<p>I think SAT metrics should not really be used in comparing relatively small specialized schools with large diverse universities that may comprise 10 or more individual colleges. Why? Because kids self-select their peer group and academic focus. The seniors in the Electrical Engineering program at a large state public have little to do with the kids in the Sports Management program…yet SAT averages blend it all together. </p>
<p>You can see this more clearly if you start looking at GRE scores of a cross-section of schools, which are available for specific colleges or even programs. It is interesting, for example, that the top-30 schools in engineering all have GRE quant scores within 20 points of each other…no real meaningful differences yet you’d never know that by blindly using SAT scores across the whole school.</p>