<p>
[quote]
What I still am not clear on is whether these scores included multiple scores from the one test-taker, or were the best score of each test-taker for that year.
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</p>
<p>That same question came up in some other thread I was reading last year, and another participant pointed to the part of the SAT National Report where it is said that all such reports are of the best single-sitting score for each individual student in that high school graduating class, without regard to what year the student took the test from ninth to twelfth grade. </p>
<p>My best guess for the reason that SAT math section scores are (again, as they once did) showing a lot of scores in the 750-800 range is that many children of first-generation immigrants from east Asia and south Asia get substantially better math instruction than many children of American-born parents, and such children grow up into being very good SAT math-section test-takers. Such children are more numerous in the relevant population of test-takers year by year. </p>
<p>But I'd have to check quite a few other facts to be sure that is the correct explanation, and I'm not sure whether all the facts I'd need to check are published in a readily available source.</p>
<p>"My best guess for the reason that SAT math section scores are (again, as they once did) showing a lot of scores in the 750-800 range is that many children of first-generation immigrants from east Asia and south Asia get substantially better math instruction than many children of American-born parents, and such children grow up into being very good SAT math-section test-takers. Such children are more numerous in the relevant population of test-takers year by year."</p>
<p>tokenadult,
Why did you exclude the Southeast Asia students like Vietnamese and Cambodia from your quote? Your quote was misled or something. If you visit East Side San Jose school district in California, where a lot of Southeast Asia people reside, you woud see, the Vietnamese and Cambodia names are all over the honor boards at the local high schools. Sometimes people even joked San Jose State University (Cal.public state u.) Engineering Department is "Nguyen" department because "Nguyen" is a common Vietnamame last name, and there are so many Nguyen on the rosters.</p>
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Why did you exclude the Southeast Asia students...
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<p>Geez, given Tokenadult a break. The definition of East Asia can include Southeast Asia.</p>
<p>Wikipedia:
[quote]
The following peoples or societies are commonly seen as being encompassed by cultural East Asia:[20][21][22][23]</p>
<pre><code>* Chinese society (including the predominantly Chinese regions outside China proper, such as Singapore and Taiwan)
* Japanese society
* Korean society
* Vietnamese society
</code></pre>
<p>Some consider the following countries or regions as part of East Asia, while others do not.[citation needed] Disagreements hinge on the difference between the cultural and geographic definitions of the term. Political perspective is also an important factor. In descending order in terms of the frequency with which they are described as East Asian:[citation needed]</p>
<pre><code>* The parts of China that are not historically dominated by Han Chinese: Qinghai, Tibet, Xinjiang (considered either East Asia or Central Asia or South Asia in the case of Tibet[24][25][26][27][28][29]here the primary question is cultural, with geography also at issue)
* Mongolia (considered either East Asia or Central Asiahere culture and/or geography may be at issue)
* Vietnam (considered either East Asia or Southeast Asiahere the primary question is geographic)
* Flag of Russia Russian Far East (considered either East Asia or North Asiahere the primary question is political, with culture and geography also at issue)
<p>
[quote]
A record-breaking number of more than 29,000 students have applied for spots in Harvard’s class of 2013, up about 5 percent from last year’s 27,462 applicants, the admissions office announced today. With an increase in applicants but the same number of spots available, this year’s admissions season is poised to be even more competitive than last year’s. </p>
<p>“The admission rate will undoubtedly be lower,” said Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 in a phone interview yesterday. “We only have about 1,660 places in the freshman class. We know the Houses are full to capacity and there are no places to put students in the Yard. As last year, we will be conservative in April and take more students from the waitlist in case there is a significant jump in the yield.” </p>
<p>Men make up 50.7 percent of applicants to the class of 2013 and women make up 49.3 percent. Applications have risen in greater Boston and the mid-Atlantic region, risen slightly in the South and West, and decreased slightly in the Northeast. </p>
<p>Other top universities expect an increase in applicants as well. The number of applications to Yale College is approaching 26,000, up from 22,817 applications last year, Dean of Admissions Jeff Brenzel told the Yale Daily News last week. Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania expect to report their applicant numbers later this week or early next week, according to deans of admission at both schools. The University of Virginia, who like Harvard eliminated early admission two years ago, received 21,750 applications, up 17 percent from last year, according to Senior Associate Dean of Admission Greg Roberts.
<p>I read about the theory why, and I totally agree with it.</p>
<p>Many yrs ago, the avg child applied to @5 -7 schools. The current student applies on the avg 10 to 15. The kids are doing it to themselves. However, at the same time enrollment and matriculation numbers have remained the same. So now the schools have more to pick from then they had historically. This is occurring everywhere including state universities not just the Ivies. If you look through many college threads, you will see kids asking to be chanced, and when you look at their stats and the school stats, you shake your head and wonder why they even tried...to say reach would be an understatement.</p>
<p>Ly our DS applied to UMD, NYU, UMiami, and Notre Dame...each and everyone had record breaking admission yrs. The highest was UMD with 28K for 4K spots. UMiami had the lowest acceptance rate...21K for 2K apps. Notre Dame had 14K for 1900 spots.</p>
<p>Heck, when I applied, most kids applied to 2 to 4 schools. Part of the problem is the common ap - makes it easier to apply to a whole pile of schools. I've heard of kids applying to all the Ivies + MIT/Stanford plus a few more.
Applications to state (aka affordable) schools are up too.
No telling right now what will happen in the spring - I won't want to be the one trying to figure out what my college's yield might be right now.</p>
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Many yrs ago, the avg child applied to @5 -7 schools. The current student applies on the avg 10 to 15.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>We must come from different parts of the country. I went to a (public) high school that is regarded highly and most students only applied to 3 or 4 schools (a couple of state schools + 1 or 2 OOS). The most ambitious person I knew applied to about 7 and maybe two were Ivies. I think this phenomenon isn't as prevalent in some areas.</p>
<p>That economist article is kind of poorly written. And i believe has mistakes. Granted a can't find any evidence in the form of numbers to support this claim, but they didnt have numbers either. </p>
<p>the article said : "These trends have profoundly altered the selection process in lower ranks. So-called “almost-Ivies” such as Bowdoin and Middlebury also saw record low admission rates this year (18% each). It is now as hard to get into Bowdoin, says the college's admissions director, as it was to get into Princeton in the 1970s. That has boosted the cachet of what used to be “safety schools” for Ivy-league rejects and the selectivity of universities even lower down the pecking-order—which, after all, educate most American undergraduates."</p>
<p>my only gripe with this is I have never heard Bowdoin or Middlebury referred to as "almost ivies" or as back up schools for the ivy league. Bowdoin and Middlebury are, by the numbers, just as hard to get into as some of the ivies. For example, the SAT ranges at Bowdoin and Midd are similar to those of Cornell, Columbia, Brown, and Penn. Numbers don't lie...so yes the average is about 10~20 points lower but that isnt anything big enough to consider Bowdoin or Midd safety schools by any stretch of the imagination. Also Bowdoin and Midd both have lower acceptance rates than Cornell, and Penn.
Does anyone know what the acceptance rate was for Princeton in like 1970? If it was similar to Yale, than that comparison was not a good in any stretch. Yale had an acceptance rate of around 30% acceptance.</p>
<p>I dont think that it is a sure bet for anyone anymore into the top LACs either. They don't have quite as high of number as the top ivies and they are pretty comparable to all the others. Also in admissions now a days you have to take into account things that go on outside of the classroom and beyond the numbers. This is just as important to admissions reps.
So I it is a comparison that cannot be made. Not to mention it is not supported by any evidence what so ever.</p>
<p>nemom: I agree with you that the Common App has made it possible to spam-apply to schools. But I'm not sure that is what drives the Ivy app numbers; at least not for schools like UPenn (their app is nightmarishly long with essays) and Brown (ditto) and Princeton (ditto). I think the fianancial meltdown has caused folks to essentially say "I'll pay $75 for a lotto ticket and if i win I can get an education at a good school for %10 of my parents' income". </p>
<p>Besides, Harvard just got 29000 x $75 = $2.2M in app fees alone. I'm not sure why they would be motivated to make applying more difficult.</p>