<p>RELEVANT QUOTES:
"The other 250 can have any scores whatsoever -- theoretically it doesn't make much difference whether it is score of 650 or 500 -- although of course the ad coms are going to use some common sense and not accept a student whose scores are so low that they can't do the work."</p>
<p>"So a 620 Math, 730 CR kid essentially can be counter-balanced with an 800 Math, 600 CR kid -- as long as there aren't too many of them."</p>
<p>...And it happens regularly. These very ranges & disparities appear often, not just on CC, but as reported (including this cycle) by admissions officers --regardless of how "scores are increasing" (on average). In fact, a very typical scenario is the acceptee who has an 800V, 650M (or vice-versa) but who has 6-8 other categories of WOW in the "Very Important" CDS column. It is not uncommon for this student to be accepted to a Reach Elite <em>over</em> the 800/800 student with 4 or 5 other impressive areas in the Very Imp. column. (And we read the protests every cycle, sprinkled through the rest of the CC Results Thread: "Man, I can't believe that ___ rejected you with those scores!") </p>
<p>Well, I can, and I do. And RESULTS do not lie. (Only sometimes statistics DO lie, or at least mislead, deceive, tell PART of the story. And with no comparative data, statistics have little value as <em>predictors</em> & excluders.) {I am sorry that admissions facts backed up by firm candidate profiles fail to convince cellardwellar.}</p>
<p>Add to that the many <em>statistical</em>, <em>factual</em> reports on various CC threads this cycle, last cycle, 3 cycles ago, listing the precise numbers of perfect scorers rejected by several Reach Elites.</p>
<p>Like calmom, I also have been thinking over the last several pages myself about the average vs. median important difference, so I'm glad she brought that up. And the rankings dynamics (also what she brought up) is another essential aspect.</p>
<p>The CDS's may be helpful for certain reasons, but "factually" predictive or "factually" excluding they are not. Mostly, they are broad summaries. And broad doesn't cut it when it comes to drawing up a college list (deciding 'if my S/D has the qualifications for Ivy League').</p>