If you’re in the 25 and 75 percentile for SAT scores…does that mean that you have a good chance, or a really good chance? I know there are other factors, but de facto. Also, are the average GPAs unweighted, I assume?
<p>It depends on the school, and how many applicants they have versus their spaces and yield. At top colleges that take as few as one in 10 students, and also have 75% or more of their accepted students attend, being in the 25th to 75th percentile is no guarantee of admissions. Heck, being in the 90th percentile doesn't guarantee admissions at such colleges.</p>
<p>At places that are not as competitive as Ivies and similar schools, being above the 75th percentile typically means that one can use the school as a safety. Being within the 25th-75th percentile, particularly at the high end of this, means one is a match, but even then, one shouldn't count on admission.</p>
<p>Many colleges recalculate gpas. They may give additional weight to honors, AP and/or IB classes. They may not calculate into gpa classes like health and phys ed. Often colleges' web sites explain how they recalculate gpas.</p>
<p>If you're white or asian, not an athlete or legacy, and the school is a very selective one, you want to be as close as you can to the 75% for a real chance.</p>
<p>There is a huge difference in admission chances between being at the top of the 50% range and at the bottom. An unhooked applicant needs to be at the 75% mark for the school to be about a match, and at the 50% mark for the school to be a reach. Hooked applicants (URM, legagy, athletes, development cases, VIP's) and ED applicants can afford to be lower.</p>
<p>The 50% SAT range represents the statistical distribution for SAT scores for the students who were accepted in a previous year. This is not a straight forward indicator for an applicants chances for admissions. Imagine if I said that 50% of the people going into a restaurant on last Saturday night were between 59 and 61 in height. Could I then say that because my brother is 510 tall, then there is a certain percent chance that they ate at that restaurant last Saturday. There is really no direct way to go from the 50% SAT range to your chance of admission. It isnt just that other factors are considered besides SAT scores, it is that it inherently doesnt work at the extremely selective colleges. For you to calculate your chances based on your SAT score, you would need the SAT range for the applicants and NOT the accepted students. That information is not available, and it wouldnt help even if it was. The number of applicants having any specified SAT score at the extremely selective college far exceeds the number of open slots. The statement about an unhooked applicant needing to be at the 75% mark for a match and at the 50% mark for a reach is empirically based.</p>