<p>While I think collegekid slightly exagerrated, I think it's obvious that URM's are accepted with lower test scores. Being a premed, I was looking at applicant profiles of people accepted to top med schools. Almost all of the applicants accepted with sub30 MCAT scores were URM's. While I think 1250 is stretching it a little, from what I've seen, 1300-1400 is a very competitive score for a URM to top schools like Harvard or Yale. That's what ultimately the OP was asking. Of course the way the question was phrased would inevitably lead to an AA debate.</p>
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Does anyone else feel that GPA and SAT score are over glorified by the cc audience, and rigor of courses with context of the high school and area, extracurricular activities, and essays, amongst other things, are largely ignored?
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<p>Yes. Honestly, though, that's because it's easier to list those things when everyone's asking "What are my changes for HYP?". It's also easier to list those things in debates like this one because they're actual numbers that let people think they're making one-to-one comparisons when they really aren't.</p>
<p>It is often said that being a URM is equivalent to adding 200 points to your SAT score, but it isn't that simple. Colleges are trying to have freshman classes that mirror society as a whole. As such, they want to have students from different categories of society. When you apply, you compete against applicants within your own category. URM's statistically have lower SAT scores (I certainly hope nobody is so far out of it that they would argue with this!), and so the competition within the URM category is easier at least in terms of SAT scores.</p>
<p>There does need to be some realization of this on CC because some people are saying that they know people with 1250's getting into Duke. A reasonably strong candidate at Duke must have an SAT score of 1450/1600 unless they are a URM or have some unbelievably strong hook. That isn't to say that someone without the hook can not be accepted with a SAT less than 1450, but it would be a reach school.</p>
<p>People should not interpret some people saying that you can get into Duke with a 1250/1600 as meaning they only need a 1250 for Duke. Certainly, the EC's, essay, and recs are important, but a non-URM without a very strong hook needs a 1450 in order for Duke to be a match school. If you apply with less than a 1450, then good, but it is a reach school.</p>