<p>My sat scores fall right on the 50th percentile of a certain college. Can I assume that my scores will be considered to be average?</p>
<p>From reading the posts on this site, it seems like my sat scores are extremely under qualified.</p>
<p>Well, it depends on the school.</p>
<p>If you’re talking about a school like Harvard, then middle 50 percent doesn’t mean much because of how selective it is.</p>
<p>Not necessarily, no. </p>
<p>I mean, in a strict mathematical sense, yes, your scores will be at the average. But realize that the people with low SAT scores probably got in because they were exceptional in something else. Maybe they did some extensive research. Maybe they had to work their way through high school. Maybe they had a perfect GPA. My point is, just because you’re at the average doesn’t mean you have a better application than 50% of the people accepted.</p>
<p>Thank you for answering my question.</p>
<p>If you spend some time on a Naviance site - there are several that don’t require a login, so search these forums for links - you may get the impression, as I did, that the 50% point is really close to the bottom of the bulk of acceptances. The low scorers are few, but they score so low that they drag those averages down quite a bit. So being at the 50% point means you’re in the bottom quarter of the masses at that school.</p>
<p>^^^hes right. although it certainly depends on the school. like if it has 4 schools(a&s,engineering,education,nursing) the first two will usually bring up the sat scores, while the second two will bring them down.</p>
<p>Could anyone possibly find a link to Naviance? No puedo…</p>
<p>Re Post #6.</p>
<p>Based on what we have been told by admissions people at various schools, you may be wrong about nursing. I hope you are right. 
</p>
<p>^^unless ur going to the nursing flagship school of the world…its usually a LOT easier to get into. </p>
<p>link to naviance is [url=<a href=“http://www.naviance.com%5DHome%5B/url”>http://www.naviance.com]Home[/url</a>]</p>
<p>lol do a search on “naviance passwords” or naviance</p>
<p>and you’ll get links to some, but they are in completely different region. just go to the schools website and look at their school profile</p>
<p>Like previous posters, I think it really depends on the school and your application profile. DD was wait listed from a school where her stats put her at the 90th %-tile. But that made sense since she was OOS (applying to a very competitive public university), she was female (and the school was already heavily female), she had no hook at all (other than being a really accomplished student), and she needed substantial FA in order to attend.</p>
<p>Quote: "unless ur going to the nursing flagship school of the world…its usually a LOT easier to get into. "</p>
<p>Is this based on personal experience?</p>
<p>I am not talking about the "(nursing) flagship of the world’, whatever that is. </p>
<p>I know we were told that at schools like U Conn, UVM, UNH, UPitt, etc, that nursing students were required to have stats higher than the “average” accepted student.
Many nursing programs are competitive because they limit the size of the class due to instructor shortages.</p>
<p>Do you have examples of specific universities (or private colleges) where it is “a LOT esier to get into”. That would be helpful as D finalizes her list. She needs some safety schools. 
</p>
<p>These numbers are helpful when analyzed correctly. What needs to be understood is how many hooked students there are. I don’t mean students with a special talent, I mean those for whom admission requires a different set of standards: recruited athletes, legacies, URMs, staff kids, development and children of the rich/famous/powerful.</p>
<p>At the ivies, these kids comprise 40% or more of the class. If you are in one of these groups, you can have stats lower than what the school is looking for from those who are not. This means the average unhooked candidate has stats closer to the 75th percentile.</p>
<p>That’s the most important factor, but after that you need to factor in where you’re from–someone from NM, S. Dakota or Alaska can have lower stats than someone from NY, MA, CT or CA. Many schools are looking for more males and first generation/low income, siblings of current students often have an small advantage…so you also need to consider if you have a tip factor.</p>
<p>From what I have gathered, a good place to be is the 75th percentile SAT wise, as a large chunk of white and ORM applicants are likely to have scores of that caliber.</p>
<p>lol the nursing flagship school would be w.e the most prestigious one(international maybe lol). the “average student” definitely is different at each of those schools. </p>
<p>Schools like villanova are a lot easier for nursing because its not the mainstream school there. basically go through any schools lastest admission thread(sort by last year and most replies) and look for any1 with nursing and compare them to A&S/engineering/biz if they have it</p>
<p>I have no hooks, and I’m an asian female from MA. I’m definitely under qualified, so I’ll depend on recs, essays, and luck.</p>
<p>Thanks for your answers</p>