<p>" I did wonder if perhaps SATs are a factor but after being on CC where all the prep kids seem to easily pull a high 90ies score I have begun to think that nearly everyone can get that too."</p>
<p>The posters on CC are an unusual lot, or they exaggerate. On the other hand, when hundreds of thousands of students take an exam, many students can be in the top %s. </p>
<p>In the class of 2010, over 1.5 million seniors took the SAT [2010</a> SAT Trends](<a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/data-reports-research/sat/cb-seniors-2010/tables]2010”>http://professionals.collegeboard.com/data-reports-research/sat/cb-seniors-2010/tables). Students who score above 700 have a shot at admission to the Ivy League, judging from the published score ranges. A 700 in Critical Reading puts a student in the top 5% of SAT test takers in 2010 <a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat-percentile-ranks-2010.pdf[/url]”>http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat-percentile-ranks-2010.pdf</a>. 5% of 1,500,000 students = 75,000 students. I believe that’s more students than the Ivy League has openings for freshmen. I don’t know how many students take only the ACT, so there are more top scorers in that pool.</p>
<p>This is a very nerdy post, but my point is this: even if you limit eligibility to the “top 5% of scorers,” more students score well than the Ivy League can admit. If your child wins admission to an Ivy League school, that’s great–but I’ve seen really smart, impressive kids from our town not win admission.</p>