Our students have often asked us:
If you’ve scored 503 on a practice or real MCAT exam, or are thinking of making 503 your goal MCAT score, below is an objective analysis and recommendation on how to move forward.
Is 503 a Bad MCAT Score?
A 503 on the MCAT is an above-average MCAT score. According to recent AAMC stats:
If you started with a below-501 score on the MCAT and have scored a 503, congratulations, you are no longer in the bottom 50th percentile on the MCAT!
*2024 AAMC MCAT Score Statistics Data:
MCAT Score Percentile Conversion
For your reference, below is a chart converting MCAT scores to percentiles.
Consider the Distribution of 503 MCAT Score | How Does MCAT Scoring Work?
Another factor in determining if 502 is a good MCAT score is the score’s distribution among the four sections:
Each section has a score range from 118 to 132.
A balanced MCAT score is always preferred.
For a 503, a balanced distribution would be 126, 126, 126, and 125. Or individual section scores very close to those numbers.
Any section score that is much lower than the other sections acts as a red flag for medical school admission committees.
Also, the MCAT uses a scaled scoring system. It is not graded on a curve, so it doesn’t matter when you take the exam and who takes it with you.
More details are in the following articles:
Is 503 a Good MCAT Score?
If you scored a 503 on the MCAT, this means you performed in the 57th percentile according to most recent AAMC statistics, and are 8 points away from a competitive 511.
Therefore, if aiming to maximize chances of admission into most North American medical schools, a 503 is not the best score as most applicants will be scoring around this mark.
Without knowing which medical school(s) you’re applying to, it’s difficult to determine if a 503 is truly a good or bad MCAT score for your unique situation. Below we’ll look further into that factor.
Can I Get Into Medical School With A 503 MCAT Score?
Medical schools have different minimum score requirements for students based on being in-state, out-of-state, in particular programs, socioeconomic backgrounds, and more.
Considering that a 503 is quite close to the average MCAT score of a 501, it’s not very competitive for med-school admission. With a 503, you might make some med-school score cutoffs, but the rest of your application needs to be very competitive to make you a viable candidate for most med-schools.
Once you know which medical schools you aim to get into, you’ll better understand whether a 503 will get you accepted.
You will need to go to your target medical school’s website and see their MCAT score cutoffs and average MCAT scores for matriculants.
To make your search a little easier, in the articles below, you’ll find lists of the top medical schools in the US and Canada and their average MCAT scores:
What Is A Good MCAT Score?
According to recent AAMC data, a score above 501 will put you in the above-average category of testers.
A score above 511 will make your application competitive, as that is the average MCAT score of matriculants over the last few years.
That said, a good MCAT score depends on several factors, including your target med-school and the score distribution among the MCAT sections.
For example, some medical schools automatically accept students from specific programs if they hit certain scores.
Additional reading:
Should I Retake The MCAT If My Score Is 503?
If you want to maximize your chances of achieving medical school acceptance, and if your overall application is not strong, we recommend you retake the MCAT if your score is 503.
Seeing how a 503 on the MCAT is very close to the average MCAT score, it will be in your best interest to improve your score, as most medical schools seek students with above-average credentials.
Passing the 50 percentile mark on the MCAT means improving your score will no longer be about learning the content, it’ll be about testing strategy.
Once you learn how to apply the right strategies to take a test like the MCAT, and are scoring 501+, scores increase very fast.
We know because many of us on The MedLife Mastery Team are retakers and really struggled to improve our MCAT scores until we started applying the right strategy.
Today we all have 515+ scores, and we’ve helped hundreds of students with improving their scores as well.
So we know you can improve your MCAT score with the right strategies and guidance
To get you started with improving your MCAT score, we’ve created a lot of free resources on this website to help you with your MCAT strategy.
MCAT Mastery Free Strategy Crash Course
Additional Reading:
Additional FAQ - Is 503 a Good MCAT Score?
Can You Score Lower than 503 on the MCAT?
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- Is 500 a Good MCAT Score?
- Is 501 a Good MCAT Score?
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- Is 504 a Good MCAT Score?
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