The honest answer is that it depends entirely on where you are applying. But there are two reference points worth knowing: 500 is average among everyone who sits the exam, and around 512 is average among the students who actually matriculate at U.S. MD programs.
Test Ninjas Research · Updated September 11, 2026
Two different averages
Most confusion about MCAT scores comes from mixing up two populations. The scale is centred at 500 because that is the middle of everyone who takes the test. But test takers are not matriculants — a substantial share of people who sit the MCAT do not end up enrolling in medical school, and the ones who do skew well above the middle.
The result is a gap that matters when setting a target: a 500 is genuinely average among test takers and clearly below average among matriculants. If medical school is the goal, benchmark against roughly 512, not 500.
Verify against current data. The AAMC publishes updated matriculant score and GPA tables each autumn, and individual schools publish their own medians. The figures here are reference points, not a substitute for checking the schools on your list.
Benchmarks
MCAT total benchmarks (percentiles effective May 1, 2026)
Total
Percentile
What it means in practice
528
100%
Maximum possible
522
99%
Above the median at every U.S. medical school
518
95%
Competitive at highly selective programs
515
91%
Strong across a broad school list
512
84%
Approximately the U.S. MD matriculant average
508
74%
Above average; workable with a strong application
500
48%
Average among all test takers
493
28%
Below average among test takers
Set the target from your list, not from a table
The only target that means anything is the one derived from the schools you intend to apply to. Pull the published median MCAT for each, and aim at or above the median of your mid-range schools rather than at the ceiling of your reach schools. A score at a school's median is not a guarantee, but a score well below it means the rest of the application has to carry more weight than is reasonable to expect.
The MCAT is one input
Admissions committees read the MCAT alongside your GPA — particularly your science GPA — your clinical and research experience, letters, and personal statement. A score slightly below a school's median can be offset by a strong record elsewhere; a score far below it usually cannot. If you have not yet calculated your BCPM GPA, our science GPA calculator works it out the way AMCAS does.
Balance across sections
Two students with identical totals can present very differently. A 508 built from 127/127/127/127 reads as consistent; a 508 built from 132/120/130/126 invites a question about the 120. Some programs set section minimums in addition to a total, and a single conspicuously weak section can trip a screen even when the total clears it. Use the score calculator to see what closing a weak section would do.
Applying with the GRE instead?
A growing number of medical and health-science programs accept the GRE. Our GRE course covers Verbal and Quant in full, with adaptive practice tests and instant scoring.
A total of 500 is average among all test takers. Students who matriculate at U.S. MD programs average about 512, so 512 is a more realistic benchmark if medical school is the goal. A 515 sits at the 91st percentile and clears the median at a wide range of programs; a 520 is the 97th percentile and sits above the median at essentially all of them. But "good" only means anything relative to the schools on your list.
About 512 for U.S. MD programs in the 2025-2026 cycle, which is roughly the 84th percentile of all test takers. Applicants overall average about 506. DO programs matriculate students with lower averages, generally around 503. These figures are restated each year.
A 510 sits at roughly the 79th percentile — comfortably above average among test takers and close to the MD matriculant mean. It is a workable score for a broad range of programs, particularly when paired with a strong GPA and application, though it sits below the median at the most selective schools.
A 520 is at approximately the 97th percentile, which places it above the median at essentially every medical school in the country. At that level the MCAT stops being the limiting factor in an application.
The usual guidance is to retake only when you have concrete reason to expect a meaningful improvement — a score well below your practice average, an identifiable weak section, or a materially better preparation plan. Schools see every attempt, and a flat or lower retake can do more harm than the original score.
Both. Many schools screen on the total but also look for balance, because a profile like 132/122/130/126 raises a question about the weak section that an even 127/127/127/127 does not. Some programs set a minimum on individual sections as well as the total.