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<p>I often have trouble with what numbers mean too.</p>
<p>If Harvard didn’t have any supplement application this year, a lot more people could apply and their acceptance rate could be 1%. Does that mean that it’s hard to get in this year? Probably not.</p>
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<p>Isn’t the average the total of the scores divided by the number of test takers, and the “mean” is the number at which there is an equal number of scores above and below? They may be somewhat close, but they would be different numbers. </p>
<p>I wonder if the bleak job prospects for high school graduates is making college look more appealing. Also, the surge in SAT test takers will probably translate to significant drops in apparent acceptance rates at popular campuses.</p>
<p>The average is the mean.
The median is the number at which there is an equal number of scores above and below.</p>
<p>^^^
Thank you! And now it’s obvious why I don’t help with math homework…</p>
<p>It’s a common mistake.</p>
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<p>The scores are designed to reflect comparable skills: a 600 in one year represents the same level of ability as a 600 in another year even though the tests taken were different. On the other hand, a reading score of 600 could be the 80th percentile one year and, say, the 75th percentile the next year but in practice the percentiles don’t change very much (example: 2009 CR score 600 = 79th, 2010 CR score 600 = 80th).</p>