Determining Academic Index Score for Athletes

<p>I know there used to be an Academic Index Score for recruited athletes that was a mix of class rank, SAT Is and SAT IIs. But now with the ACT replacing both SAT I and SAT II at several ivies, as well as more high schools that do not rank, do schools (ivies) still use the Academic Index? If so, how is the score determined with the ACT and no class rank?</p>

<p>Yes, the AI is alive and well in the Ivy League, and the SAT I is still used (M+CR) There is a conversion for ACT composite, a 36 comp would equate to a 1600 SAT, a 32 would be a 1420, etc. Without a class rank, the GPA is used for 1/3 of the AI score - a 4.3 (on a 4.0scale) = 80 AI points, a 3.6 would = 70 points. There are some AI calculators online.</p>

<p>thank you! It looks like the SAT/ACT concordance table is used. What is considered a solid AI for a potential Ivy athlete?</p>

<p>In my experience, different schools calculate the AI differently. My daughter was given different AIs by two different schools. Using the online calculators yielded a completely different number. The difference was significant, 16 points. Also, the AI can be manipulated by using/not using rank. My daughter was ranked 10/459, but her AI was higher using just her GPA. Just saying that it is not as cut and dry as people like to think.</p>

<p>Fishymom’s right, calculating AI with GPA generally gives a higher number than using class rank. (A 3.6 GPA usually isn’t a top 5% rank, but the points are similar) As far as what is solid for a potential athlete, that’s going to vary by school and sport but 200+ is pretty safe.</p>

<p>so I assume you drop the zero from the CR and M SAT (or concorded ACT) and add the GPA points.
thanks! this is so helpful.</p>

<p>It’s actually 1/3 SAT I, 1/3 SAT II subj tests and 1/3 rank/GPA. Max AI is 240, so a 1600 SAT (or 36ACT) = 80 AI pts, plus your 2 best subj tests (add and divide by 20) and rank/GPA points.</p>

<p>or ACT with writing counts 2/3 and gpa or class rank 1/3.</p>

<p>Schools can add 5 points for a rigorous course load and another 5 points for a very competitive school. </p>

<p>Also, there are different conversion tables for SAT/ACT because a 35 on the ACT is a higher percentile than a 1560 on the SAT; so, for example, a 35 on the ACT English subscore is equated to an 800 on the SAT writing.</p>

<p>I read that on one website ,but couldn’t find any confirmation for it. Can they really add those points for competitive school and stuff? Like you know for sure.</p>

<p>Just wondering, but do they factor in both your SAT and ACT or just the one that you did better on?</p>

<p>They can convert your ACT to an SAT equivalent.</p>

<p>can anyone confirm if this is a weighted gpa or unweighted gpa to use when figuring out the AI</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA is used for the AI.</p>

<p>If weighted is available, your GPA will evaluated based on a scale with a 4.3 or higher earning 80 AI points.</p>

<p>Does anyone else see the inequity of a 4.3 GPA being seen as equivalent to being Valedictorian (#1 in your class = 80 AI points)? It’s really, really hard to be #1 in your class. My son currently stands to get 74 AI points for his class rank/size, but could have a (slightly) lower GPA and still beat a 4.3.</p>

<p>And since his school DOES report class rank, he doesn’t have the option of picking up the extra 6 points.</p>

<p>My D, same thing. Would be 80 points for GPA but has a lower AI because the school ranks and she’s top 3%…but the difference between the top 3% in GPA’s is minute (say, #10 at 4.47 vs. #1 at 4.56). I am not too concerned about the loss of 6 points or so based on methodology…from what I am reading an AI above 200 is good enough in many cases.</p>

<p>so how do u calculate the gpa for the AI scale. Is it +.5 for an Honors course and +1 for an AP course. You can’t have an unweighted gpa over 4.0 right?</p>

<p>Our high school gives a +10 point boost–on a 100 point grading scale–to honors/AP/IB (yes, we offer AP and IB, and have the school taxes to show for it!). The honors courses are advanced tracks for those 9th and 10th grade classes that lead to AP/IB in 11th and 12th grade. Then the school reports anything over a 97 weighted (!) as 4.3. That’s the highest they’ll report. Which in itself is kind of crazy. You could get a 97 and do a HECK of a lot less work than you’d have to do to get a 103, but the GPA is the same. However, the class rank would be a lot different. That’s why, with the ridiculous grade inflation in today’s schools (including that from which my kid benefits), class rank, combined with a qualitative take on the quality and competitiveness of the school, tells you a lot more about a student’s academic performance. Vs. the Lake Wobegon world where “all the children are above average”.</p>

<p>The Search function for this board offers a great window to past discussions on many of topics that keep coming up.</p>

<p>There was a very rich discussion on the calculation of the AI a while back on this thread.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/918333-ai-gpa.html?highlight=gpa+ai+conversion[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/918333-ai-gpa.html?highlight=gpa+ai+conversion&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The link below goes to table from an outfit called Academic Recruits.com that offers up the relative AI points assigned for GPAs that are weighted or unweighted.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.academicrecruits.com/crs%20final.pdf[/url]”>http://www.academicrecruits.com/crs%20final.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;