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Old MCAT to New MCAT Score Conversion & MCAT Percentiles (2020-2021)

Picture of Jessica Freedman MD Jessica Freedman MD : Sep 27, 2025 3:38:16 PM

Part 1: Introduction

The MCAT 2015 was introduced in April 2015 to make the exam more reflective of the current state of medical education, medicine, and science which had changed significantly since the exam was last modified in 1991. In modern medical education, medical students routinely get earlier exposure to clinical medicine than previous generations of physicians and there has also been a rapid increase in medical knowledge and research. By the same token, the social determinants of health and how we communicate have changed significantly since 1991. The exam changed from being confined to specific disciplines to being broader is scope and having more real-world applicability. The MCAT is used for all med school applicants in the United States and for some off-shore medical schools.

Part 2: Old MCAT to New MCAT Exam Changes

The biggest MCAT changes we saw in 2015 were as follows:

MCAT Sections:

The MCAT originally had three sections:

Physical Sciences
Biological Sciences
Verbal

The MCAT 2015 changed to include four sections:

Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems
Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems
Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior
Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills.

MCAT Length:

The MCAT exam length increased from approximately five hours to seven and a half hours to accommodate for the additional knowledge being test.

MCAT Scoring System:

The old MCAT was scored on a scale from 3-45 with an average MCAT score of 25.2.

On each section you could earn 1 to 15 points.

The new MCAT is scored on a scale from 472-528 with a mean score of 500.

On each section you can earn 118 to 132 points.

Believe it or not, there are many people who still aren't sure how to interpret MCAT total scores and section scores and are more comfortable with "old scores." Therefore, many people, including admissions officers, seek out how to interpret new scores according to the old model. Keep in mind that if you are applying to medical school, most medical schools will consider MCAT scores that are two years old. Some will entertain scores that are three years old as well. Therefore, old MCAT scores will not be considered by the vast majority of US medical schools.

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Part 3: MCAT Score Percentiles

MCAT Score Percentiles and old MCAT score and new MCAT score

The table below compares old MCAT score(s) to new MCAT score(s) by percentile.

Old MCAT Score	New MCAT Score	Percentile
45	528	100
44	527	100
43	527	100
42	526	100
41	526	100
40	525	100
39	524	100
38	522	99
37	520	98
36	519	97

Part 4: MCAT Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems Percentiles

Old MCAT Score	New MCAT Score	Percentile
15	132	100
14	132	100
13	130	97
12	129.5	95
11	128.5	89
10	127.5	79
9	126.2	67
8	125.2	55
7	123.8	40
6	122.4	23

Part 5: MCAT Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (CARS) Percentiles

Old MCAT Score	New MCAT Score	Percentile
15	132	100
14	132	100
13	132	100
12	130	98
11	129.2	95
10	127.5	84
9	125.8	67
8	124.5	52
7	123.5	37
6	122.5	27

Part 6: MCAT Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems Percentiles

Old MCAT	New MCAT	Percentile
15	132	100
14	131	99
13	131	98
12	130	95
11	128.5	88
10	127.5	76
9	125.5	56
8	124.5	41
7	122.5	25
6	121.8	18

Final Thoughts About Old MCAT to New MCAT Score Conversion

When deciding where to apply, keep in mind how your MCAT scores compare to other applicants and test takers, your percentile score, your overall and section scores, and the average scores for matriculants to your target schools.

Jessica Freedman MD

JESSICA FREEDMAN, M.D., a former medical school and residency admissions officer at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, is the founder and chair of MedEdits Medical Admissions and author of three top-selling books about the medical admissions process that you can find on Amazon.