<p>Harvard’s 25th percentile: CR = 790, M = 800, W = 790</p>
<p>What that means is that 75% of Harvard’s accepted students had ONE OF THOSE SCORES, but NOT all of them. A student who had an 800 in Math, could have had a 700 in CR and a 690 in W.</p>
<p>When looking at the CDS data, I prefer to use translated ACT scores, as it paints a more accurate picture of an accepted student’s test scores.</p>
<p>So, 75% of Harvard’s accepted students had a translated SAT score somewhere between 2340 and 2390.</p>
<p>Harvard’s 75th percentile ACT is a 31, which translates in the SAT range between 2050-2090. So, if my math is correct, the middle 50% would be about 2180 to 2240.</p>
<p>FWIW: Nowhere on the CDS does it specify how many AP tests an applied applied with, so I don’t where you’re getting that info from.</p>
<p>gibby,
You are totally incorrect.
75th percentile is CR-790, M-800, W-790
25th percentile is CR-690, M-700, W-690
75% of accepted class was between 2080 and 2400.</p>
<p>Having made the same mistake as you several years ago when my kids were applying to college, I was corrected by one of the super-moderators. I will wait for someone with more posts than either of us to weigh in.</p>
<p>@TomsRiverParent @gibby Look at this. If there are 10 kids in a class, and the 80th percentile score for Math, CR, and Writing each is 750, that means that 2 kids got 750+ on Math, 2 kids got 750+ on CR, and 2 kids got 750+ on Writing. It is quite possible that a kid who got 770 on Math got 700s in Writing and CR. That possibility stands for each section. If one kid in the class got a 770 M, 700 CR, and 700 W, then he has a 2170 and has taken up one of the two slots for the kids who got 750+ Math. The other kid could have had any range of scores as long as his score in Math was 750+. Let’s just say he is an outstanding test taker and got 780 on each. This means that he is the only student who has 750+ on all. From this data, you must say that the 80th percentile cumulative score cannot be 2250, because that assumes everyone in group one got the same score or better than the cutoff for groups two and three. From this data, a 2250+ is the 90th percentile of the class, not the 80th percentile, because he scored higher than 90% of the students.</p>
<p>Lol gibby, sorry I don’t have more posts than you, but I thought I could weigh in.</p>
<p>I don’t have the time to read the other comments in this thread, so I’ll just address OP.</p>
<p>IF you do not have some stunning hook, you do not have any realistic chance of getting into Harvard. If by some miracle chance you do, then read on.</p>
<p>Everything is an ideal AP to get into Harvard. If you think one more AP class will break your back, then you’re likely not Harvard material. Of course, it’s okay to not be good at some area or another. But APUSH? Come on.</p>
<p>Here’s my own story. I had taken 13 AP courses and received an A in all of them by the time I had applied, and had scored 5’s on about 15 of the AP exams. My SAT score was a 2390, but I didn’t send it - since I got a 36 on all sections of the ACT. </p>
<p>Just listing numbers belies how easily I got them. I took 7 AP courses my junior year and coasted through them, getting all perfect grades and scores on the AP exams with minimal effort. I did not study whatsoever for my perfect ACT score. </p>
<p>I was rejected from Harvard. </p>
<p>My point was to show you how inconsequential grades and coursework and test scores are for a school of this caliber. Harvard know that this stuff is easy. Forget about them, people with perfect numbers are a dime a dozen. Seize your passion, and focus your efforts on that, instead of trying to take one more trivial AP class. That’s nothing. </p>
<p>Thanks @Cosmological. Maybe this will help @TomsRiverParent understand that he is incorrect, or the source of his information is incorrect.</p>
<p>About 1660 students matriculate to Harvard every year. If 25% of admitted students have a 2380 or higher (Harvard’s 75th percentile), that would mean 415 incoming freshman have that score or better.</p>
<p>About 1300 students matriculate to Yale every year. If 25% of admitted students have a 2390 or higher (Yale’s 75th percentile), that would mean 325 incoming freshman have that score or better.</p>
<p>About 238 students matriculate to CalTech every year. If 25% of admitted students have a 2390 or higher (Caltech’s 75th percentile), that would mean 60 incoming freshman have that score or better.</p>
<p>By TomsRiverParent logic, that would mean 800 out of 1008 students that scored a 2380 or higher matriculated to Harvard, Yale or Caltech. By comparison, I guess very few of those same students who scored a 2380 or higher enrolled at Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Brown, UPenn, Columbia, Williams, Swarthmore, Amherst, Duke, or anywhere else. </p>
<p>I stand by what I wrote: the 75th percentile means a student had ONE OF THOSE SCORES, but NOT all of them.</p>
<p>gibby,
which goes to what I said, (which you obviously didn’t read) are you going to quibble over 2380 versus say 2350.
I would be willing to wager that 25% of the students attending Harvard, Yale, Cal total SAT is 2350 or higher.
At least this time you understand what “percentile” means which was incorrect in your initial post.</p>
<p>I’m not sure why we are talking about SAT scores, especially as the discussion is taking this thread off course. </p>
<p>FWIW: My daughter was accepted to Harvard (and rejected at Yale and Princeton) with a 2280 SAT, while my son was rejected from Harvard (and accepted to Yale and Princeton) with a 36 ACT. Once an applicant test score’s are within a colleges’s range, other more subjective factors such as transcript, course rigor, teacher recommendations, essays, EC’s and “character” determine acceptance.</p>
<p>Gibby is right that once scores are in range, other factors become determinative.</p>
<p>Gibby is almost right when (s)he writes “I stand by what I wrote: the 75th percentile means a student had ONE OF THOSE SCORES, but NOT all of them.”</p>
<p>A more precise statement would be: “the 75th percentile means a student had at least ONE OF THOSE SCORES, but NOT necessarily all of them.”</p>
<p>As for the fools errand of trying to determine Harvard’s 75% composite, there isn’t enough data presented to make an accurate estimate. I did run a simple statistical analysis though, and I would be very confident taking the other side of TomsRiverParents wager.</p>
<p>As for the OP’s question, I can only go by the personal experience of my kids. Our local HS offers a broad range of APs. My son took the 16 that interested him the most:</p>
<p>10: Human Geography, World History
11: Calc AB, Chemistry, Physics B, European History, Art History, Eng Lang, Span Lang
12: Calc BC, Biology, Physics C, US History, Government, Eng Lit, Span Lit</p>
<p>From what we saw, any college would consider this adequate.</p>
<p>@TomsRiverParent We aren’t quibbling over the fact that there is no valuable difference between a 2350 and a 2380. We are simply making a statistical statement that much less than 25% of Harvard’s students have a score equal to or greater than 2380.</p>
<p>I’m posting from my phone so I can’t go into any detail, but based on the averages Gibby posted and the 25%/75% numbers, the likelihood of more than 25% being above 2350 is remote.</p>
<p>If you go back to the link I posted earlier from the College Board, 2713 students scored a 2350 or higher. Looking at the numbers, common sense should tell you that as Harvard rejects 94% of students, the likelihood that (a) 400 of this select group were admitted to Harvard and (b) 400 of this select group matriculated to Harvard is indeed remote.</p>
<p>@TomsRiverParent Why would close to 25% of students have a 2380+, while (If we go by your incorrect system of cumulative percentiles) close to 25% would have scores below 2100? It would be strange to have a proliferation of people clustering in the top 20 points on a 2400 scale while only double that have to fill in the spots that make up the 280 point gap. Think about what kind of “bell curve” that would look like.</p>
<p>I just ran this question by one of my kids’ friends who is studying statistics at Wharton.</p>
<p>I told him the 25/75 numbers and the averages Gibby provided. He attacked the riddle from several different approaches and concluded with a high degree of certainty that the percentage of Harvard students with a 2350 or higher is between 9%-13%.</p>
<p>He explained his analysis to me and, while I can’t repeat it, I followed along and it was very compelling.</p>