<p>Here is a page from U penn's website I found and am continuing to find very interesting. I feel like I'm looking behind the curtain for a little peek. If anybody knows how to access this info at other top schools please post a link.</p>
<p>Class Ranking
Valedictorian 47%
Salutatorian 35%
Other Top Five Percent 24%
Second Five Percent 11%
Total Top Decile 26%
Second Decile 6%
Second Quintile 4%
Third Quintile 4%
Fourth Quintile 0%
Fifth Quintile 0%
No Rank 22%
Incomplete Information 0% </p>
<p>A number of schools will make public that info in the coming months. Every data set I see says the same thing: for all the focus on SAT scores...which you can still control as a hs junior/senior...class rank has an extremely heavy influence on admissions, more than is generally conceded in discussion. Top 5 percent is so much better than the commonly used Top 10 percent mantra and being a val or sal, which in many systems is subject to so many vagaries, really does up your odds.<br>
That said, I'd be mortally embarrassed to carry on the way some folks do about how X, Y, or Z cost them or their S/D Val/Sal status.</p>
<p>Even tho I know this already "intellectually," it is still startling to see the small % of admits with SAT scores 750 - 800. Also amazing that only 47% of valedictorians were admitted. And this is one of the "easier" ones to get into! LOL</p>
<p>For $15 you can also get this same info. from the US News & World Reports premium edition of America's best colleges.</p>
<p>And, a search for "common data set" on individual college websites will also turn it up on many, but not all, college sites.</p>
<p>But the IPEDS site is the quickest and most comprehensive way to get the information. They also have valuable info. about each school's financial aid, the number of degrees awarded by major, etc.</p>
<p>As always we wonder what the admit rate for combined scores would be - any school give data on the admit rate for
1550+
1500-1550
1450-1500 yada, yada</p>
<p>carolyn, where do you see the detail on what % of applicants were accepted that were vals or sals or the info on what the acceptance percentage was for 700-750 verbal scorers? I can't seem to get that info off USNEWS or the link you posted. It's probably me, but I can't get it to work.</p>
<p>NJres, I keep staring at those Penn scores and seeing that less than 1 in 3 of those super high, top 1 % scorers on the SAT were admitted. But as bad as that is , that 1 in 4 for for kids scoring over 700 but below 750 is really eye opening. Moreso than just seeing the lumped together SAT stats, this really sends the message home. I think I had adopted an attitude "if she gets over 700 she's just as competitive as everybody else" , even at the top ten schools. I don't believe that is borne out by the numbers presented here.</p>
<p>Curmudgeon - I believe that if all the kids had to offer were grades and scores what you say would be true. But I think you have to allow for the infamous hooks, the infamous rounding out a class, the infamous or not so infamous "my kid wrote a fabulous essay." So she isn't as competitive on grades and scores but look at all the great grades and scores who don't get in. Probably she is a shade less competitive but someone said somewhere that 1450-1550 is all one pod and it's only the 1550s and above that cause the scores to make the difference.</p>
<p>Curmudgeon, You have to remember that some of the students who scored in the 700s on one part of the SAT may have very low scores, much lower than your daughter's, on the other part. And some of the valedictorians may come from schools where grades are not weighted or whatever and have very weak SATs. I know your D is high in her class AND has good scores, so her chances are pretty higher than someone who is high in only one of these categories.</p>
<p>alu (and now, motheroftwo. LOL), I'm not at all depressed about D's scores or chances. Actually D just came home happy after thinking about it today. She says, hey-I'll take the June test, see if I can ace the math, try to get a handle on the writing and hope CR doesn't get too embarrassing.</p>
<p>I'm looking at it from a distance and in awe. Kind of like a trainwreck.</p>
<p>From looking at a three years of acceptance/rejection, I agree that hitting 1550 seems to be significant...not that it helped my D with her HYS reaches.</p>
<p>'mudge, I had the same initial reaction as you did when my D turned in a 1400 on her first SAT. "She's done." Then I read this board. Oops.</p>
<p>However, I agree with MoT and Alum, scores are not definitive. From everything I know about your D, while increased scores wouldn't hurt, she's "in the game" with scores passed the threshhold for serious consideration and otherwise looking very good.</p>
<p>I think she should look for schools that appeal to her and her wants/needs and, if some of them are HYPSy kind of reaches, so be it. I think she <em>can</em> get in <em>anywhere</em>. Whether she will or not is another question, one that can be answered in any way except the expressed verdict of the adcoms.</p>
<p>When looking at these stats, keep in mind that high SATs and underperforming class rank is the ultimate kiss of death in elite college admissions.</p>
<p>In a lot of cases, the "here are my stats, what are my chances?" threads and the "surprising" waitlists conveniently neglect to mention a key piece of the puzzle.</p>