Why does it take a month to receive scores?ĪAMC scales and equates each exam after each test day. How you score on the MCAT exam is not reflective of the particular form you took or the group of examinees you tested with-the test date or the time of year-since any difference in difficulty level is accounted for when calculating your scaled scores (see above for information about scaling). For example, a 124 earned on, the Critical Analysis and Reasoning section of one test form means the same thing as a 124 earned on that section on any other form. Instead, the MCAT exam is scaled and equated so that scores have the same meaning, no matter when you test or who tests at the same time you did.Īlthough there may be small differences in the form of the MCAT exam you took compared to another examinee (because you answered different sets of questions), the scoring process accounts for these differences. For exams graded on a curve, a final score depends on how an individual performs in comparison to other test takers from the same test day or same time of year. Test takers often ask if obtaining a high score is easier or harder at different times of the testing year, or, in other words, if the exam is scored on a curve. Two students with equal preparation who answered different sets of questions would be expected to get the same scaled score, even though there might be a slight difference between the number correct scores each student obtained on their test form. The scaled score, reported on a 15-point scale, tends to provide a more stable and accurate assessment of a student’s performance than the number correct score. The exact conversion of number correct to scaled scores is not constant because each conversion is tailored to the specific set of questions included on a test form. The conversion of number correct scores to scaled scores, through a process called equating, compensates for small variations in difficulty between sets of questions. While care is taken to make sure that each form is about equivalent in difficulty, one form may be slightly more or less difficult than another. The different forms of the exam are designed to measure the same basic concepts and skills, but each form contains different sets of questions. In a given testing year, there are many different test forms administered, any one of which you could see on your exam day. Why are raw scores converted to scaled scores? Number correct scores ranging from 46 to 48 might have a converted score of 128, and so forth. For example, if your number correct score on one of the sections is between 35 and 37, your converted score might be 123. The number correct score for each section is converted to a scaled score ranging from 118 (lowest) to 132 (highest). There is no additional penalty for wrong answers, so even if you are unsure of the correct answer to a question, you should make your best guess. Wrong answers are scored exactly the same as unanswered questions and do not affect your score. Your number correct scores on the four multiple-choice sections of the MCAT exam are based on the numbers of questions you answer correctly.