Methodology

Your CAA Readiness Index (CRI) score will be a number from 0 to 100. It tells you one thing: out of accepted applicants that shared comparable data with us, what percent had a lower combined academic score?

A 75 would place your combined academic profile at the 75th percentile of accepted profiles with comparable data within our reference database. However, this does not equate to a 75% chance of acceptance. These are two very different things. This page explains why.

1. The formula

Your score is built in three steps.

• Step 1. We standardize your grades in relation to accepted reference data. We convert your test percentile to a standardized value prior to combining it with your GPA.
• Step 2. We average your GPAs together into one grade value. Then we average your single grade value against your test value. Both values count equally in the final calculation.
• Step 3. We rank your single composite against comparable accepted student profiles. The percent of accepted students with lower composite values, rounded to a whole number, will become your CRI score.

Below are the formulas used in the CRI calculations, which use z-score methodology. Raw MCAT or GRE scores are never directly averaged with GPA in the calculation.

1.1 Three-component formula (no Post-Bacc GPA)

gpa_z       = (cgpa_z + sgpa_z) / 2
composite_z = (gpa_z + test_z) / 2
CRI score   = percentile rank of composite_z

1.2 Four-component formula (with Post-Bacc GPA)

When using a Post-Bacc GPA we use all three of your GPAs when creating the average for step two. Test still counts as half of the final calculation:

gpa_z       = (cgpa_z + sgpa_z + postbacc_z) / 3
composite_z = (gpa_z + test_z) / 2

Either way: GPA contributes 50%, test contributes 50%.

We compare each number only within its own group. Your cumulative GPA is compared against cumulative GPAs from accepted students. If you took MCAT your MCAT score is compared to accepted students who also took MCAT and if you took GRE your GRE score is compared to accepted students that also took GRE. We never compare an MCAT score to a GRE score because they are measured on completely different scales.

Your combined score will be ranked solely versus other profiles which are also based on enough comparable data. Enough variability within the reference values for the Post-Bacc path and enough complete profiles need to exist. Otherwise, the method utilizes the three-component formula.

2. Why grades and test count the same

There were many considerations when deciding how much your grades would weigh versus your test scores. There was consistent evidence from two different datasets. Grades and tests should both weigh the same amount.

2.1 Public medical school data

There is no publicly available dataset which shows the CAA acceptance rates for GPA and test scores. The closest information available is AAMC Table A-23, which provides GPA and test score acceptance rates for U.S. medical schools (not CAA programs). This data runs over the 2023–2024 through 2025–2026 school years, and comes from the AAMC’s 2025 FACTS report.

Table A-23 clearly indicates that both GPA and test scores are very important factors for acceptance into a medical school. When sorted by MCAT score, acceptance rates vary from 0.6% to 79.9%. When sorted by GPA, acceptance rates vary from 2.3% to 63.7%. While the spread is wider for MCAT scores, neither factor acted alone as an entry point. No information provided by either Table A-23 or our analysis indicated that grades should carry more weight than the test; therefore, both grades and test scores were given equal consideration.

2.2 Our own accepted-student data

We analyzed the accepted student data in three ways. These analyses require comparable reported metrics; the per-metric counts listed below are not the sample sizes used for these analyses.

• Do good grades come with good test scores? While the correlation was relatively weak (r ≈ +0.07 to r ≈ +0.17) between overall GPA and overall test scores, many programs tend to admit individuals who have better grades than they have test scores; similarly many programs will admit individuals whose test scores are better than their grades.
• Which is the safer thing to be strong in? It does not appear to be safer to be either extremely well-qualified in terms of grades or extremely well qualified in terms of test scores. The frequency of students admitted with very high grades and somewhat lower test scores appears to be approximately equal to the frequency of students admitted with very high test scores and somewhat lower grades.
• How much does one make up for the other? One may approximate that both factors seem to “make up” for each other by the same amount. This means that if your science GPA is low, the test score you need to make up for it will likely be the same as the science GPA you would need to make up for a low test score. Similarly, while there seems to be some slight advantage to having a high cumulative GPA, the difference is minimal.

Based on these findings, CRI chose to use a 50/50 weight when determining an applicant's combined score. These studies do not provide information regarding how individual CAA programs weigh grade performance versus test performance, nor anything else in an applicant's file.

3. What your score is not

• Your chances of being admitted are not represented by your score. An 80 does not represent an 80% admission rate. Rather, your score represents approximately where you fall within the top 20% (the 80th percentile) of comparable accepted profiles as found in our database. As we do not know the acceptance/rejection status of all applicants, we can not determine true admissions rates based on our sample.
• A high score does not necessarily indicate you will be accepted at a specific school. Also, a low score does not automatically eliminate you. All schools require different criteria for consideration.
• Your numbers are just ONE component of your overall application. Other components include your experience hours, letters of recommendation, your personal statement and your interview. Your score does not account for these other factors.

4. When your score can mislead you

An outstanding test score alone may mask a poor academic performance in science. Combining both scores averages them; thereby reporting a respectable looking score while masking the issue - since your score reports only an average, and never the disparity.

Therefore, we alert you to this possibility. Whenever any one value in your set falls near the low end of what accepted students' reported values were, there is a “Warning” icon beside that value on your results page indicating that your remaining values support your score. Please heed this warning. The reviewer of your application will only see the low value associated with that measure, and not the average.

5. Limits of our data

• Participation was voluntary. Our data consists of accepted students who elected to disclose their statistics. Therefore, accepted students participating in our study may not serve as a representative sample of all students who received acceptance offers from schools.
• More data points exist for some measures than others. Below, we list the number of accepted students that disclosed each statistic.
• Additionally, when a sufficient number of Post-Bacc profiles exists that contain all four required elements to produce a four-component CRI score, we use this formula. Otherwise, we revert to the three-component formula.
• All statements made regarding how programs weigh various factors are derived from accepted students' profiles plus publicly available information concerning U.S. medical schools and not CAA programs.

6. The short version

You should NOT interpret your score as a predictive tool. Rather, you can consider your score as an indicator of where you fall within the group of applicants who were accepted. Your score also provides you with a basis for deciding whether or not to spend additional effort improving your GPA or your test scores prior to applying.

Do not place too much emphasis on the actual numerical value of your score. What matters far more than what your score represents numerically, is whether your academic profile is either balanced or unbalanced. Every aspect of your profile that this score cannot see (experience, letter writers etc.), has far greater impact than what can be represented through your score.

Questions or feedback

If something here does not make sense, or you want to dig into why we made a particular choice, email us at team@criscore.org.