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<p>Of course there is a correlation. Is it an r^2=1 absolutely perfect predictor? Of course not, but student who do well on their SATs are more likely to do well on their MCATs and students who do poorly on their SATs are more likely to do poorly on their MCATs</p>
<p>Here is some data if you’re still not convinced:
[A</a> twelve-year profile of students’ SAT scores, GPAs… [Acad Med. 1993] - PubMed - NCBI](<a href=“http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8466617]A”>A twelve-year profile of students' SAT scores, GPAs, and MCAT scores from a small university's premedical program - PubMed)
[The</a> Gateway program: ten-year lessons about outcome… [Acad Med. 1998] - PubMed - NCBI](<a href=“The Gateway program: ten-year lessons about outcomes and admission measures - PubMed”>The Gateway program: ten-year lessons about outcomes and admission measures - PubMed)
[Predictors</a> of MCAT scores for black Americans. [J Natl Med Assoc. 1987] - PubMed - NCBI](<a href=“Predictors of MCAT scores for black Americans - PubMed”>Predictors of MCAT scores for black Americans - PubMed)
Hell, SAT is even correlated with USMLE 2 scores: [Prediction</a> of students’ USMLE step 2 performances b… [Acad Med. 1996] - PubMed - NCBI](<a href=“Prediction of students' USMLE step 2 performances based on premedical credentials related to verbal skills - PubMed”>Prediction of students' USMLE step 2 performances based on premedical credentials related to verbal skills - PubMed)</p>
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<p>Not quite. I am pretty far removed from my SAT and I don’t keep up with that info now so maybe someone else can fill it in, but the MCAT is curved and largely does not test you “on what you learned.” </p>
<p>The MCAT as a whole is not curved, but each section is. Someone always gets a 15 on each section, but there is no guarantee that the people getting 15 on any one section get it on any other which is why 45s are ludicrously rare to the point where it may never have happened yet.</p>
<p>The MCAT does require a fundamental core of scientific knowledge, but the majority of the questions are based on passages presenting new information and the questions test you on that. Some questions can end up being pretty fact recall based, but for the most part it’s a critical thinking exam and I don’t think the SAT is so vastly different.</p>
<p>The biggest difference between the SAT and the MCAT is the testing pool. Nearly 3 million students take the SAT each year and they represent essentially any high school senior planning on going to some sort of college to study anything. ([College</a> Board SAT and SAT Subject Test FAQs](<a href=“News and Press Releases - Newsroom | College Board”>News and Press Releases - Newsroom | College Board)) According to my link above, just under 90k people take the MCAT in a year, and these are students who have been accepted to college, taken the majority if not all of the pre-med requirements and have decided they want to go to medical school. The test taking pool is much more competitive.</p>