not to poor test preparation but to an apparent lack of something else.</p>
<p>FYI, the correlations I cited early were part of a few different studies. Each had P-values <<0.05 with several at the P<0.01 or better significance levels. So sure, we should never assume one will do better b/c of high previous test scores but the data do show a significant trend in that direction.</p>
<p>I scored higher on my first diagnostic (numerically) than I did on my ACT, for what it’s worth.</p>
<p>n=1</p>
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Just a lot of anecdotes :(</p>