<p>I noticed that there are various discussion threads here on College Confidential that mention college student score ranges. Students choosing colleges often look at reported score ranges for the students at various colleges to decide what colleges to apply to. The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/[/url]”>http://www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/</a> </p>
<p>the federal Department of Education Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), </p>
<p><a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/[/url]”>http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/</a> </p>
<p>and the Common Data Set Initiative (CDS) </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.commondataset.org/[/url]”>http://www.commondataset.org/</a> </p>
<p>have collaborated to set common standards for colleges gathering data about admission characteristics of their applicants and reporting data about their enrolled classes each year.</p>
<p>I see from time to time that reports about college score ranges don’t always follow NACAC-IPEDS-CDS principles and practices. I wrote about this a while ago to a couple private email lists that include readers of these College Confidential forums. As I wrote then, by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) Statement of Principles of Good Practice,</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nacacnet.org/NR/rdonlyres/9A4F9961-8991-455D-89B4-AE3B9AF2EFE8/0/SPGP.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nacacnet.org/NR/rdonlyres/9A4F9961-8991-455D-89B4-AE3B9AF2EFE8/0/SPGP.pdf</a> </p>
<p>and by the actual practice of the Common Data Set, colleges report only interquartile ranges for each section of the SAT, and interquartile ranges for ACT composite scores. The NACAC principle reads like this: </p>
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<p>The Common Data Set instructions read:</p>
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<p>However, as I have mentioned to parents before, the very interesting Education Trust college profiles </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/default.htm[/url]”>http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/default.htm</a> </p>
<p>suffer from a methodological error: “The median composite ACT score is estimated by averaging the 25th percentile and 75th percentile composite ACT scores. The median combined SAT score is estimated by adding the average of the 25th and 75th percentile verbal score to the average of the 25th and 75th percentile math score, and dividing by two.” </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/aboutthedata.aspx[/url]”>College Results Online</a> </p>
<p>Such a calculated “median” composite score should NOT be assumed to be exactly the same as the actual median of all scores of students in that college’s entering class. What the actual median is has to be determined from the data themselves, and colleges are not to report the actual medians, by NACAC principles. I have also seen attempts online to estimate 75th percentile levels for SAT composite scores, simply by summing the scores for the 75th percentile on each SAT section. I hope it is so apparent that it goes without saying why that figure may not be the same as the actual 75th percentile level of composite scores in that group of students: if various students score higher on one section than another, matching the math scores of the 75th percentile math scorers with the critical reading scores of the 75th percentile critical reading scorers may overstate the composite scores of the top quartile of students. </p>
<p>It’s sufficient, of course, to look at the interquartile ranges to see if students with certain levels of scores have a great or meager chance of getting admitted. And once a student wraps his or her mind around how to read interquartile ranges reported for each test section, it is really much more helpful for the student’s planning to know those ranges than only to know a (possibly incorrect) median composite score for a college to which the student may apply. </p>
<p>Now let’s look at some examples. The College Board College QuickFinder </p>
<p><a href=“http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/quicksearch.jsp[/url]”>http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/quicksearch.jsp</a> </p>
<p>provides a way to look up college score ranges. Colleges report this information directly to the College Board according to the standardized data definitions and methodology developed under the Common Data Set Initiative. The same data go to the federal government through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and to U.S. News and to Petersons. You can look up any college you like on the College Board College QuickFinder, and the page about test scores will always have the most accurate interquartile ranges for the test scores considered by that college in admitting its most recent freshman class. </p>
<p>Here are some examples, chosen on no particular basis: </p>
<p><a href=“http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=1251&profileId=6[/url]”>http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=1251&profileId=6</a> </p>
<p><a href=“http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=4221&profileId=6[/url]”>http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=4221&profileId=6</a> </p>
<p><a href=“http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=3387&profileId=6[/url]”>http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=3387&profileId=6</a> </p>
<p><a href=“http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=4075&profileId=6[/url]”>http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=4075&profileId=6</a> </p>
<p><a href=“http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=3746&profileId=6[/url]”>http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=3746&profileId=6</a> </p>
<p><a href=“http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=3300&profileId=6[/url]”>http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=3300&profileId=6</a> </p>
<p><a href=“http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=4099&profileId=6[/url]”>http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=4099&profileId=6</a> </p>
<p><a href=“http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=1713&profileId=6[/url]”>http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=1713&profileId=6</a> </p>
<p><a href=“http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=2354&profileId=6[/url]”>http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=2354&profileId=6</a> </p>
<p><a href=“http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=4118&profileId=6[/url]”>http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=4118&profileId=6</a> </p>
<p><a href=“http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=122&profileId=6[/url]”>http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=122&profileId=6</a> </p>
<p>There are hundreds more where these came from. </p>
<p>Many colleges, right after they admit a new class, will publish a press release along the lines of “Podunk College Admission Rate Drops to New Low: Admitted Class Is Most Outstanding Ever.” The way this becomes how to lie with statistics is that most colleges lose the top end of their ADMITTED class to other colleges that are more desired by those admitted applicants. Many colleges have yields of enrolled students of less than 50 percent from their admittees, and all but the top colleges lose yield more from top students going to a more famous college than from bottom students playing it safe. So it is a good idea, when comparing colleges, to do as the Common Data Set does and compare figures about actually enrolled students in the most recent reporting year’s freshman class for each college. That gives you your most accurate picture of what your classmates will be like if you accept an offer of admission from that college. </p>
<p>Best wishes in your college search.</p>