What are the biggest MCAT mistakes?
Asked by: Elvis Nicolas | Last update: October 17, 2025Score: 4.3/5 (23 votes)
MCAT Study Mistake #1: Underestimating the Time Required One of the biggest mistakes students make is not allocating enough time for MCAT prep. This can come in several variations, from the micro-scale to the macro. First and foremost, the MCAT is a 7.5-hour exam.
What score is 70% correct on MCAT?
For instance, if we ask what score is a 70% on the MCAT? This means that your score is in the 70th percentile. In other words, you performed better than 70% of the test takers. In the current testing year, a 70th percentile score equals a scaled score somewhere between 507 and 508.
What is the most heavily tested subject on the MCAT?
Biochemistry: This subject is heavily emphasized on the MCAT, reflecting its importance in medical education and practice. Topics in biochemistry, including amino acids, proteins, and enzyme kinetics, are integral parts of the exam, especially in the Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems section.
What is 90% correct on MCAT?
This score will put you right in line with the average MCAT score of students who have been accepted into medical school. However, if you're looking to be above average, a score of 515 or above will put you in the 90th percentile, which will look great on your application!
What score is 50% correct on MCAT?
Perfect MCAT score
50th percentile – total score: 501/502; score for each section: between 124-126. 75th percentile – total score: 509/510; score for each section: between 126-128.
Most Common MCAT Studying Mistakes According to Expert MCAT Instructor
How rare is a 528 MCAT?
0.021% of 273,860 students brings us to our final answer: 58 students. Since this method is not perfect, we'll leave you with a range; between 30 and 70 students every year achieve a perfect 528 MCAT. This is out of the nearly three hundred thousand students who take the exam.
What is 80% correct on MCAT?
Note: A score of 80% correct for each of the 4 exam subsections translates to an MCAT scaled score of 127, which further underlines the fact that the relationship between percent correct and scaled scores is not straightforward and the changes are not consistent across exam sections (there is a correlation, but they ...
Is 512 MCAT too low?
According to recent AAMC stats, a 512 on the MCAT is not a bad score because it's an above-average MCAT score, and it is competitive for med-school admission: A 512 is 85 percentile rank on the MCAT. * The current average MCAT score is at the 501 mark, and a 512 is 11 points ahead of that score.
How many questions can I miss on the MCAT to get a 520?
However, generally speaking, missing around five to seven questions out of the total number of questions on the MCAT would typically result in a score of 520.
What is the hardest topic in the MCAT?
The hardest part of the MCAT is usually the CARS section, according to a majority of test-takers. This is because the CARS requires intensive reading of complex and verbose passages and it covers a variety of disciplines you may not have any background knowledge.
Is the MCAT mostly memorization?
You do, of course, need to memorize some things for the MCAT, but by and large, the MCAT is about recall and association: drawing the connections between subjects. This format actually mirrors how memories are organized in the brain: in semantic networks.
What is an impressive MCAT score?
Earning a 515 or higher on the MCAT makes you a top applicant for medical school admissions. A score of 515 on the MCAT is an important score threshold because it means you've earned a 91st percentile score. According to the AAMC, earning a 514 or better on the MCAT results in a 68% acceptance rate.
How rare is a 524 MCAT?
528 is the highest MCAT score possible, which corresponds to the 100th percentile. Anything above a 524 is also a 100th percentile score, and a 522 or 523 is a 99th percentile score.
How many questions can you miss on the MCAT to get a 125?
In the CARS section with 53 questions, you can usually get: 5 wrong answers (90% accuracy) and score 130 (top 5%) 10 wrong answers (83% accuracy) and score 127-128 (top 25%) 15 wrong answers (72% accuracy) and score 125 (top 50%)
What percentile is a 128 on CARS?
MCAT Percentiles for the CARS Section
The average MCAT score for the CARS section was 124.6 in 2024-2025. To score in the 90th percentile, you must have scored 128 or higher.
Has anyone gotten a 528 on the MCAT?
Theo Bennett scored a perfect score (528) on the MCAT and has been accepted at Harvard, UPenn, Columbia, UCLA, and other top 10 medical schools across the country. You can learn more and sign up to work with him one-on-one here.
What is the MCAT score for Albert Einstein College of Medicine?
Accepted students at Einstein have an average MCAT score of 516. The 10th-90th percentile range is 511-520.
What is a bad MCAT score?
What Is a Bad MCAT Score? The majority of medical schools in the US recommend that students score a minimum of 500 on the MCAT, which means scoring 125 in each of the four sections. So, technically speaking, a bad MCAT score would be anything below 500.
What is an Ivy League MCAT score?
Dedicate enough time to preparing for the MCAT: Though your MCAT score isn't the only stat considered, the average MCAT score of Ivy League med school matriculants is 519 or higher.
What is the hardest med-school to get into?
With an astonishingly low acceptance rate of about 1.4%, Stanford is the country's hardest medical school to get into. They admit students who not only boast impressive academic records but also showcase a deep passion for leadership, community involvement, and pushing the boundaries of medical knowledge.
Is the MCAT curved?
Is the MCAT exam graded on a curve? One of the most important things to note about the scoring process is that the MCAT exam is NOT graded on a curve. Instead, the MCAT exam is scaled and equated so that scores have the same meaning no matter when you take your exam.
What is 98% on MCAT?
521 - 523: 99 percentile. 514 – 520: 90 - 98 percentile.
Is a 502 a bad MCAT score?
What is the ideal MCAT score? Competitive: 511+, Good: 505-508; Below 502 is generally poor.
Can I get into med-school with a 495 MCAT?
The lowest MCAT score accepted by most medical schools in the U.S. and Canada is typically in the range of 490-495. Scores below 490 are rarely, if ever, accepted. It's important to note that while 490-495 is the minimum score accepted, the vast majority of applicants score well above this range.