Final answer:
The 32nd percentile score on the MCAT means you did better than 32% of test-takers, not that you answered 32% of the questions correctly or that 32% of people scored higher than you.
Step-by-step explanation:
If you took the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and your score is at the 32nd percentile, the correct interpretation of this result is option D) You scored as high as or higher than 32% of the people who took the exam. This means that you did better than 32% of test-takers, not that 32% scored higher than you. On the other hand, it indicates that 68% of the test-takers scored higher than you did. A higher percentile would indicate a higher relative performance on the test.
For example, if the 70th percentile for a 20-question math test was 16 correct answers, it means that 70% of students answered 16 or fewer questions correctly. In this context, being in the 70th percentile is desirable because it means you've answered a significant number of questions correctly, compared to your peers.
When it comes to evaluation tests like the SAT, colleges can use percentiles to set acceptance standards based on scores. For instance, if a university like Duke admits students with SAT scores at or above the 75th percentile, this implies these students have performed better than at least 75% of the test-takers, hitting a minimum score of, say, 1220.
The understanding of percentiles is pivotal in assessing performance because they provide a relative comparison of your results with others. For example, if a student's daughter is in the 80th percentile for math, she has scored better than 80% of her peers, placing her in a high-performance group, known as the upper quartile.