What Do MCAT^® Percentiles Mean?

The AAMC's percentile ranks page defines them as "the percentages of test takers who received the same scores or lower scores on the exam." The pool is everyone who tested in the three most recent testing years. For the current table, that's 2023, 2024 and 2025, a total of 305,494 examinees with a mean total score of 500.6 and a standard deviation of 11.2, as listed by NextGen Med Prep from the AAMC's published table.

Two details follow from that definition:

• 500 is below the 50th percentile. The scale's midpoint is 500, the pool's mean is 500.6, and 48 percent of test takers scored 500 or lower. The first total at or above the 50th percentile is 501, at the 52nd.
• The ends of the scale get rounded. Every total from 525 to 528 shows as the 100th percentile, and 472 to 474 show as below the 1st. A 528 and a 525 report the same rank.

The ranks come from the score distribution of real test takers in those three years. If a cohort scores higher, the same score ranks a little lower.

These ranks come from the AAMC table in effect through April 30, 2027, as reproduced by MedLife Mastery.

The steps are widest in the low 500s. Moving from 500 to 506 passes 19 percent of test takers, about 3 percentile points per score point. Moving from 516 to 522 passes 7 percent, a little over 1 point per score point. The milestones most people ask about: 501 is the first score at the 50th percentile or higher, 509 is the first at the 75th (it's the 76th), and 515 is the first at the 90th (it's the 91st). For what those ranks mean for admissions, see what counts as a good MCAT score.

Each section is scored from 118 to 132, but the four sections don't share a percentile table. A 125, the midpoint of every section scale, shows the gap clearly.

A 125 beats 62 percent of test takers in CARS and 44 percent in Psych/Soc. That's an 18-point gap for the same number, because Psych/Soc scores run higher across the pool and CARS scores run lower.

The same pattern shows up when you look for the score that reaches each milestone. This table lists the lowest section score at or above each percentile.

A 128 in CARS is the 90th percentile. In Psych/Soc, the 90th takes a 130, since a 129 there is the 85th. If you're comparing your section scores to see where you're strongest, the percentiles give the fairer comparison. The guide to the four MCAT sections covers what each one tests.

Both tables use the AAMC ranks in effect through April 30, 2027, as reproduced by Pillar Prep and NextGen Med Prep, whose figures match cell for cell.

CARS climbs fastest in the middle. Going from 124 to 126 there moves you from the 50th to the 74th percentile. If your CARS number has stalled in that range, why CARS scores plateau covers what tends to cause it.

The AAMC ranks your total against the distribution of totals, separately from the four section tables. So you can't average your section percentiles to get your total percentile.

Take a 125 in every section. That adds up to a 500, the 48th percentile. The section ranks are 56, 62, 53 and 44, which average 53.75. A 128 in every section adds up to a 512, the 84th percentile, while the section ranks of 85, 90, 84 and 76 average 83.75. The two numbers come out close in these examples, but they're computed from different data.

How the section scores and the total are built in the first place is in how the MCAT is scored.

Very little. The AAMC updates the ranks every May 1 from the three most recent testing years and says that approach keeps them stable, so a change reflects a real shift in scores rather than normal fluctuation. Its percentile page says the current ranks "are similar to" the ones used from May 2025 through April 2026.

The comparison below bears that out. The 2025 to 2026 ranks are from the AAMC table based on 2022 to 2024 testers, as tallied by BestColleges.

No total from 499 to 528 moved by more than 1 point, and 22 of those 30 totals didn't move at all. Where a rank did change, it went down, so the same score ranks a point lower in the current table than it did a year ago.

The section tables moved the same way. Comparing the 2025 to 2026 section ranks reported by BestColleges and Inspira Advantage with the current ones, 11 of the 60 section cells changed, each by 1 point. Nine went down, including a 126 in Psych/Soc (55th to 54th) and a 125 in Chem/Phys (57th to 56th). Two went up, both in CARS: a 126 rose from the 73rd to the 74th, and a 127 from the 83rd to the 84th.

Over a longer span the drift adds up in one section. BestColleges reports that the median Psych/Soc score rose from 125 in 2015 to 125.9 in the 2025 to 2026 table, while the Chem/Phys and CARS averages haven't changed since 2015.

Yes, by up to a point in the latest update, even though the score itself stays fixed. According to the AAMC, percentiles shown in its Score Reporting System reflect the ranks as of May 1, so if you log in on or after that date, you'll see the updated values. AMCAS applications submitted on or after May 1 also carry the new ranks.

Going by the comparison above, most scores don't change at all. A 509 that showed as the 77th percentile before May 1, 2026, shows as the 76th now.

That depends on the schools on your list. MedLife Mastery puts the 2025 to 2026 MD matriculant average at 512.1, and a 512 is the 84th percentile. The average MCAT score breakdown compares that figure with the averages for all test takers, MD applicants and DO students, so you can see which group you're measuring yourself against.

• What percentile is a 500? The 48th, on the table in effect through April 30, 2027.
• What score is the 90th percentile? A 515, which is the 91st. A 514 is the 89th.
• What score is the 99th percentile? A 522. A 521 is the 98th, and every score from 525 up is the 100th.
• Which section is easiest to rank high in? CARS, where a 128 reaches the 90th percentile. Psych/Soc is the hardest, needing a 130.
• When do percentiles update? Every May 1, using the three most recent testing years.

To look up the percentile for any total or section score, use the PurpleCAT MCAT score guide.

Last verified October 30, 2026, against the AAMC's percentile ranks page and the AAMC table in effect May 1, 2026, to April 30, 2027, as reproduced by the sites listed below. The AAMC replaces the table each May 1.