MCAT Score Calculator and Converter: AAMC Raw to Scaled

This free MCAT score calculator turns raw correct answers into scaled section scores of 118 to 132 and a total of 472 to 528. It runs the other way too: enter a scaled score and it shows roughly how many questions that represents.

Pick the curve that matches the exam you sat, the AAMC unscored Sample Test or FL1 to FL4, and the estimate is tuned to that paper rather than a generic average. Then read your total straight off the current AAMC percentile table further down this page, which is the one in effect from May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027.

How to use this MCAT score calculator

1. Pick a curve: Linear (baseline), or AAMC Sample (est.) / FL1 to FL4 (est.) to mirror a specific practice exam. AAMC publishes no single raw to scaled chart, and the Sample Test is unscored.

2. Choose input mode:

   • Raw Correct (out of 59 for the science sections, 53 for CARS), or
   • Scaled (118 to 132 per section).

3. Read your results: you get four section scaled scores and a total (472 to 528) instantly, then the percentile table below tells you what that total is worth.

What is the MCAT score scale?

Every MCAT score report carries five numbers: one for each of the four sections and one combined total. AAMC sets the section scale at 118 to 132, with a midpoint of 125. The four section scores are added, so the total runs from 472 to 528 with a midpoint of 500.

That is the whole official scale. There is no percentage, no letter grade and no pass mark.

Question counts and timings come from the MCAT Essentials for testing year 2027. Seated time, with breaks and the optional tutorial, is about 7 hours 30 minutes. If you want the sections broken down subject by subject, our guide to the MCAT sections does that.

A per-section result is what most people mean by an MCAT section score calculator. Each section is converted on its own, so a strong CARS can carry a weak C/P in the total but each section score still shows separately on your report, and schools see all five numbers.

How MCAT scoring works: raw correct to scaled

The MCAT is not curved. AAMC states plainly that "there is no curve associated with the MCAT exam" and that the exam is scaled and equated so scores mean the same thing no matter when you test.

Here is the part that trips people up. Your number correct is converted to the 118 to 132 scale separately for every test form, through equating, which compensates for small differences in difficulty between question sets. AAMC's own wording: "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." So there is no universal raw to scaled chart, and any tool that claims one is guessing.

AAMC does publish one illustration of the size of the gap, on that same page: a number correct score between 35 and 37 might convert to 123, and a number correct score of 46 to 48 might convert to 128. Treat those as the official sense of scale, not as a lookup table.

There is also no penalty for wrong answers. AAMC scores a wrong answer exactly the same as an unanswered one, so guess on every question you cannot finish.

How we built this MCAT score calculator

1) What is official and what is not

• Score scale: sections 118 to 132, total 472 to 528. That scale, not a raw to scaled chart, is what AAMC publishes.

• Equating: AAMC converts number correct to scaled scores form by form, so no single universal table exists for the real exam.

• Section lengths: CARS has 53 questions, the other three have 59 each.

• Percentiles: AAMC refreshes the percentile ranks every May 1, using the three most recent testing years. The table below is the current one.

• Practice exams: the AAMC Practice Exams report scaled scores and percentile ranks like test day. The free Unscored Sample Test does not.

2) Calculator logic in plain English

• Two input modes

  • Raw Correct: move the sliders for questions correct, out of 59 or 53.
  • Scaled: enter 118 to 132 directly, which is what you have after an AAMC practice test.

• Curve presets

  • Baseline (Linear): a quick estimate when all you have is raw correct.
  • AAMC Sample (est.) and AAMC FL1 to FL4 (est.): smooth logistic curves fitted so the outputs line up with what students report from those specific exams. They are approximations, not official scales.

3) Why your score here may not match another calculator

• Equating varies by form. Different tools use different stand-ins, so scaled outputs differ for the same raw score. That is expected.

• The Sample Test is unscored. Every public Sample conversion is modelled off scored exams, because no official Sample scale exists.

• The scored full lengths each have their own scale, and third-party sites reflect that in different ways.

4) Known limitations

• Approximations by design. Only AAMC can equate a specific form. Treat an official AAMC score report as the source of truth and these numbers as planning figures.

• Rounding and banding. Scaled scores are whole numbers, so a one-question change near a band edge can move you a point. That is normal on any scaled exam.

AAMC unscored sample test conversion

If you came here for an AAMC unscored sample test conversion, an unscored MCAT converter or an AAMC unscored score converter, this is the tool for it.

The AAMC Unscored Sample Test is a free 230-question exam with the same look, feel, length and functionality as the real thing, and AAMC says outright that it "does not include a scaled score or percentile rank". That is what unscored means: you get your number correct and nothing else.

To turn that into a number you can compare against a real MCAT, select the AAMC Sample (est.) curve, enter your raw correct per section, and read the estimated 118 to 132 section scores and 472 to 528 total.

The scored exams are different. AAMC's free Practice Exam One is also 230 questions but comes "with the same look, feel, functionality, scaled score and percentile rank as an actual exam", so it already gives you a scaled score. Use the FL1 to FL4 presets there only if you want a second read on a specific full length.

One honest caveat. Because the Sample Test has no official scale, every unscored MCAT score conversion online, this one included, is an estimator modelled off scored exams. It is a planning number, not a score report. If you are working out how many practice exams to fit in before test day, our guide to how many MCAT practice tests to take sets out a schedule.

MCAT percentile table in effect May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027

A percentile rank is the percentage of test takers who scored at or below a given total. AAMC updates these ranks every May 1 using the three most recent testing years, so the table below is built on everyone who tested in 2023, 2024 and 2025, an N of 305,494. It replaced the May 2025 to April 2026 table, which expired on April 30, 2026.

Source: AAMC, Percentile Ranks for the MCAT Exam. Three of the familiar anchors moved a point when the table turned over on May 1, 2026: a 500 went from the 49th percentile to the 48th, a 505 from the 65th to the 64th, and a 513 from the 87th to the 86th. A 510, 515 and 520 held at the 79th, 91st and 97th. AAMC publishes per-section percentile ranks in the same document.

For the wider picture of how scores are distributed, see our MCAT score range explainer and the MCAT statistics dashboard. Scores from exams taken before 2015 use a different 3 to 45 scale, which our old MCAT score converter handles.

What counts as a good MCAT score?

Good depends on your school list, not on a single cutoff. Percentiles are the fastest benchmark: under the current table a 510 is the 79th percentile, a 515 the 91st and a 520 the 97th. A 500 sits at the 48th, just under the middle of the pool.

Then compare against the ranges your target schools actually report, in MSAR, which is AAMC's official database of school-specific stats. Our write-up on whether a 508 is a good MCAT score walks through how to read a number against a school list rather than against the national pool.

Once you know the gap between your practice score and your target, build the weeks to close it with our MCAT study plan generator. If you are weighing a second attempt, the MCAT retake calculator models what a retake is likely to move.

FAQs

How do I convert an AAMC unscored Sample Test to a scaled score?

Select the AAMC Sample (est.) curve, enter your raw correct for each section, and the calculator returns estimated 118 to 132 section scores and a 472 to 528 total. The Sample Test has no official scale, so this is an estimate rather than an AAMC score report.

What is the MCAT score scale?

Each of the four sections is scored from 118 to 132, with a midpoint of 125. The four section scores add up to a total from 472 to 528, midpoint 500. You receive five scores in all: one per section and one combined total.

What percentile is my MCAT score?

Under the ranks in effect May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027, a 500 is the 48th percentile, 505 the 64th, 510 the 79th, 515 the 91st and 520 the 97th. They are based on everyone who tested in 2023, 2024 and 2025, and AAMC updates them each May 1.

When are MCAT scores released?

About 30 to 35 days after your test date, and by 5:00 p.m. ET on the scheduled release day. That month is the scaling and equating window, which is why nothing appears at the test center. Our MCAT score release dates page lists the days themselves.

How many times can I take the MCAT?

AAMC caps attempts at 3 times in a testing year, 4 times over two consecutive testing years, and 7 times in your lifetime, counting from the April 2015 test dates. A voided exam still counts toward those limits, whatever the reason for voiding.

Is there a penalty for wrong answers?

No. A wrong answer is scored exactly the same as an unanswered one, so always make your best guess rather than leave a question blank.

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