Our students have often asked us:
If you’ve scored 506 on a practice or official MCAT exam, or are thinking of making 506 your goal MCAT score, below is an objective analysis and recommendation on how to move forward.
Is 506 a Bad MCAT Score?
A 506 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 506, congratulations, you are no longer in the bottom 50th percentile on the MCAT!
The MCAT score calculator turns your raw answers on the free AAMC unscored sample test into a scaled score, so you can see how close to 506 you are right now. It links to the test if you have not taken it.
*AAMC MCAT Data for 2026 to 2027
Every percentile on this page comes from the AAMC's percentile ranks in effect May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027, which combine all MCAT results from the 2023, 2024 and 2025 testing years. The mean total score across those exams is 500.6. The matriculant averages come from AAMC FACTS Table A-16, which covers the class that entered medical school in fall 2025.
MCAT Score Percentile Conversion
Find your score in the AAMC table below. Each rank is the percentage of test takers who scored at or below that score.
Consider the Distribution of 506 MCAT Score | How Does MCAT Scoring Work?
Another factor in determining if 506 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 506, a balanced distribution would be 127, 127, 126, and 126. 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 506 a Good MCAT Score?
If you scored a 506 on the MCAT, this means you placed at the 67th percentile according to most recent AAMC statistics, and are 5 points away from a competitive 511.
Therefore, if aiming to maximize chances of admission into most North American medical schools, a 506 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 506 is a good or bad MCAT score for your unique situation. Below we’ll look further into that factor.
Which schools does a 506 reach? Add the schools on your list to our MCAT target score tool and it works out the total your list asks for, the section split that gets you there, and how far a 506 leaves you from each school.
Can I Get Into Medical School With A 506 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 506 is quite close to the average MCAT score of a 501, it’s not very competitive for med-school admission. With a 506, 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 506 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. The average matriculant scored 512.1 with a 3.81 GPA in 2025-2026, according to AAMC FACTS Table A-16.
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 506?
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 506.
Seeing how a 506 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 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 506 a Good MCAT Score?
Can You Score Lower than 506 on the MCAT?
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