mental block on admissions

<p>I've read a few times that the higher end of the 50% SAT range would be a more of a match. The way I see it is that a college might accept xx amount of applicants, but 2/3rds won't attend(mostly the higher scorers)...so wouldn't that mean the actual 1/3rd of students attending would be more from the mid to lower end of the 50% range? </p>

<p>The posts claim that you need to be at the higher end of the 50%, but wouldn't the above show otherwise? It's been a long day, what am I missing?</p>

<p>Its mostly because the top 50% are getting accepted elsewhere and have the luxury of choosing another college. So they're not going to accept the lower 50% just because they know they probably won't get in anywhere else.</p>

<p>The more selective the school the higher the yield. So Harvard has about an 80% yield and mid tier ivies a 50% yield.</p>

<p>When looking at numbers, the biggest mistake I see people making is not accounting for the 40% who are recruited athletes, legacies and URMs. Those kids can have significantly below median stats leaving the other 60% to bring up the averages.</p>