<p>I remember going through my schools statbook, and in 2000, a kid got into Princeton with a 1470 and a 94 average (weighted). In addition, another kid, not the valedictorian, mind you, got into Caltech, Harvard, Yale, and some other great school with a 1510 and a 99.</p>
<p>Never again, sadly.</p>
<p>Or at least not in time for it to matter to me.</p>
<p>But remember that in 2000, the SAT was out of 1600, not 2400.</p>
<p>Just to clear up some misconceptions:</p>
<p>I believe last year was the year with the highest number of U.S. resident 18-year-olds, with the number declining ever so slightly for this year and the next five or six, before it starts to climb again. That, however, is only one of the factors that goes into the competitiveness of college applications. There is what percentage of those 18-year-olds apply to college (something that has been climbing steadily for decades and decades, although the growth has been slower the past few years), how many colleges they apply to, how many spaces those colleges have available, and, of course, how many students apply from outside the U.S. That's why Harvard and Stanford applications can be up by double-digit percentages when the number of eligible domestic students is basically the same as last year.</p>
<p>I think everyone expects the recession/depression to affect applications to private colleges somewhat next year, but in the case of HYPS it will probably not do much besides hold down the rate of increase.</p>
<p>Booklady: I know. That doesn't really change anything.</p>
<p>Than I'm confused. Why would it be a surprise that someone with a 1510 (or even a 1470) and a 4.0 got accepted? That happens all the time these days, with the equivalent SAT score.</p>
<p>=========================
I remember going through my schools statbook, and in 2000, a kid got into Princeton with a 1470 and a 94 average (weighted). In addition, another kid, not the valedictorian, mind you, got into Caltech, Harvard, Yale, and some other great school with a 1510 and a 99.</p>
<h1>Never again, sadly. </h1>
<p>What?</p>
<p>People get in with much lower stats ever year.</p>
<p>Not from my area, no.</p>
<p>You do realize... those scores translated into today's 2400 are 2200+.</p>
<p>Those are great and definitely Ivy material.</p>
<p>Perhaps your area is just really competitive, or the people you know lack the EC's or character?</p>
<p>To make a generalization like yours is sort've... well.. wrong. Look at the percentiles for Harvard and Yale... most accepted applicants are in that range with a lot even lower.</p>
<p>I heard ETS dumbed down the SAT a lot since then, though I don't understand the reason for wanting a less valid test 0.o</p>
<p>^Mal77</p>
<p>You've put me in a tough situation.</p>
<p>Because it would be really, really good for me if that's more normal than I think it is. </p>
<p>But my area, well high school, I can't comment on all the surrounding towns, just seems to be competitive.</p>
<p>I suppose my area is a tad skewed, though, because HYP tends to accept one person (generally each, although it is often the same person), and that person will have ~1550+ SAT, ~102+ GPA, etc. with routinely great EC's.</p>
<p>Last year we did have two at Harvard, but one was a story coupled with a very good resume. </p>
<p>Generally, if a college like Harvard is looking to take one person, it goes for the best one, and why shouldn't it? </p>
<p>So that's why my expectations may have seemed a little high, but that's just how I view it, simply.</p>
<p>And I don't doubt that those people would be Ivy material otherwise, I just don't know if those same people, all of whom have graduated by now, would be able to get into the same colleges they did nine years ago.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I heard ETS dumbed down the SAT a lot since then,
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The SAT was 'recentered' in 1995. I don't know that the questions are any easier, though. According to Wikipedia, in 2005 "The test was made marginally harder, as a corrective to the rising number of perfect scores" and "The Mathematics section was expanded to cover three years of high school mathematics."</p>
<p>if that is so and the math section covers 3 years of american high school material - then it is a bit sad....
i mean, everything on that section we learn in Israel by the beginning of 10th grade.
hell if i scored 780 on math 2 and 740 on math 1 after a weekend's crash review since i graduated in 2006 and haven't touched a math book since Israel is pretty damn good mathwise....
in Israel's version of ap math (trig, calc, geometry) we have units. i had the most advanced (5), and got a 81% score on my national examination (Bagrut), and where the average is around 70%, it is very good....
not considering i had 10 units in computers (5 computer science with 93%. 5 final project with 100%). 5 in english that they didn't let me do in the 11th grade (97%) and lots of mandatory classes (bible, history, civil studies, lit., grammer....).
my unweighted average is 91%, and my wieghted one according to all Israeli universities is 105.7%</p>
<p>Israel is different and i can't figure out if its different good or different bad!</p>
<p>Ah! This thread is incredibly depressing. Trying to keep a positive attitude...state school here I come! yay.</p>
<p>Don't worry Izzy1988, most of math on the ACT/SAT only goes up to basic trigonometry and geometry. Most students who apply to schools like Yale are usually taking Calculus AB/BC which is the equivalent of 1 or 2 semesters of college material.</p>
<p>The curve is definitely more generous today (e.g. back in the day you had to get all the CR right to get 800). Also, analogies probably killed a lot of people.</p>
<p>Then again today you have the writing section, which, while it's not that difficult, still adds to the fatigue factor. Idk how the CR/Math compare to back then except for the removal of analogies, QC, and the math section covering more material.</p>
<p>Does SAT play a major role in admission decision?
What about scores with around 1800 probably should expect?
Penn? Northwestern? Stanford? Johns Hopkins? Uni of Notre Dame?...
with excellent extracurricular activities coupled with great recommendation, transcript, and essay?</p>
<p>Since the question is raised above, I'll post my FAQ about college application demographics here. I don't expect to get any easier to get into Yale or MIT or similar colleges in the next decade or so--quite the contrary. </p>
<p>DEMOGRAPHICS </p>
<p>Population trends in the United States are not the only issue influencing the competitiveness of college admission here. The children already born show us what the expected number of high school students are in various years, but the number of high school students in the United States, which is expected to begin declining in a few years, isn't the whole story. </p>
<p>First of all, if more students who begin high school go on to college, there will be more applicants to college even with a declining number of high school students. And that is the trend in the United States and worldwide. </p>
<p>Second, colleges in the United States accept applications from all over the world, so it is quite possible that demographic trends in the United States will not be the main influence on how many students apply to college. The cohorts of high-school-age students are still increasing in size in some countries (NOT most of Europe). </p>
<p>Third, even if the number of applicants to colleges overall stays the same, or even declines, the number of applicants to the most competitive colleges may still increase. The trend around the world is a "flight to quality" of students trying to get into the best college they can in increasing numbers, and increasing their consensus about which colleges to put at the top of their application lists. I do not expect college admission to be any easier for my youngest child than for my oldest child, even though she is part of a smaller birth cohort in the United States. </p>
<p>And now I would add to this that at the very most selective colleges that have just announced new financial aid plans, next year's (and the following year's) crush of applicants will be larger than ever. When colleges that are already acknowledged to be great colleges start reducing their net cost down to what the majority of families in the United States can afford, those colleges will receive more applications from all parts of the United States, and very likely from all over the world. </p>
<p>The Economist magazine published a brief article about these trends in April 2008. </p>
<p>University</a> admissions in America | Accepted | The Economist</p>
<p>
[quote]
Does SAT play a major role in admission decision?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I don't know of any college that actively prefers low-scoring students to high-scoring students. On the other hand, almost all colleges at the high end of selectivity practice "holistic" admissions and consider other factors besides test scores. See also </p>
<p>
[quote]
I believe last year was the year with the highest number of U.S. resident 18-year-olds, with the number declining ever so slightly for this year and the next five or six, before it starts to climb again. That, however, is only one of the factors that goes into the competitiveness of college applications
[/quote]
</p>
<p>A lot of college applicants aren't 18yo.... A good deal are 17 or 19... For the uberselective colleges I think you should keep an eye out for 17yo's.</p>
<p>And re: MIT massacre: It's going to be 10x worse for Yale.</p>
<p>Is the OP an MIT alumni or adcom?</p>