<p>I’ve become mesmerized looking at Naviance scattergrams once I found out about them on CC and discovered some of the published guest passwords. It’s really clear from these graphs if SAT and/or GPA is very important or not at a school. Some schools have a clear trend & cut-offs, some rely heavily on SAT and not GPA, and others rely on SAT. Many highly selective schools seem like a shot gun; so clearly, “fit” and/or specific talents and interests are more important. </p>
<p>From the schools I’ve looked at, the graphs generally confirm what the colleges self-report on the common dataset about what’s very important, important, etc. in the admissions process. Clearly, for many selective schools, SAT is just one small piece of the puzzle.</p>
<p>I haven’t looked at scattergrams for Wellesley (I have 2 sons!)</p>
<p>One of the more interesting match-ups in recent CC memory. Both are very articulate and very opinionated. I predict a draw or at least no clear knock-out winner.</p>
<p>To grossly paraphrase Marilyn Monroe: You can fall in love with any guy. It sure doesn’t hurt if he’s a millionaire.</p>
<p>You can get accepted with low scores, but it sure doesn’t hurt if they’re high.</p>
<p>DS fell madly in love, at a very gut check ‘fit’ level, with a school that runs one of the highest scores in the country. He realized that to be competitive, he had to have high scores, and put in the time to (mostly) get himself there.</p>
<p>You really need to put yourself in the mind of an admissions officer. They have very little time to review every application the way it deserves to be looked at, especially at the very selective colleges. The first step for them from what I understand is looking at your GPA and course rigor. If you went to a competitive HS and challenged yourself with success they are more likely to overlook a less than stellar SAT result. Some people are just not great test takers. Also it would depend on who else from your high school is applying and how you stack up against them. I believe I read somewhere that they really try to be consistent. I believe that if you are in the range of SAT scores given on the schools website that would mean that you are considerable and that gives you as good a chance as any. The valedictorian at my sons school has lower SAT scores than many of the other students in the top 10% of the high school. I find it hard to believe they would exclude her given her consistent academic success. I think they are more apt to exclude someone with high SAT’s and low grades as a slacker. Just my opinion. Don’t sweat it, it is “spilt milk” as they say.</p>
<p>Me neither.
I did have a manager who asked me, repeatedly and in front of other people, what I had gotten on my GMAT’s. (He did the same to others, not just me.) I just looked at him as though he were cross-eyed. How unbelievably rude and tacky of him to ask. And everyone I worked with shared that opinion and couldn’t believe that he was badgering us. </p>
<p>Finally I told him “Good enough to get me into Kellogg!” (which was, at the time, the #1 ranked b-school in the country) and that shut him up. </p>
<p>My experience is that you put FAR more stock in the person sitting across the table from you and how he or she comes across in an interview (energetic? determined? problem-solver? easy to get along with? team player? strategic?) than in having them recite their scores.</p>
<p>OF course, when I said I would “walk out” that was a little bit of rhetorical hyperbole. I wouldn’t be offended really either, and of course I’d give the results if I needed the job. I would probably just be surprised - but not that surprised. I’ve been asked truly really bizarre things in interviews before, at least there is some rationale in asking for a test score.</p>
<p>I didn’t go to Kellogg for my MBA (but got in way back when) couldn’t afford it…but I love that answer. Honestly I do not remember my SAT scores, do not remember my GMAT score, LSAT score and do not remember my GRE scores. I really, really don’t remember. I’d probably fall on the floor in hysterical laughter if someone asked me about some 30+ year ago test scores, then pick my self up and say adios. Anyway, sorry to go off topic.</p>
<p>Yeah, congrats Xani! Love it, love it! This is the exact reason I hate, hate, hate chances threads. You just can’t tell a “person” by a bunch of numbers. If you are in the neighborhood knock on the door… I guarantee you if I swing on over to the Cornell or columbia or Stanford threads there will be kids crazed trying to figure out the “stats” of the accepted, deferred and rejected looking for “trends.” Numbers alone without the benefit of essays, recommendations, interviews, location and school info and all the other pieces are pretty much a small piece of the pie.</p>
<p>I tend to agree. The D of a friend of a friend was just admitted to Stanford with nowhere near the stats of those students listed as rejected on the Stanford thread. She was not an athlete, a legacy, or a URM. She did not win Intel or have any “national” ECs. Don’t know why they took her, but if she had posted on one of those chances threads, she probably would never have applied.</p>