How much do test scores really matter?

[Anonymous]

It is true that at least half of the early slots go to legacies, URMs and athletes.

[Anonymous]

Last year the MD and VA Presidential Scholars had to get perfect scores (1600) on the math and verbal components to make the first cut. DC students, in contrast, needed to get only 1540. See:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/75/443889.page

This list at least provides some relevant information about other kids at DC's school who might be applying for the same colleges.

For the private schools in the greater DC area, one also needs to check all three jurisdiction's lists since sometimes there are students who live in VA who attend school in DC, for example.

[Anonymous]

Last year the MD and VA Presidential Scholars had to get perfect scores (1600) on the math and verbal components to make the first cut. DC students, in contrast, needed to get only 1540. See:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/75/443889.page

This list at least provides some relevant information about other kids at DC's school who might be applying for the same colleges.

For the private schools in the greater DC area, one also needs to check all three jurisdiction's lists since sometimes there are students who live in VA who attend school in DC, for example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is true that at least half of the early slots go to legacies, URMs and athletes.

There are many ways to determine who's best - not just SAT scores. And for the record, legacies have higher grades and SATs than the overall pool (not surprising since they are born with above average advantages). And, athletes and URM at the Ivies have scores well above the top 25% of students at state flagship schools and would easily qualify for the merit scholarships at pretty much everywhere that offers them. Harvard could never recruit a Stephen Curry because of the Ivy's individual and team academic index requirements. An Ivy "dumb jock" typically has higher scores and grades than the brainiac at UMD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Last year the MD and VA Presidential Scholars had to get perfect scores (1600) on the math and verbal components to make the first cut. DC students, in contrast, needed to get only 1540. See:
le.

There was no source cited for this claim, so it remains questionable.

[Anonymous]

That was not the case this year. I know people on the MD list who did not get perfect scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is true that at least half of the early slots go to legacies, URMs and athletes.

There are many ways to determine who's best - not just SAT scores. And for the record, legacies have higher grades and SATs than the overall pool (not surprising since they are born with above average advantages). And, athletes and URM at the Ivies have scores well above the top 25% of students at state flagship schools and would easily qualify for the merit scholarships at pretty much everywhere that offers them. Harvard could never recruit a Stephen Curry because of the Ivy's individual and team academic index requirements. An Ivy "dumb jock" typically has higher scores and grades than the brainiac at UMD.

Why do you post such nonsense when you can get accurate information via Google in a couple of minutes. If you look at the Common Data Sets for Harvard and UMD you would find that the bottom 25% of Harvard students (your "dumb jocks") have math SAT scores under 710 and critical reading scores below 700, whereas the too 25% of UMD students have math scores above 730 and critical reading scores above 690. So, on raw processing power the better students at UMD outperform the worse students at Harvard, some by quite a lot. If you did a little research you would also discover that Harvard deliberately builds into their classes "the happy bottom third" --- students who they expect to get B-s and Cs, but who are happy to be there because they are into sports, or are legacies or a just there for career reasons.

[Anonymous]

And let's not assume all recruited athletes are stupid. My DS had scores above the 75th percentile for his Ivy and had a top academic index. He committed because he loved the school and the sport, not because he was not otherwise competitive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That was not the case this year. I know people on the MD list who did not get perfect scores.

My DC is a nominee with perfect SAT scores. MCPS student.

[Anonymous]

I am the source of the cut off numbers last year in DC and MD. I reposted it here this year. My source was a phone call with a staffer who worked for the Presidential Scholarship committee. If that is not straight from the horse's mouth, I do not know what is.

[Anonymous]

Prep and motivation both can make a very big difference. Also SES because prep costs $. My DC did not care at all about the PSAT and was not a National Merit semifinalist. But DC got motivated for the SAT, took multiple practice tests, and just barely missed a perfect score on the first try.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is true that at least half of the early slots go to legacies, URMs and athletes.

There are many ways to determine who's best - not just SAT scores. And for the record, legacies have higher grades and SATs than the overall pool (not surprising since they are born with above average advantages). And, athletes and URM at the Ivies have scores well above the top 25% of students at state flagship schools and would easily qualify for the merit scholarships at pretty much everywhere that offers them. Harvard could never recruit a Stephen Curry because of the Ivy's individual and team academic index requirements. An Ivy "dumb jock" typically has higher scores and grades than the brainiac at UMD.

Did the legacy kids from your DC's school make this list?

[Anonymous]

The legacies who were accepted were not on the list. Having said that, I know they are strong students with excellent test scores -- perhaps just not quite good enough for this list. I think scores matter, but perfect scores don't matter.

[Anonymous]

I do think many colleges have thresholds, and applicants below those thresholds do not get as much consideration. A counselor told me that once. The volume of applications is so high that the admissions teams have to find a way to make cuts. I doubt that any school cuts at the 2300 level; maybe 2200.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do think many colleges have thresholds, and applicants below those thresholds do not get as much consideration. A counselor told me that once. The volume of applications is so high that the admissions teams have to find a way to make cuts. I doubt that any school cuts at the 2300 level; maybe 2200.

While I believe this is true to a certain effect, if you look at the scattergrams for various elite schools, the highest acceptance rates cluster towards the the far end of the testing and gpa range.