SAT distribution for top colleges--see how they hoover up the top scorers, leaving crumbs for the rest

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is unhinged.

How is someone "hoovering up" the "winners" when they take 25-30% of students with a certain score.

I'm sure the numbers would be much higher and more impressive if you drew the line at 1480.

This thread is also unhinged because who cares? Kids should go to good schools that are good fits for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The consensus is that at between 1% to 1.5% of all test takers, including super scorers, score above 1530. There were approximately 1.97 million test takers according to the college board. 19,700 to 29,500 SAT takers scored above 1530.

Data is based mostly on 2024-2025. SAT above 1530:
Harvard: 54% submitted an SAT (892 students). 65% scored above 1530. 580 students
Yale: 61% submitted an SAT (950 students). 50% scored above 1530. 475 students
Princeton: 56% submitted an SAT (783 students). 50% scored above 1530. 391 students
Columbia: Those applying to Columbia know why it isn't here
Brown: 61% submitted an SAT (1,046 students). 40% scored above a 1530. 418 students
Cornell: 44.9% submitted an SAT (1,583 students). 35% scored above a 1530. 554 students
Dartmouth: (2020 data) Dartmouth as you know started to hid its SAT scores post-covid. 57% submitted an SAT. 682 students. 30% score above a 1530. 204 students
UPenn: 50% submitted an SAT. 1,204 students. 80% scored above a 1530. 963 students.
MIT: 83% submitted an SAT. 918 students. 65% scored above 1530. 596 students
Stanford: 50% submitted an SAT. 857 students. 60% scored above a 1530. 514 students
Caltech: Pre-covid: 79% submitted an SAT. 186 students 75% scored above a 1530. 140 students.
Duke: 47% submitted an SAT. 824 students. 65% scored above a 1530. 535 students
Rice: 48% submitted an SAT score. 546 students. 60% scored above a 1530. 262 students.
Northwestern: 46% submitted an SAT score. 963 students. 55% scored above a 1530. 529 students.
Georgetown: 78% submitted an SAT score. 1232 students. 30% scored above a 1530. 369 students.
Notre Dame: 684 submitted an SAT score. 30% scored above a 1530. 205 students.
Vanderbilt: 27% submitted an SAT score. 447 students. 60% scored above a 1530. 268 students.
Emory: 43% submitted an SAT score. 623 students. 30% scored above a 1530. 186 students.
WashU: 29% submitted an SAT score. 538 students. 60% scored above a 1530. 322 students.
Johns Hopkins 50% submitted an SAT score. 691 students. 75% scored above a 1530. 518 students
NYU: 28% submitted an SAT score. 1598 students. 35% scored above a 1530. 559 students.
Georgia Tech: 77% submitted an SAT score. 2,966 students. 25% scored above a 1530. 741 students.
USC: 30% submitted an SAT score. 1044 students. 55% scored above a 1530. 574 students.
Illinois: 41% submitted an SAT score. 3,719 students. 15% scored above a 1530. 550 students.
UMichigan: 51% submitted an SAT score. 3,697 students. 25% scored above a 1530. 924 students.
Tufts: 38% submitted an SAT score. 687 students. 30% scored above a 1530. 206 students
Northeastern: 24% submitted an SAT score. 653 students. 20% scored above a 1530. 130 students
Boston University: 33% submitted an SAT score. 1,093 students. 25% scored above a 1530. 273 students
Boston College: 28% submitted an SAT score. 662 students. 20% scored above a 1530. 132 students.
Univ of Washington: 1,069 submitted an SAT score. 10% scored above 1530. 106 students
UVA: 45% submitted an SAT score. 1,805 students. 15% scored above a 1530. 270 students.
UNC: 28% submitted an SAT score. 1,320 students. 25% scored above a 1530. 330 students.
Williams College: 35% submitted an SAT score. 190 students. 55% scored above a 1530. 104 students.
Amherst College. 39% submitted an SAT score. 187 students. 55% scored above a 1530. 103 students

Pomona, Harvey Mudd, Claremont-McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps: Average about 50-75 students each who score above 1530. Purdue's SAT 75% is only 1470, but 9000 submitted an SAT. I estimate that at least 500 students there have an SAT above 1530. 200-250 total.

This figure doesn't include those SAT scorers above 1530 who enroll at UC Berkeley or UCLA. Pre-covid, combined they had about 2,500 SAT scorers above 1530.

Chances are very good that if you scored above 1530 on an SAT you are attending one of these colleges.

using the # of high scorers(above 1530) as a % of total incoming freshman class,
The winners, Ranked by the highest % of 1530+ are:

MIT, 593/1106=53%
Caltech 140/263= 53%
Penn, 963/2421=40%
Hopkins 518/1418=36%
Harvard 580/1647=35%
Duke 535/1740 = 30.7%
Yale 475/1551=30.6%
Stanford 514/1693 = 30.3
Princeton 391/1411=27%
Northwestern 529/2100=25%
Brown 418/1768= 24%
Georgetown 369/1600=23%

All of the rest on the OP's list are under 20%, including Dartmouth at 17%, Cornell at 16%, UVA at 7%

Interesting which schools changed the most with TO. We ranked schools by SAT pre-TO when our DS2020 applied.
MIT led(we did not look at caltech), no surprise .
After MIT it was Yale Princeton Stanford tied for the next spot then Harvard Penn Duke…then a drop to hopkins Brown NW …and Dartmouth and Cornell were still the lowest ivies but they were much closer, and Vanderbilt had scores up in ivy-level. interesting how admissions priorities changed the makeup of the class.

hopkins was probably top 5 pre test optional:

https://hub.jhu.edu/2019/08/22/class-of-2023-by-the-numbers/

no way it was behind duke and penn with a 1480 to 1550 enrolled SAT range

WRONG. Duke had 55%submit SAT pre-TO with 25-75th of 1480-1570. Penn had 62% submit SAT with 1470-1560. Hopkins was more like Brown pre TO, 1450-1550 with 50% SAT. Weaker applicants leaned to ACt preTO, and hopkins with ED1&2 has always had slightly weaker kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why did OP randomly pick 1530? What’s the significance?

99th%ile is 1530 as of 2023 and beyond

[Anonymous]

If 1530 is 99%, how many students get 1560? Or 1580?

[Anonymous]

Everyone on hear wants to find a way to predict that their kid will get admitted to a scarce resource/ivy/t20. But holistic is unpredictable. 1590 is not a guarantee for admission. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why did OP randomly pick 1530? What’s the significance?

99th%ile is 1530 as of 2023 and beyond

AOs aren't looking for 99% on SAT, it's a small factor that is considered, but 95% is enough to validate a GPA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The consensus is that at between 1% to 1.5% of all test takers, including super scorers, score above 1530. There were approximately 1.97 million test takers according to the college board. 19,700 to 29,500 SAT takers scored above 1530.

Data is based mostly on 2024-2025. SAT above 1530:
Harvard: 54% submitted an SAT (892 students). 65% scored above 1530. 580 students
Yale: 61% submitted an SAT (950 students). 50% scored above 1530. 475 students
Princeton: 56% submitted an SAT (783 students). 50% scored above 1530. 391 students
Columbia: Those applying to Columbia know why it isn't here
Brown: 61% submitted an SAT (1,046 students). 40% scored above a 1530. 418 students
Cornell: 44.9% submitted an SAT (1,583 students). 35% scored above a 1530. 554 students
Dartmouth: (2020 data) Dartmouth as you know started to hid its SAT scores post-covid. 57% submitted an SAT. 682 students. 30% score above a 1530. 204 students
UPenn: 50% submitted an SAT. 1,204 students. 80% scored above a 1530. 963 students.
MIT: 83% submitted an SAT. 918 students. 65% scored above 1530. 596 students
Stanford: 50% submitted an SAT. 857 students. 60% scored above a 1530. 514 students
Caltech: Pre-covid: 79% submitted an SAT. 186 students 75% scored above a 1530. 140 students.
Duke: 47% submitted an SAT. 824 students. 65% scored above a 1530. 535 students
Rice: 48% submitted an SAT score. 546 students. 60% scored above a 1530. 262 students.
Northwestern: 46% submitted an SAT score. 963 students. 55% scored above a 1530. 529 students.
Georgetown: 78% submitted an SAT score. 1232 students. 30% scored above a 1530. 369 students.
Notre Dame: 684 submitted an SAT score. 30% scored above a 1530. 205 students.
Vanderbilt: 27% submitted an SAT score. 447 students. 60% scored above a 1530. 268 students.
Emory: 43% submitted an SAT score. 623 students. 30% scored above a 1530. 186 students.
WashU: 29% submitted an SAT score. 538 students. 60% scored above a 1530. 322 students.
Johns Hopkins 50% submitted an SAT score. 691 students. 75% scored above a 1530. 518 students
NYU: 28% submitted an SAT score. 1598 students. 35% scored above a 1530. 559 students.
Georgia Tech: 77% submitted an SAT score. 2,966 students. 25% scored above a 1530. 741 students.
USC: 30% submitted an SAT score. 1044 students. 55% scored above a 1530. 574 students.
Illinois: 41% submitted an SAT score. 3,719 students. 15% scored above a 1530. 550 students.
UMichigan: 51% submitted an SAT score. 3,697 students. 25% scored above a 1530. 924 students.
Tufts: 38% submitted an SAT score. 687 students. 30% scored above a 1530. 206 students
Northeastern: 24% submitted an SAT score. 653 students. 20% scored above a 1530. 130 students
Boston University: 33% submitted an SAT score. 1,093 students. 25% scored above a 1530. 273 students
Boston College: 28% submitted an SAT score. 662 students. 20% scored above a 1530. 132 students.
Univ of Washington: 1,069 submitted an SAT score. 10% scored above 1530. 106 students
UVA: 45% submitted an SAT score. 1,805 students. 15% scored above a 1530. 270 students.
UNC: 28% submitted an SAT score. 1,320 students. 25% scored above a 1530. 330 students.
Williams College: 35% submitted an SAT score. 190 students. 55% scored above a 1530. 104 students.
Amherst College. 39% submitted an SAT score. 187 students. 55% scored above a 1530. 103 students

Pomona, Harvey Mudd, Claremont-McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps: Average about 50-75 students each who score above 1530. Purdue's SAT 75% is only 1470, but 9000 submitted an SAT. I estimate that at least 500 students there have an SAT above 1530. 200-250 total.

This figure doesn't include those SAT scorers above 1530 who enroll at UC Berkeley or UCLA. Pre-covid, combined they had about 2,500 SAT scorers above 1530.

Chances are very good that if you scored above 1530 on an SAT you are attending one of these colleges.

using the # of high scorers(above 1530) as a % of total incoming freshman class,
The winners, Ranked by the highest % of 1530+ are:

MIT, 593/1106=53%
Caltech 140/263= 53%
Penn, 963/2421=40%
Hopkins 518/1418=36%
Harvard 580/1647=35%
Duke 535/1740 = 30.7%
Yale 475/1551=30.6%
Stanford 514/1693 = 30.3
Princeton 391/1411=27%
Northwestern 529/2100=25%
Brown 418/1768= 24%
Georgetown 369/1600=23%

All of the rest on the OP's list are under 20%, including Dartmouth at 17%, Cornell at 16%, UVA at 7%

Interesting which schools changed the most with TO. We ranked schools by SAT pre-TO when our DS2020 applied.
MIT led(we did not look at caltech), no surprise .
After MIT it was Yale Princeton Stanford tied for the next spot then Harvard Penn Duke…then a drop to hopkins Brown NW …and Dartmouth and Cornell were still the lowest ivies but they were much closer, and Vanderbilt had scores up in ivy-level. interesting how admissions priorities changed the makeup of the class.

hopkins was probably top 5 pre test optional:

https://hub.jhu.edu/2019/08/22/class-of-2023-by-the-numbers/

no way it was behind duke and penn with a 1480 to 1550 enrolled SAT range

WRONG. Duke had 55%submit SAT pre-TO with 25-75th of 1480-1570. Penn had 62% submit SAT with 1470-1560. Hopkins was more like Brown pre TO, 1450-1550 with 50% SAT. Weaker applicants leaned to ACt preTO, and hopkins with ED1&2 has always had slightly weaker kids

No you are wrong clown. The link above literally shows Hopkins with 1480 to 1550 enrolled. Penn had 1460 to 1570 last year before TO: https://upenn.app.box.com/s/4eme94dckyvxz6bctzuhfi8titbzwvvt

So a wash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The consensus is that at between 1% to 1.5% of all test takers, including super scorers, score above 1530. There were approximately 1.97 million test takers according to the college board. 19,700 to 29,500 SAT takers scored above 1530.

Data is based mostly on 2024-2025. SAT above 1530:
Harvard: 54% submitted an SAT (892 students). 65% scored above 1530. 580 students
Yale: 61% submitted an SAT (950 students). 50% scored above 1530. 475 students
Princeton: 56% submitted an SAT (783 students). 50% scored above 1530. 391 students
Columbia: Those applying to Columbia know why it isn't here
Brown: 61% submitted an SAT (1,046 students). 40% scored above a 1530. 418 students
Cornell: 44.9% submitted an SAT (1,583 students). 35% scored above a 1530. 554 students
Dartmouth: (2020 data) Dartmouth as you know started to hid its SAT scores post-covid. 57% submitted an SAT. 682 students. 30% score above a 1530. 204 students
UPenn: 50% submitted an SAT. 1,204 students. 80% scored above a 1530. 963 students.
MIT: 83% submitted an SAT. 918 students. 65% scored above 1530. 596 students
Stanford: 50% submitted an SAT. 857 students. 60% scored above a 1530. 514 students
Caltech: Pre-covid: 79% submitted an SAT. 186 students 75% scored above a 1530. 140 students.
Duke: 47% submitted an SAT. 824 students. 65% scored above a 1530. 535 students
Rice: 48% submitted an SAT score. 546 students. 60% scored above a 1530. 262 students.
Northwestern: 46% submitted an SAT score. 963 students. 55% scored above a 1530. 529 students.
Georgetown: 78% submitted an SAT score. 1232 students. 30% scored above a 1530. 369 students.
Notre Dame: 684 submitted an SAT score. 30% scored above a 1530. 205 students.
Vanderbilt: 27% submitted an SAT score. 447 students. 60% scored above a 1530. 268 students.
Emory: 43% submitted an SAT score. 623 students. 30% scored above a 1530. 186 students.
WashU: 29% submitted an SAT score. 538 students. 60% scored above a 1530. 322 students.
Johns Hopkins 50% submitted an SAT score. 691 students. 75% scored above a 1530. 518 students
NYU: 28% submitted an SAT score. 1598 students. 35% scored above a 1530. 559 students.
Georgia Tech: 77% submitted an SAT score. 2,966 students. 25% scored above a 1530. 741 students.
USC: 30% submitted an SAT score. 1044 students. 55% scored above a 1530. 574 students.
Illinois: 41% submitted an SAT score. 3,719 students. 15% scored above a 1530. 550 students.
UMichigan: 51% submitted an SAT score. 3,697 students. 25% scored above a 1530. 924 students.
Tufts: 38% submitted an SAT score. 687 students. 30% scored above a 1530. 206 students
Northeastern: 24% submitted an SAT score. 653 students. 20% scored above a 1530. 130 students
Boston University: 33% submitted an SAT score. 1,093 students. 25% scored above a 1530. 273 students
Boston College: 28% submitted an SAT score. 662 students. 20% scored above a 1530. 132 students.
Univ of Washington: 1,069 submitted an SAT score. 10% scored above 1530. 106 students
UVA: 45% submitted an SAT score. 1,805 students. 15% scored above a 1530. 270 students.
UNC: 28% submitted an SAT score. 1,320 students. 25% scored above a 1530. 330 students.
Williams College: 35% submitted an SAT score. 190 students. 55% scored above a 1530. 104 students.
Amherst College. 39% submitted an SAT score. 187 students. 55% scored above a 1530. 103 students

Pomona, Harvey Mudd, Claremont-McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps: Average about 50-75 students each who score above 1530. Purdue's SAT 75% is only 1470, but 9000 submitted an SAT. I estimate that at least 500 students there have an SAT above 1530. 200-250 total.

This figure doesn't include those SAT scorers above 1530 who enroll at UC Berkeley or UCLA. Pre-covid, combined they had about 2,500 SAT scorers above 1530.

Chances are very good that if you scored above 1530 on an SAT you are attending one of these colleges.

using the # of high scorers(above 1530) as a % of total incoming freshman class,
The winners, Ranked by the highest % of 1530+ are:

MIT, 593/1106=53%
Caltech 140/263= 53%
Penn, 963/2421=40%
Hopkins 518/1418=36%
Harvard 580/1647=35%
Duke 535/1740 = 30.7%
Yale 475/1551=30.6%
Stanford 514/1693 = 30.3
Princeton 391/1411=27%
Northwestern 529/2100=25%
Brown 418/1768= 24%
Georgetown 369/1600=23%

All of the rest on the OP's list are under 20%, including Dartmouth at 17%, Cornell at 16%, UVA at 7%

Interesting which schools changed the most with TO. We ranked schools by SAT pre-TO when our DS2020 applied.
MIT led(we did not look at caltech), no surprise .
After MIT it was Yale Princeton Stanford tied for the next spot then Harvard Penn Duke…then a drop to hopkins Brown NW …and Dartmouth and Cornell were still the lowest ivies but they were much closer, and Vanderbilt had scores up in ivy-level. interesting how admissions priorities changed the makeup of the class.

hopkins was probably top 5 pre test optional:

https://hub.jhu.edu/2019/08/22/class-of-2023-by-the-numbers/

no way it was behind duke and penn with a 1480 to 1550 enrolled SAT range

WRONG. Duke had 55%submit SAT pre-TO with 25-75th of 1480-1570. Penn had 62% submit SAT with 1470-1560. Hopkins was more like Brown pre TO, 1450-1550 with 50% SAT. Weaker applicants leaned to ACt preTO, and hopkins with ED1&2 has always had slightly weaker kids

No you are wrong clown. The link above literally shows Hopkins with 1480 to 1550 enrolled. Penn had 1460 to 1570 last year before TO: https://upenn.app.box.com/s/4eme94dckyvxz6bctzuhfi8titbzwvvt

So a wash.

Duke with 1480 to 1560 last year before test optional with an eregious 381 taken from waitlist: https://provost.duke.edu/sites/default/files/CDS_2020-2021_0.pdf

Worse than any ED.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why did OP randomly pick 1530? What’s the significance?

99th%ile is 1530 as of 2023 and beyond

Which is also a 35 ACT. The SAT/ACT concordance has 35 as 1530-1560.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone on hear wants to find a way to predict that their kid will get admitted to a scarce resource/ivy/t20. But holistic is unpredictable. 1590 is not a guarantee for admission. Sorry.

I have never seen a 1590 having bad college admissions result. Definitely not guarantee for HYPMS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why did OP randomly pick 1530? What’s the significance?

99th%ile is 1530 as of 2023 and beyond

AOs aren't looking for 99% on SAT, it's a small factor that is considered, but 95% is enough to validate a GPA.

This is not true for T20. 95 percentile makes it unlikely for T20.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread is unhinged.

How is someone "hoovering up" the "winners" when they take 25-30% of students with a certain score.

I'm sure the numbers would be much higher and more impressive if you drew the line at 1480.

This thread is also unhinged because who cares? Kids should go to good schools that are good fits for them.

Plus, every child is gifted, in their own way. The SAT is essentially meaningless anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid submitted a 1550 to UVA and was rejected.

Did they have 4 years of HS foreign languages and 4 years of English? This is key for uva.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid submitted a 1550 to UVA and was rejected.

Did they have 4 years of HS foreign languages and 4 years of English? This is key for uva.

DP. You are correct however it appears that PP is simply responding to the thread topic regarding SAT score and selective school acceptance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone on hear wants to find a way to predict that their kid will get admitted to a scarce resource/ivy/t20. But holistic is unpredictable. 1590 is not a guarantee for admission. Sorry.

I have never seen a 1590 having bad college admissions result. Definitely not guarantee for HYPMS.

I think the import of looking at these SAT distributions is that while a 1530 doesn't guarantee you a top 20, it is as close of a predictor than anything else.