The Medical College Admission Test, or MCAT, is notoriously difficult. The standardized test lasts seven and a half hours, includes questions on multiple scientific disciplines and requires prospective medical school students to think critically and solve complex problems.
The MCAT requires many hours of preparation, and students who perform well on it can improve their odds of med school acceptance.
What MCAT Score Do You Need for Med School?
Anyone who successfully completes the MCAT receives an overall score ranging from 472 to 528. Test-takers receive section scores based on performance on four multiple-choice portions of the exam, each of which receives a number grade ranging from 118 to 132. Those section scores are combined and add up to a student’s overall MCAT score.
“Different schools? are going to have different mean MCAT scores for a variety of reasons,” says Dr. James Graham, executive associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. “Private schools or high research activity schools tend to have higher mean MCAT scores. Public schools tend to have a little lower than private.”
[Read: What the MCAT Test Is Like and How to Prepare]
Many med schools publish MCAT score ranges of incoming students on their website. But medical school applicants can also search the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Medical School Admissions Requirements database, commonly known as MSAR, to see the score distributions at their desired medical programs.
There isn’t a “right” score that guarantees acceptance to a U.S. medical school, as admissions officers also look to see if candidates have a solid application in other respects, including a good GPA and quality application essays. However, falling near the average among matriculated test-takers can be considered a solid score, experts say.
The mean MCAT score among U.S. students who enrolled at M.D. programs during the 2024-2025 school year, for instance, was about 512, according to data from the AAMC, the organization that administers the MCAT. A score of 512 hits the 84th percentile for 2022-2024 test-takers.
Meanwhile, the average MCAT score among U.S. medical students who began D.O. programs in 2024 was about 503, according to data from the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. A 503 was a 58th percentile MCAT score for all 2022-2024 test-takers.
Per the most recent data from AAMC, the chart below reflects percentile rankings based on MCAT results from the 2022, 2023 and 2024 testing years. Percentiles change slightly every year based on the scores of test-takers.
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What’s a Great MCAT Score?
Scores of 520 or higher are rare. An overall MCAT score of 520 equaled or surpassed the performance of 97% of test-takers who took the exam between 2022 and 2024, according to AAMC data.
“A highly competitive MCAT score for highly selective medical schools ranges between 510-520, while a very good to good competitive score ranges between 505-509,” Elora Thomas, associate dean of admissions at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, wrote in an email.
However, MCAT scores are considered alongside the rest of an application, experts say, so applicants can help make up for a low score if they have another compelling selling point.
?”MCAT is only one piece of the application, it’s only one piece of the puzzle,” Graham says. “If you look at the national data that’s published by AAMC, there are applicants who have very high MCAT scores — 520, 521, 522 — who don’t get admitted to any medical school. … Schools are really interested in looking at motivation behind why the person wants to go into medicine. I know our admissions committee looks very favorably on students who have done some sort of volunteer experience or even work experience in a clinical setting.”
Here’s a look at the 16 schools with the highest median MCAT score among incoming students in fall 2024, per data collected by U.S. News from 104 medical schools ranked for both research and primary care.
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The Importance of MCAT Section Scores
Medical school admissions officers analyze a student’s performance on every portion of the MCAT, so it isn’t wise to neglect preparing for any section.
A lower score in one MCAT section isn’t necessarily negative, as it “may just identify some strengths and particular opportunities for growth for students,” says Javarro Russell, senior director of admissions and testing services at AAMC. “Not every student that gets into medical school is going to have perfect scores in all sections of (the) exam.”
[Read: How to Discuss Diversity in Medical School Application Essays]
However, medical schools vary in how much they emphasize individual sections of the MCAT and decide which sections to prioritize based on their curriculum, experts say. Some are particularly concerned with students’ critical thinking skill sets, for example, Russell says, because “a lot of what you learn (in medical school), you must be able to apply.”
“They know students struggle with improving their critical thinking skills during their undergraduate years due to a lack of time and resources within their coursework,” he says. “When it comes to teaching and learning, it’s really easy to teach the factual knowledge sets in each of the coursework. But challenging students to use that knowledge in ways that demonstrate their ability to think critically is really difficult in the classroom. And you can imagine how difficult it could be in an introductory science class with 200 students in it.”
While some med schools pay particular attention to performance on “Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills” or other sections, other schools focus more on the composite score, experts say.
Advice on MCAT Retakes
Medical schools see all the scores applicants receive on the MCAT, “so students should only take it when they’re prepared,” Russell says.
When deciding whether to retake the MCAT, students should consider their overall goals, statistical and extracurricular profile, and resources, including time and money, experts say.
[Read: Building Rapport With Professors for Strong Med School Recommendation Letters]
“From my perspective and review of data, those that retake the MCAT typically don’t improve their scores by more than a few points,” Thomas says. “And the MCAT score has decreased for some. When advising students, my recommendation is if they are hoping to increase their score by 10-15 points within one admission cycle that they ensure they have completed the recommended coursework and take the additional time to study and plan to retake and apply the next application cycle.”
Potential med school applicants can seek counsel from their college’s premedical adviser or admissions officers at schools of interest, Graham says.
“They will typically be knowledgeable and have done their homework,” he says. “It’s in their interest and in their college’s interest to get people into medical school.”
Searching for a medical school? Get our complete rankingsof Best Medical Schools.
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What Is a Good MCAT Score? originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 06/24/25: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
