MCAT Percentile
Every MCAT total score from 472 to 528 with its published AAMC percentile rank.
AAMC, in effect 1 May 2026 - 30 April 2027 · published as whole percentages
| Total score | Percentile rank |
|---|---|
| 503 | 58% |
| 502 | 55% |
| 501 | 52% |
| 500 | 48% |
| 499 | 45% |
| 498 | 42% |
| 497 | 39% |
The MCAT total runs from 472 to 528, built from four sections scored 118 to 132 each. The midpoint is 500, which sits at the 48th percentile. A 510 reaches the 79th and a 520 the 97th, so the scale is steep through the middle and flat at the top.
Why 500 is the centre but not the median
The scale was designed with 500 as its midpoint — the middle of 472 and 528 — and each section centred on 125. But the midpoint of a scale and the median of the people taking it are different things, and the published table puts a 500 at the 48th percentile rather than the 50th. The actual median total sits at 501, which is at the 52nd.
That small gap is worth noticing because it shows the percentile is empirical. It describes the people who sat the test over a three-year window, not an abstract property of the scale, and it shifts as that pool changes.
The scale is steepest where most people are
Between 495 and 510 each additional point is worth roughly three percentile points, because that is where the bulk of test takers cluster. Above 520 the same point is worth one or less, and by 525 the table has reached 100 — not because nobody scores higher, but because the share above it rounds below half a percent. A 528 and a 525 are indistinguishable in percentile terms and quite distinguishable on an application.
- 1 Use the total score, not a section score. The total from 472 to 528 has its own percentile table, separate from the four section tables.
- 2 Check which period the table covers. AAMC percentiles are in effect for a year at a time — the current set runs 1 May 2026 to 30 April 2027.
- 3 Look the total up. A 510 sits at the 79th percentile in that table.
- 4 Read it as a share of examinees. That means about 79% of recent test takers scored at or below 510.
- 5 Compare against school data, not the percentile. Medical schools publish median MCAT totals for matriculants, and that comparison is the one that matters.
Landmark totals
AAMC percentile ranks in effect 1 May 2026 to 30 April 2027, from 305,494 examinees across the 2023–2025 testing years.
| Total score | Percentile | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 528 | 100 | The maximum |
| 520 | 97 | Top 3% |
| 515 | 91 | Top 9% |
| 510 | 79 | Top 21% |
| 505 | 64 | Top third |
| 501 | 52 | The median |
| 500 | 48 | The scale midpoint |
| 490 | 20 | Bottom fifth |
Section scores matter separately
Two applicants with the same total can look quite different. A 510 made of 128/128/127/127 is balanced; one made of 132/124/128/126 is not, and many schools look for a minimum in each section rather than only at the total. The section tables have their own percentiles, which is why AAMC publishes five tables rather than one.
Two further notes. The percentile is against people who sat the MCAT — a self-selected group already intending to apply — so it is not a statement about general ability. And because AAMC republishes the table each May on a rolling three-year window, a score reported in one cycle can carry a slightly different percentile when quoted in the next; always cite the period along with the number.