<p>boysx3, don’t forget that the published stats are not that of the applicant pool. Usually, they are those of enrolled students. For some very selective schools–think Carleton, for example–that may well mean that the stats of <em>accepted</em> students would skew higher, since acceptees with higher stats may be more likely to be accepted at and choose to attend a school higher on the food chain. (Of course, this is also where that tendency for schools to wait list highly qualified students as a means of yield management comes in…)</p>