Good MCAT Score Basics
Average National MCAT Scores for 2011
What's a good MCAT score? Funny you should ask. Your MCAT score can range anywhere from a 1 (low) to a 15 (killer) on any of the three multiple-choice sections (or a 3 - 45 total):
The Writing Section essays are both scored twice between a 1 (low) and a 6 (high) and averaged. Then, the raw score is converted to an alphabetic scale where a “J” is the lowest and a “T” is the highest. Strange, but true.
Most often, the MCAT score is reported as an average of your three multiple-choice scores with the writing letter behind it. Like this: 10M. Sometimes, you'll see the total score, like this: 30. Often, the MCAT Writing score is left out altogether, and in fact, with the proposed changes to happen in 2014, the Writing portion may be dropped, anyway.
You'll have to do better than a 10, though, if you'd like to get into one of the top schools in the country.
See the table below for the average MCAT scores of 10 of the country's most illustrious medical schools, listed in their order as ranked by US News and World Report.
Average MCAT Scores for Medical Schools Ranked 11 - 25
Average MCAT Scores for Top 10 Medical Schools
| Average MCAT Scores for Accepted Students | ||
| Medical School | Average/Section | Average Total Score |
| Harvard | 11.9 | 35.6 |
| University of Pennsylvania | 11.7 | 35 |
| Johns Hopkins | 11.7 | 35 |
| University of California – San Francisco | 11.3 | 34 |
| Washington University – St. Louis | 10 | 30 |
| University of Washington | 10.3 | 31 |
| University of Michigan | 11.7 | 35 |
| Yale | 11.7 | 35 |
| Duke University | 11.4 | 34.2 |
| Columbia University | 11.7 | 35 |
