Bucknell's admission raises questions

[bovertine]

<p>

I think many parents and applicants use average SAT scores, or percentile ranges, as rough guides to decide whether to investigate further, or to decide if a school’s a reach or a safety. Many online college search tools allow users to set SAT/ACT parameters for the search.

I’m posing sort of a nitpicky question.</p>

<p>I could be wrong, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen the “average” test scores on the US News site (only the 25th and 75% scores). It’s obviously possible to have the same average scores and very different 25th and 75th percentiles. I was wondering how inflating the average would benefit the schools in the rankings, as opposed to inflating say the 25th or 75th percentile level. </p>

<p>But according to this,
[Methodology:</a> Undergraduate Ranking Criteria and Weights - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2012/09/11/methodology-undergraduate-ranking-criteria-and-weights-2]Methodology:”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2012/09/11/methodology-undergraduate-ranking-criteria-and-weights-2)</p>

<p>

The measures fall into seven broad categories: peer assessment; graduation and retention rates; faculty resources (class size, for example); student selectivity (for example, average admissions test scores of incoming students);

</p>

<p>it seems US News does use the “average” when determining selectivity, not the 25th to 75th range. So I can see why “average” matters.</p>