SAT concordance table - compare old and new SAT scores

Test Preparation
581

@trackmbe3 thanks that’s a great idea. I’m going to do that.

So there seems to be a general consensus that it’s easier to score high on the ACT.

So now that the results are in this year with the new SAT, does anyone have a feel for how the colleges are applying this reality to their decisions??

Does it look like they are taking lower SAT scores (based on the concordance tables) than ACT scores? Has anyone done this analysis? I think the data is there, or will be there soon enough that maybe we can figure this out.

582

@Luyanzzz No, you do not need to take both tests. Schools will accept either one. The issue here is how a specific score on the ACT compares to an SAT score. Until the new concordance tables come out this summer, we only have the one issued by CollegeBoard a few years ago, the accuracy of which is highly debatable (and I think the AO’s know that).

583

A LOT of implications to the concordance table revisit. I suspect a lot of GCs/students in 2019 are leaning towards ACT for reasons mentioned above.

If the change is 1 point which it seems might be reasonable, then the question becomes what do colleges do with this info. For the kids, they will already have much of their standardized testing behind them or so they hoped. Will be very interesting to follow. Seems like schools have already taken this into account to some degree.

584

@collegemomjam Unfortunately it looks to me that more and more people take both and send the highest score. I said unfortunately because that adds more testing and more money one needs to spend. I live in SAT land and rarely anyone would take the ACT. This year most of my D’s friends took it. From what I see I do not believe SAT is more valuable but I do not work in admission either. Just from what I see around here.

585

@collegemomjam If you look at the early information out of the colleges, the 75th percentile for their new SAT scores are always lower than the old SAT even when the ACT scores didn’t change from year to year. To most of us on this thread, that means that the concordance table is off. If you just look at your Penn State numbers, the math 75th percentile went from 780 to 750. This year’s kids aren’t less bright. I’m not sure what Penn State’s ACT numbers look like but, hypothetically, if the 75th percentile ACT was 34 both times then it’s possible that the concorded SAT score went from 780 to 750 with the new test.

I still think choosing a test depends on the student. BUT, for a stellar student, I think they should go SAT unless they can get a 36 on the ACT. Getting a mid-1500 score just seems more impressive to me. There seem to be fewer of those scores and they are almost always in the top 25% of applicants. For some kids, though, they’ll just never get there on the SAT. I have a feeling our D21 won’t be able to accomplish that score. At some point, the kids just really have to be super strong readers to deal with the English section of the SAT. Studying only does so much. I will probably have her take the ACT and shoot for a 34.

A little off topic but interesting nonetheless is the fact that a 35.5 ACT is rounded up to a 36. There’s no such rounding on the SAT. So, right now, the only “36” on the SAT according to the concordance table is a 1600. That doesn’t make sense. At the very least, that 36 should be moved down to 1590 (or even 1580).

586

@tR5674 Once the new concordance tables are released in the summer, I would imagine that colleges would use it for the class of 2019. I can’t imagine they would still reference the old one which was haphazardly pulled together by CB without any input/involvement of the ACT folks.

587

@homerdog I’m not the betting kind, but I would put some money down on a 36 converting to a 1580, and shifting down accordingly, with some muddling and crunching with the 34 number.

588

This alone throws off perceptions at schools that don’t require all scores because students consider the table in deciding which score is higher.

@collegemomjam I’m not sure colleges know. Compare Mahoney’s statements for 2021 and 2022:
http://bcheights.com/2017/03/20/9200-admitted-class-2021/

http://bcheights.com/2018/01/17/3170-admitted-early-action-class-2022/

Is this year’s big increase in SAT scores at BC due to the nature of the admissions season, with apps up everywhere? Or related to the new test? With the overenrollment last year, BC accepted 800 fewer students this year - it seems to me that may have affected the average stated here. It’ll be interesting to see what the enrolled data looks like in the fall, whether it’s also higher than last year or whether the difference levels off.

589

@evergreen5 Yeah, I think BC just had so many kids with great scores apply and so they had the opportunity to admit kids with higher scores. It’s weird that BC thinks the test scores went up because of kids adapting to the new test. I think the test is still too new for kids to have already adapted so much that scores have gone up. That doesn’t make sense to me. I really think the field is just more competitive at BC than it was last year and the year before. Maybe it makes more sense for us to look at schools that have seen less of an increase in apps submitted if we really want to compare apples to apples on accepted students’ scores.

590

This is all great info! I took the liberty to do a little more analysis…

I do agree, btw, that BC’s jump in SAT score might have more to do with the fact that they accepted less kids and the applicants might be stronger. But the new test might also be a factor. Impossible to ever know for sure.

But as it relates to the colleges applying the concordance tables to their acceptance decisions.

In the BC stats you posted, the average 33 actually correlates to a 1490-1510. But BC’s average is a 1453. So that might suggest that they are taking into consideration, possibly by accident, the fact that the SAT is a harder test and that the concordance tables might be off.

Before I read these BC posts (which ironically, is my alma mater!), I pulled up Villanova’s stats from this year because I remembered that they posted the ranges. Here they are for their ACCEPTED students:

ACT range: 32-34
SAT range: 1380-1490

So, this is consistent with what I noted about BC because here’s how those scores convert using the chart:

32 = 1450-1480
34 = 1520-1550

So if in actuality their accepted SAT takers range was 1380-1490, then they are taking lower SAT scores than ACT scores, if you go by the chart.

I suspect that the powers that be will figure this out and if there are new concordance tables made, we may see a change correlating the new SAT scores with higher ACT scores, but who knows for sure. This is just not black and white!!

As it relates to the 36 being only compared to a 1600 (and that not being fair because of rounding, which I agree is not fair)…I actually think a lot of schools plop the individual section scores in a spreadsheet and they might not superscore the way we think they do…and they in actuality might use 35.25 vs. 34.75 in the end because the rounding can really make a big difference when it comes down to the hairsplitting that might be done in an attempt to be as fair as possible in evaluating the objective application components. This is just my hunch. Or they might have a column for “composit” which is where the 36 would be, but the other four columns would still be on there.

591

" BUT, for a stellar student, I think they should go SAT unless they can get a 36 on the ACT."

Not true. The ACT has not changed, the SAT has. Getting a 35 or 36 on ACT is amazing and impresses colleges equally. It’s also not true that too colleges favor SAT. This may have been the case in the past, but not now. All these SAT changes and incorrect concordance are a debocle and AOs don’t know what to do with these SAT score dispersions from 2017-2018 admits. The ACT has been constant and unchanging and a metric they can count on.

Untill I see real data that more kids in the last couple of years (on a percentage of test taker basis) are getting 35/36, I won’t believe it. Likely people are seeing more volume because SAT land has now become ACT land and the number of ACT only test takers are on the rise.

592

@collegemomjam By the way, just for full info, above I quoted the article about 2022 EA because I was looking at Mahoney’s statements, but perhaps the overall (EA+RD) stats suggest the more competitive applicant pool/fewer #accepted is to blame for the increase, because the overall admitted student ACT also went up from 32 to 33, apparently.

https://bcheights.com/2018/03/26/bc-accepts-27-percent-2022-applicants/

593

The reality of the matter (in my east coast neck of the woods anyway) is that people want to know what a specific ACT score converts to on an SAT chart. They want to know whether dear Johnny’s ACT 34 is more like a 1550 SAT (per the current concordance table) or a 1500 SAT (as some numbers from the college acceptance pool suggest).

594

University of Chicago doesn’t publish its stats at this time, but their Admissions dean told accepted students that the average SAT was well above 1500 (or some such wording). From that you can guess anywhere from 1500 to 1525. Last year it was right below 1500. UChicago saw a 4,000 applicant increase this year over last and a corresponding 1.5% drop in admit rate. Last year’s mid 50 was 32-35 for ACT and 1460-1550 for SAT. Have no idea how the latter breaks down into old vs. new. UChicago continues to accept the old for a couple more years, although at this point - and esp. for Class of 2023 (High school class of 2019) they’ll be seeing almost 100% new SAT scores.

595

@collegemomjam

“My second daughter just did old SAT and studied her butt off and got a 1540.”

Did you say your daughter got into Dartmouth with old SAT 1540, or was that a typo?

596

My daughter got into Dartmouth with a 1540 CR/M score. 2270 when you count writing. I was trying to keep it more or less apples to apples, and I also think the CR and M counted more anyway. She is at Georgetown now and they didn’t count the writing, only CR and M.

597

Please refer to the link below SAT to ACT Conversion Chart for the BYU admission.
It looked like they raised the bar for SAT that were administered after March 1, 2016.

https://admissions.byu.edu/sat-act-conversion-chart

598

The following stats are for UC Berkeley.

I got these from the Berkeley website, and the numbers are consistent to what were discussed here.
ACT (25th & 75th percentiles) 30-34
SAT Composite (25th & 75th percentiles) 1290-1480
SAT Math Section (25th & 75th percentiles) 640-760
SAT Evidence-Based Reading & Writing Section (25th & 75th percentiles) 640-730

However, I also got these from a tutoring presentation slide. So I am a bit confused now.
Data Points: 75th Percentile
GPA 4.30
ACT 34
SAT 1560

599

@StevenToCollege I think that’s just the college board’s concordance chart for the New SAT. BYU didn’t make up their own concordances.

600

just wanted to add my 2 cents:
My kid got a 35 on his ACT on the second attempt, First attempt was 33 with zero prep work. Actually 35.25 if you want to be more accurate. He got 1500/1520/1540 on his 3 SAT tries. He never took a prep class even though all of his friends did, as there are about 10 SAT prep classes within a couple mile radius of our house. Only thing he ever did was take practice exams for prep. The SAT reading portion is definitely harder than the ACT reading. Math is pretty much the same for both.

Even with his relatively high numbers he took the L from Northwestern, Vandy and USC even though he was past the 75th percentile at all the schools. These were all schools that we thought he would have a decent chance of getting into in most other years.