<p>Here is a very interesting article that talks about the Academic Index. Basically, it is a score (out of 240) that ranks your academic performance from high school to be used in consideration for admission at Ivy League universities. I thought it would be interesting for people to post their Academic Indices (you can calculate them via this link) rather than just SAT/ACT Scores.</p>
<p>My Academic Index is 218, which is a rank 6 out of 9.</p>
<p>203, 4 out of 9.</p>
<p>The problem is that it's not really reliable. For example, put in any numbers you want, and select Top 10%. Changing that to the top GPA increases your AI significantly, even though Top 10% is the best option you can enter for deciles. Even changing the GPA to more modest 3.80-3.89 STILL results in an AI higher than if you chose Top 10%.</p>
<p>When I put in my SAT scores with Top 10%, it tells me 6 out of 9. If I change that to a correlating GPA, say, 3.9, Suddenly I'm an 8 out of 9. </p>
<p>It's just not reliable.</p>
<p>AI puts a huge premium on top performance (rank # 1 or 2) in a big class.
See the book " A is for admission" for details.
This is why it looks unreliable to you.</p>
<p>237 but this is not reliable at all...</p>
<p>Are you guys using your Writing score in one of the SAT II spots?
That's what I did.</p>
<p>Does this thing weight SAT I and SAT II scores equally?</p>
<p>And yeah, the decile thing is stupid... They should have like, Top 5% as a choice or something.</p>
<p>Yes, it does weigh all the SATs equally.
My son's AI is 238 and I'd access his chances at the top schools as 1:3, meaning one admission from 3 applications.</p>
<p>I'm a 239 (missed 10 out of 4000 SAT points). That means I should be super competitive at every Ivy, but you can bet I'm far from getting in..</p>
<p>Yes, my son will be also a recruited athlete most likely :)</p>
<p>Did you guys use your Writing scores as one of the SAT IIs?</p>
<p>SAT I Writing Score != SAT II Writing Score</p>
<p>...according to the CollegeBoard</p>
<p>227 [8 out of 9] here, I didn't use my writing score b/c my three SAT II's were way better, so...</p>
<p>julyinoh - to get a 239, you must be #1 in your class?</p>
<p>does numbers really matter that much?</p>
<p>does going to an ivy matter that much?</p>
<p>I would love to go to college but I think Ivy league obession is like obessission with celebrities- their lives and bodies.</p>
<p>AI sounds like a$$hole incorporated (sp).</p>
<p>yup!</p>
<p>but AI is a horrible indicator of acceptance/rejection..</p>
<p>my school doesn't rank THANK GOD</p>
<p>Yeah AI tends to vary enough, and from what I hear it's pretty much a dead practice brought up to intimidate people who's number aren't exactly there, and when I say there I mean 2300+ score of vals and sals, but oh well, AI really can't tell you of your chances so don't really bother looking into it. As to going to an Ivy or really any elite college I think it's a mix of pride, success, and academics that are related to going to such a prestigious school that draws so many applicants, but opinions are opinions.</p>
<p>I don't understand why anyone would be happy that their school doesn't rank. Lack of rank makes it harder for colleges to see how you really stack up against your peers. Also, refusing to provide ranks screws the top students who really deserve recognition... in a class of 400, the valedictorian has the same apparent rank as #40 in the class: Top 10%</p>
<p>Nonetheless, if you work under a decile system, or at least this holds true to my school, the decile interval are shown [i.e. Top 10%: 4.639-4.219], such that they will always tell who is ranked number one in the class as well as who is apparently near the top, though obviously those ranked somewhere in the top 5% tend to be hurt the most, though I guess it would vary from school to school.</p>
<p>Schools have a misguided intention in refusing to provide a rank. They feel that providing a rank will hurt otherwise good students who are not near the very top. These schools feel that the absence of an exact rank will make all of the top percentile students look better to colleges. While this may be the case, it can only hurt in that even more students will be considered for limited spaces in competitive universities, resulting in even lower acceptance rates.</p>