<p>I've read about this a lot, but I'm still a bit confused. I get that they're not the deciding factor, but how important are they really?</p>
<p>Do colleges simply look at your ACT/ SAT scores and see if they fall within the range of the college? For example, if you're applying to Cornell (their 25th percentile is a composite score of 29 and the 75th percentile is 33) and you have a ACT score of 32, would they just look and see that its above average, and then move on to other parts of your application? </p>
<p>If this is true, how much more do they value, let's say, a 35 over a 33? </p>
<p>Sorry if this question has been asked before, but thanks for any feedback.</p>
<p>Every school has their own formula, which they don’t really divulge to the public. Think about it - if they told you the “formula” you could figure out whether you would be accepted or not, and would not apply if the answer were definitely “no”. Every application brings in money and status, so they want lots of them. </p>
<p>In general, if you fall within the center range, you should at least be in the running. If you are below the average and don’t have a hook, you should not consider that a “match” school. Those above the 75th percentile can feel a little more confident, except at the ivies and their equivalents, where everyone is a “reach” no matter how high their stats.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>It’s expected to support your HS grade. However, since schools vary, it does provide a comparison factor for students with similar grades from different schools.</p></li>
<li><p>How much it matters depends on the school and the applicant pool. For instance, it seems to matter very little at the top schools, because the applicant pool is very strong. A 2350 vs. 2250 is very unlikely to be a deciding factor.</p></li>
<li><p>A very high score seems to matter less than class ranking/position in most cases. I think that this is because schools feel that class results reflect ability + effort over several years, while the SAT reflects just ability.</p></li>
</ol>