The Medical College - Page 76

SCORING OF THE MCAT

A report of the results of your performance on the MCAT is sent to you, to the medical

schools selected, and, with your agreement, to your Premedical Advisor, usually within

six to eight weeks of taking the exam.

The score sheet will list the results of each of the four subtests. The score for the

three multiple-choice subtests (but not the Writing Sample) is based on the number of

correct answers. (Thus, guessing wrong will not induce a lowering of the score.)

The scores for three of the subtests--physical sciences, biological sciences, and ver-

bal reasoning--are reported on a 1 to 15 scale. These scaled scores when reported are

converted from raw scores (see chart on page 211). (The conversion factor varies with

different exams and compensates for minor variations in difficulty between exams.)

The scaled scores earned are best interpreted in relation to the performance of other

examinees by means of three data sheets, namely, means (and standard deviations) for

each subtest, percentile rank ranges, and percentages of students receiving each scaled

score, which are sent along with your scores.

SCORING YOUR MODEL MCAT PERFORMANCE

To obtain your score after you have completed the test, check your answers against

those in the answer key (see page 192) and total up the number of correct answers in the

verbal reasoning, physical sciences, and biological sciences subtests individually. Each

of these totals is a raw score and has to be converted into a scaled score. Conversion is

done by use of the table shown below.

Having completed the computation of your scaled scores for each of the three sub-

tests, record them on the score card below.

Subtest

Maximum

Raw Score

Scaled Score

Physical Sciences

Biological Sciences

Verbal Reasoning

A score of 11 or higher can be considered superior, 9 to 11 satisfactory, and 8 or less

as deficient, requiring remediation in the relevant area tested. After assessing your per-

formance, adjust your MCAT study plan and schedule appropriately.

The two writing samples will be scored independently by two readers, using a scale

of 1 to 6. They will be evaluated on how well the challenge of addressing all three tasks

has been met. The depth, clarity, coherence, and expository skill of the applicant will be

assessed, and all four grades will be added to give a raw score. This score will be con-

verted to an alphabetic scale whose range is J (lowest) to T (highest).

Citing this material