The Number Everyone Asks About
Every pre-med student eventually asks: what is a good MCAT score? The answer, like most honest answers, is that it depends. A 510 opens doors at dozens of excellent medical schools and closes them at a handful of others. Context — your target schools, your GPA, your background — determines whether a given score is a triumph or a setback.
But you came here for benchmarks, so here they are.
The Scale
The MCAT runs from 472 to 528, with a midpoint of 500. Each of the four sections — Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems (CP), Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (CARS), Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems (BB), and Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior (PS) — scores from 118 to 132 with a midpoint of 125.
The median score for all test-takers is approximately 500. The median score for applicants who matriculate into US MD programs is typically around 511-512. That gap tells you something important: the MCAT is a filter, and half the people who take it will not clear the bar at most schools.
Benchmarks That Actually Help
- 521-528 — 99th percentile and above. Competitive everywhere, including the most selective research institutions. Rare — roughly 1,600 test-takers per year reach 521+.
- 517-520 — 95th-99th percentile. Strong at any medical school in the country. Merit scholarship territory at many programs.
- 514-516 — 90th-95th percentile. Competitive at top-25 programs. Solid at virtually all MD schools with a matching GPA.
- 510-513 — 80th-90th percentile. The sweet spot for a broad range of MD schools. Competitive at most state schools and many private programs.
- 506-509 — 70th-80th percentile. Competitive at many MD schools, strong for DO programs. State school advantage matters here.
- 500-505 — 50th-70th percentile. DO programs become the stronger path. Some MD programs, particularly newer ones, remain accessible.
- Below 500 — Below the median. Options narrow significantly for MD programs. Caribbean schools recruit here, but the attrition and residency match data should give any applicant pause.
Section Scores Matter More Than You Think
A 512 with balanced sections (128/128/128/128) reads differently than a 512 with a 124 in CARS and a 132 in CP. Many schools screen by section score — a sub-125 in any section, particularly CARS, can trigger automatic review or rejection at certain programs, even if the total looks competitive.
CARS is the section that most consistently predicts performance on USMLE Step 1 and Step 2, which is one reason schools weight it heavily. If your CARS is weak relative to your science sections, that imbalance is worth addressing before applying broadly.
How Schools Use Your Score
Medical schools report their entering class MCAT data to the AAMC, including 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentile scores. AdmitBase uses the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile data to calculate your match score at each school — the same framework that works for law schools, adapted for medicine's 50/50 MCAT-GPA weighting.
If your score sits at or above a school's 75th percentile, you are a statistical safety. At the median, you are a genuine target. Below the 25th percentile, you are a reach. The data does not lie about this, even when optimism does.
On Retaking
You can take the MCAT up to three times in a single testing year, four times across two consecutive years, and seven times total in your lifetime. Most schools see all scores, and while many claim to consider only your highest, a significant drop between attempts raises questions.
The median improvement on a retake is about 2-3 points. A jump of 5 or more points is achievable with substantially different preparation — same approach, same result. If your first score was a genuine underperformance relative to practice tests, retaking makes sense. If you were scoring 508 on full-lengths and got a 507, the retake calculus is less favorable.
Do not retake a 515+ unless you are targeting a very specific tier of school where every point matters. The risk of a lower score on the retake is real, and the marginal benefit of going from 515 to 518 at most schools is modest.
The Score in Context
The MCAT is the single most standardized element of your application. Unlike GPA — which varies by institution, major, and grading curve — the MCAT puts everyone on the same scale. This is why admissions committees lean on it so heavily, and why medical schools with 50/50 MCAT-GPA weighting are not being arbitrary.
But the score exists within a file that includes your GPA, clinical experience, research, letters, personal statement, and everything else that makes you a candidate. A 508 from an applicant with 2,000 hours of meaningful clinical experience, a 3.85 sGPA, and a publication is a different application than a 515 with nothing behind it.
Use the number to build a realistic school list. Use everything else to give that list a chance.