<p>I get on college board, and after researching several ivy league schools, i find that my scores put me comfortably in the "median" score range the schools report from last years matriculating/accepted individuals. </p>
<p>This makes me happy. </p>
<p>However, i get on college confidential, and i see all of these critiques of people with outstanding scores, ranging from high-median scores to top 25%. People talk about how "Princeton will throw away your application if your scores are below a 2200" and how "unless you have a "hook", sub 2100 SAT scores wont do anything for you in Ivy League admissions", etcetera, etcetera. </p>
<p>This makes me sad.</p>
<p>Will someone explain to me how schools report score ranges of 30 to 34 on the ACT to be median, yet people on this website completely freak out if they fall below a 34? Is there some magical secret I am missing here? Do highly selective colleges put out misleading numbers to dupe schmucks like me into applying? Is this a conspiracy, or do people on this site just have nothing else to do but deride and discourage individuals with what i see as exceptional test scores and specs.</p>
<p>What’s up is more than half the class are athletes, rm, legacies, first gen and kids from underrepresented places like Alaska and New Mexico. If you have median stats and are not a poor, minority athlete from south Dakota, an ivy is unlikely.</p>
<p>I always like to say that an acceptance rate of 8% is disingenuous. I figure excellent applications have a 40-50% chance of getting in at any specific place, but a huge number of the students who apply have little to no chance of getting in.</p>
<p>I figure if you’ve got median scores, great recommendations, and very solid ECs (like your average Ivy Applicant) than you may as well take the Acceptance rates seriously. If you’re the average top-level applicant, assume the average acceptance rate–which will say that you’ve got a very small chance of getting into any individual Ivy.</p>
<p>In general, a qualified but not jawdropping applicant (ie hasn’t published a bestseller, cured cancer) should aim to be right at the 75th percentile. A good portion of top colleges consist of hooked applicants–athletes, legacies, URMs, kids from underrepresented states, etc. This isn’t to say that no “average” applicants get in with scores below the 7th percentile–that would be silly to suggest–but it’s certainly much less likely.</p>
<p>Take from this what you will. In the last four years, 250+ from my HS have applied to Yale and dozens have gotten in. Of all those who got in, only 2 had SAT scores below 2300. One was recruited as an athlete, and the other was exceptionally accomplished in a particular skill. Hint: you want to aim for the majority group.</p>
<p>The thing is, the median SAT score is the median just for the SAT. The people who had that score most likely did not also get an average GPA, get average recommendations, and work an average amount on ECs.</p>
<p>If it is your dream then go ahead and apply! (you will never forgive yourself for not trying) Just remember to also apply to some safety schools and if you get rejected keep in mind that there are 20,000 other strong applicants who also got rejected. Sometimes it seems like applying to an Ivy is like buying a lottery ticket. Make sure your recommendation letters and your essay are fabulous.</p>
The old joke was “on the internet nobody knows if you are a dog”. Meaning anybody can post what they want, you have no way to know if it is accurate or not. Given scores that are at the median of schools you are considering, that means your scores alone will not keep you out. Or put another way, lots of kids get in with scores just like yours. The problem is that at selective schools they get many more apps from kids that are smart enough to complete the program than they can accept. So they start to look at other factors – essays, recs, ECs, etc. You don’t get into one of the top selective schools with just good test scores, nor will they throw your app away if your SAT is less than 2200. Its just that LOTs of other kids are applying with scores the same or better than yours, and only a small percentage will get in.</p>
<p>Note that the scores for GPA posted on CollegeBoard are statistics for the UNWEIGHTED GPA of accepted students, not weighted.</p>
<p>If you want Ivy League, you’re gonna wanna try your best to be top 5 rank in your class. valedictorian is preferable, salutatorian is bordering on minimum recommended, top 5 is almost like required. However, that doesn’t mean being top 25 means you won’t get in because you’re not top 5, but it’s just not where you want to be. </p>
<p>I read somewhere that ~60% of Ivy League matriculants were top 2 in their class. It was a random statement, no link, so take it with a grain of salt. I wouldn’t be surprised if it weren’t far from the truth, though.</p>
<p>PHEW!
I was scared there for a minute. Good thing im a poor, legally deaf minority athlete from North Dakota, currently working on my second novel! </p>
<p>haha but in all seriousness, i go to a realllllllyyyyy reeallllly crappy public high school. Im talking “pregnancy rate > graduation rate” kind of thing… haha and its in indiana, which does not exactly seem to be an Ivy League preparation machine to put it kindly. </p>
<p>Would a school look at me as a source of some sort of white-trashy diversity, thus making me a more likely candidate? lol</p>
<p>Actually, maybe. At that kind of school, however, you’d definitely need to be top of class and teachers would need to say you were the best in their career.</p>
<p>Redzerb, that’s exactly my situation. In order to qualify academically, I’d say you’ll probably need:</p>
<p>2250+ and/or 34+
4.0 and Valedictorian
Most rigorous academics possible</p>
<p>Plus the ECs, obviously, but those kinds of stats could make you attractive to HYPS. There’s no obsessing over “Will they mind a 3.85?!?!” for people like us, because its perfect or bust when your school is terrible.</p>
<p>"haha but in all seriousness, i go to a realllllllyyyyy reeallllly crappy public high school. Im talking “pregnancy rate > graduation rate” kind of thing… haha and its in indiana, which does not exactly seem to be an Ivy League preparation machine to put it kindly. </p>
<p>Would a school look at me as a source of some sort of white-trashy diversity, thus making me a more likely candidate? lol"</p>
<p>Yes, that is possible – if you have excellent grades and scores from a weak school that hasn’t sent anyone to Ivy schools before, that could tip you in. You would, however, also need the usual, too: strong ECs, or overcoming adversity or working a job or taking care of major responsibilities at home.</p>
<p>I have reallllly close to a 4.0 unweighted. And the only B’s (2) i EVER have gotten came from my 9th grade year, when i was, in fact, attending a very prestigious jesuit all boys school that sends a lot of kids to Ivys. So it would be really cool if Princeton doesnt look at 9th grade! lol </p>
<p>And, once again, I have median test scores, MSauce, as in 32 act & 2150 sat.
i have taken these tests 3 times, but the first two were before this (my junior) year, and i have seen dramatic improvement each time i have taken these tests, so do you think it would be wise to go ahead and take them a 4th time, or would that make me look bad?</p>
<p>Well the point of the test scores is to validate your education. There’s no hook in being an average smart kid from a crappy public school, but if you can get a 2250, you’ll stand out from the other 2250s who might be from overrepresented areas, if you get what I mean.</p>
<p>Do you think that colleges take into account that, because we hail from underperforming public highschools, we have a disadvantage in testing, so our scores might not be up to par as a result of our predicaments/</p>
<p>Or do you think this might be a deterent; something that demonstrates that, due to our lack of higher quality education in high school, we might not be suited for Ivy League curriculum. Because isn’t that what Admissions officers are really trying to do? find students that will excell in their school?</p>
<p>Or would they see this as adversity we have overcome?</p>