Burton

MCAT Score Percentiles

Two students in white coats looking at textbook

You are probably familiar with the numerical MCAT scoring system, which ranges from 472-528. However, your MCAT score reporting will also include percentiles, which can help you interpret your numerical score.

These MCAT score percentiles explain how your score compares with all other people who are taking the MCAT. In some ways, this percentile is more meaningful than the actual numerical score. You can find your MCAT percentiles in your score report just like the one below.

Sample MCAT score percentiles

 

Table of Contents

 

MCAT Percentiles for 2021-2022

Below are the most recently released MCAT percentiles (PDF), in effect from May 1, 2021 through April 30, 2022. There were 281,468 administrations of the MCAT from 2021 to 2022. The average total score was 501.5 and the standard deviation was 10.7.

Total MCAT Score Percentile
528 100
527 100
526 100
525 100
524 100
523 99
522 99
521 98
520 97
519 96
518 95
517 94
516 92
515 90
514 88
513 86
512 84
511 81
510 78
509 75
508 72
507 69
506 65
505 62
504 58
503 55
502 52
501 48
500 45
499 42
498 38
497 35
496 32
495 29
494 27
493 24
492 21
491 19
490 17
489 15
488 13
487 11
486 9
485 8
484 7
483 6
482 4
481 4
480 3
479 2
478 1
477 1
476 1
475 <1
474 <1
473 <1
472 <1

MCAT percentiles from <1 (472) to 100 (524+), based on 2021 and 2022 data.

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Old MCAT Percentiles

For comparison, you can check out the percentile data from previous years, as well as the old MCAT.

 
 

What do MCAT score percentiles mean?

Like I said above, the percentile in the score report is a measure of how well your score compares with all other people who took the MCAT. It is NOT a measure of what percentage of questions you got right. For example, a 95th percentile score means that 95% of all test takers received the same score or lower.

In other words, a student that attains a 95th percentile score is in the top 5% of all test takers.

One advantage of the Magoosh online study course is that we have hundreds of practice questions from each area, and we added an extra CARS section (that’s a total of 212 CARS questions!). Here, we show you the most recent score percentiles. These percentiles help medical schools compare you with other test takers.

 

Do my MCAT score percentiles for the different sections matter?

It depends.

Medical schools want to see balanced performances on the MCAT. If your overall score was in the 99th percentile, and the different sections ranged from 97-99%, the MCAT score percentiles for each section probably are not as important.

As a contrasting example, let’s say you scored in the 80th percentile, with the following in each section:

  • 99% for Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems
  • 99% for Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems
  • 40% for Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills
  • 30% for Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior

That 80th percentile may not be as strong as one might think, because it raises red flags about the test taker’s abilities outside of science.

The point to take away is that you can’t rely on only one subject or section to help boost your overall score. In addition to a high score and percentile, balance is very important.

 

What score percentile should I try to get?

Using data from the AAMC, the average score of applicants who matriculated to medical school in 2021-2022 scored 511.5. This equates to roughly the 82nd percentile.

However, as mentioned in our “What is a good MCAT score?” post, the percentile that is “good” or “good enough” for you really depends on your goals and the rest of your application.

If you look closely at the MCAT score percentiles for both exams, you’ll notice that the distributions are close to that of a bell curve. This means that most students score close to average (506.4 for all test-takers) and few score particularly high or low.

Click here for Magoosh's free MCAT practice test

To determine their target scores, most students will start by looking at the average score of matriculants to a certain medical school. For example, say a student was interested in NYU School of Medicine. The mean MCAT score at NYU for the entering class is 520. On the new MCAT, this is a 98th percentile score. Logically, the student would then shoot for a 520 or higher on the MCAT.

 

More MCAT Resources

If you haven’t taken the MCAT yet, and want to get an idea of what percentile you would currently fall into, consider taking a practice test!

And for the rest of your study needs, check out the online Magoosh MCAT course and our monthly study schedules. Our MCAT prep contains over 300 video tutorials and over 700 online practice questions, to help you achieve your MCAT goals!

Happy studying! 🙂

Authors

  • Burton

    Burton is an MCAT blogger. He was an undergraduate at Harvard, where he majored in History before switching gears to pursue a career in medicine. He did a post-baccalaureate and is currently a fourth-year medical student at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He is applying for a combined residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. Outside of things medical, he’s a huge sports fan and loves football, basketball, and baseball.

  • Ken

    Ken is a former blog writer for Magoosh who left to focus on developing novel and effective ways to help students achieve success on the MCAT exam.

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