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Going to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton 30 years ago was NOT the same as it is today. The kids have to be much more talented than their parents to get into their parents' Ivy today.
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I'm not so sure. remember that 1400s back then were closer to 1550+ today, as a result of recentering the SAT in 1995. For example, the ETS chart equates a 640V on the old scale with a 700 today, a 710 with 780, and a 730 with an 800. Parents are pretty smart, and didn't spend all their time on the internet and TV like today.</p>
<p><"The kids have to be much more talented than their parents to get into their parents' Ivy today."></p>
<p>I wouldn't put it that way. The odds of admission are lower today, simply because there are more people applying.</p>
<p>But it is not necessarily true that the Yale applicants/admits today (for example) are smarter, as a group, than the applicants/admits of 30 years ago. Indeed, it might be argued that 30 years ago the Ivies enrolled a greater fraction of the "smart kids" than they do today, when so many other colleges are trying to recruit them.</p>
<p>Byerly, can you please link to the "other site" you got the Levin quote from? It seems like you are avoiding doing so. You said "now I see the link" and then disappeared. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Yaledad, just talked to a couple of parents whose kids are in the same general situation as your D. They are great students with mid 1400 SATs but no real hook, other than they are legacy. One is a double legacy. Both are deferred. We'll see how they will do in the RD round. I looked at my data, and for unhooked kids who are legacy that are not from developement or celebrity famiies, the SAT1 is almost alw</p>
<p>I'm not so sure. remember that 1400s back then were closer to 1550+ today, as a result of recentering the SAT in 1995. For example, the ETS chart equates a 640V on the old scale with a 700 today, a 710 with 780, and a 730 with an 800. Parents are pretty smart, and didn't spend all their time on the internet and TV like today.</p>
<p>Not quite right. A 1400 before is more like 1450 after recentering. Look at the math scores, which were not changed or recentered down. And the average at HYP was more like 1330 through 1975. So about 1380 today, approximately 110 points short of today's standard. Possibly a majority of 1970s HYP alumni would not gain admittance today based on SAT scores, and their children may not have even inherited their work ethic.</p>
<p>Also you do need to be careful in assuming a certain SAT1 score is double the math or verbal section. Someone with a 740 in the verbal does not necessarily have an 1480 or above. I see alot of stats that assume this, not just on this board but in guide books.</p>
<p>OK, but the average Y alumni who entered in 1975 didn't score 1490, they scored 1330. Your chart puts them at 1390, about 100 points below the standards of Yale today.</p>
<p>And going back to the Class of 1955 (grandparent legacies), it was 582 verbal and 619 math, 1201 total. That would be recentered to only 1270 today.</p>
<p>So, using that chart here are recentered SATs of selected Yale classes.</p>
<p>My gratitude for the many helpful responses. My D will be taking the SAT at least once more, we'll hope for the best. Riding is her passion, and the fact that she is willing to work so hard to pay for it speaks well of her commitment. As far as "hooks", she doesn't want to mention that she is a legacy, as she feels that such preferences are unfair. Perhaps they are; in my case, as a very modest contrbutor, I doubt that it means much anyway. In any event, I believe that the application asks that you list your parents alma maters. I would not feel comfortable not providing factually correct information. Could she just put in "parents are college graduates" and just leave it at that?</p>
<p>Yaledad, if she does not want to list her parents' alma mater, she does not have to do so. At her other schools, it would just reaffirm that she is a "priviliged" applicant, and that info is readily available just from her address, school, ECs, etc. However, the yale lega</p>
<p>She should definitely put down Yale University for her legacy parent(s) on the Yale application... even if it helps only slightly, it's better than nothing. I'm not sure as to whether it would help or actually hurt on the non-Yale applications. As jamimom says, they may assume she was has had more opportunities to succeed than other applicants.</p>