What is the MCAT out of?
The MCAT total score is out of 528. Scores run from 472 to 528, and the midpoint is 500. Each of the four sections is scored from 118 to 132, with a midpoint of 125, and the four section scores add up to your total. It is not a percentage and not a count of the 230 questions you answer.
In more detail
You get five scores from one MCAT: one for each of the four sections and one total. The sections are Chemical and Physical Foundations, Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (CARS), Biological and Biochemical Foundations, and Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations. Because every section starts at 118, the lowest total is 472 (4 × 118), not zero, and 500 sits exactly halfway between 472 and 528.
A scaled score is not the number of questions you got right. The exam has 230 questions, and the AAMC converts your results onto the 118 to 132 scale for each section. So you cannot divide 510 by 528 and call it 97 percent. To see where a score stands, use the percentile ranks the AAMC publishes each year.
Some pages still say the MCAT is out of 45. That was the scale of the old exam, which was retired in 2015. If a source quotes 3 to 45, it is out of date.
MCAT score scale (AAMC)
| Score | Lowest | Midpoint | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Each section (4 sections) | 118 | 125 | 132 |
| Total (four sections added) | 472 | 500 | 528 |
Step by step
- 1
Take your four section scores. The AAMC's own example uses 128, 125, 129 and 127.
- 2
Add them: 128 + 125 + 129 + 127 = 509.
- 3
Check that each section is between 118 and 132 and the total between 472 and 528.
- 4
Judge the total by its percentile rank and by the median scores of the schools you apply to, not by how far it is from 528.
How StudyPDF helps
A scaled score tells you where you stand, not what to fix. Upload your prep book chapters, class notes or lecture slides and StudyPDF builds flashcards, quizzes and practice exams from them, each answer linked to the page it came from. Your mastery per concept shows which topics still cost you points, so the next practice set goes after them.
See also
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More questions
Is 528 a perfect MCAT score?
Yes. A 528 means 132 in all four sections, which is the highest score the exam reports.
What is the lowest possible MCAT score?
472, which is 118 in every section. There is no score below that.