<p>Do colleges really care where you fall within the 99th percentile range? In other words, do they see a 32 (or whichever the 99th percentile mark is) as being so much lower than a 36? On these boards, I often read that a 31 or a 32 is a low score for someone applying to, say, the University of Chicago for which the middle 50% range is 28-32.</p>
<p>I see them as</p>
<p>32
33-34
35-36</p>
<p>In that sense...</p>
<p>Considering that less than 20% of those in the 99th percentile get 35-36 I think they do consider it a difference, although a 32 is already a good score...</p>
<p>Are the 35/36ers necessarily going to do better in college than people who got a 32? and that is why they make this distinction?</p>
<p>I honestly don't think that any standardized test will predict how well you do in college. I know that ETS loves to tell you that the SAT will predict your freshman grades but frankly they won't. I had a sister for example that scored a 1030 the first time through on the SAT and than a 1080 the second time she took it. She graduated from college with a B.S. and close to a 4.0. She also scored a near perfect on the MCAT and is now going to one of the most competitive medical schools on the west coast. Besides measuring how well you are able to think on a Saturday morning standardized tests measure absolutley nothing.</p>
<p>The College Board does not claim the SAT can predict freshman grades. It claims basically that the SAT when combined with the GPA can be a fairly accurate predictor of whether the applicant will get at least C grades in freshman year, i.e, will pass. The ACT claims the same. Studies have shown that there is little difference in the mean and median GPA of college graduates who scored in the 1400 to 1500 SAT range (old test) in comparison to those who scored 300 points less.</p>
<p>The fact that you have a 35 ACT rather than a 32 does not mean the 35 is going to do better in college. However, colleges consider the differences in making what are otherwise subjective decisions for admission and thus they will consider a 35 to be somewhat better than a 32. Nevertheless, a 32 is a very high score and in the middle 50% range of even the highly selective colleges. Admissions are not an exact science and are not even good science. Colleges are just using a method they trust which in the past has proven successful for the purpose of admitting mostly students who get through the college. Colleges readily admit that many people who later prove to be highly successful and highly intelligent are among those who may be rejected under the admissions methods used.</p>