MAT score of 402 – is that competitive for clinical psychology master's programs?
I just got my MAT results back – 402 scaled score, which puts me around the 57th percentile. I'm applying to clinical psychology doctoral programs and a few master's in counseling. Most programs I'm targeting don't list a specific MAT cutoff, so I'm having trouble gauging whether this score is going to hurt me.
My undergrad GPA is 3.7 and I have 18 months of research experience in a cognitive psych lab. I chose the Miller Analogies Test over the GRE because my spatial reasoning scores on practice tests were consistently weak. With the MAT, I felt like my verbal and conceptual reasoning played more to my strengths. Still, 57th percentile feels middling for competitive programs.
I'm debating a retake in 6 weeks before applications go in. My first prep was minimal – about 3 hours total, mostly just familiarizing myself with the format. With 4 weeks of structured study at 90 minutes a day I think I could realistically improve 15-20 points. Would a 415-420 meaningfully change my profile, or is that time better spent on my personal statement and research description?
I got into two clinical psych master's programs with a 398. Both had average admitted student MAT scores listed between 390-410. 402 is likely fine for those tiers. If you're targeting programs with higher averages, retake. Otherwise the marginal gain probably isn't worth it.
At 3.7 GPA and 18 months of research experience, your profile is already reasonably competitive for master's programs. Clinical psych doctoral admissions are brutal regardless of test scores – personal statement and research fit matter far more than whether your MAT is 402 versus 420.
Spend those 6 weeks on your statement.
3 hours of prep for a standardized exam is almost nothing. If you do retake it, you'd likely see a real jump with structured practice – the analogy categories have patterns that become obvious after enough exposure. Whether that jump matters for your specific programs is the real question to answer first.
Look up the average MAT scores for the specific programs you're applying to. Most publish this data or will share it if you ask. If you're at or above average for your target schools, don't retake. If you're below average for three or more of your targets, the 6 weeks might be worth it.