Statements by AO's or others about SAT/ACT score cutoffs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last cycle, Vanderbilt emissions officer told us as part of their August tours not to submit below a 34. “Don’t submit anything that you would not think improves your admission chances.”

33 is neutral and does not improve.

Did they say anything about SAT scores?

Our high rigor, 4.0 UW/4.5W, lots of arts and a sport kid did not get in with a 1520. TO wasn’t great for them.

A lot of private counselors recommend submitting if at or above 50 percentile. Depending on schools, 1520 may not be enough for 50 percentile.

That's not how it works. 1520 is absolutely high enough to tick the box no matter it's 50 percentile or not. It's laughable if anyone thinks that this kid was not accepted because of SAT.

Yes. Agree that it wasn’t the score that got them denied. They submitted. I think that TO hurt them because so many kids that didn’t submit got in. Just the way it goes I guess. We thought they had a good shot with the whole package.

Our 1520/4.0 kid — who was applying in 2023 — had similar results in being waitlisted or denied at many top schools that were taking a ton of test-optional kids. 2023 was a weird year in which many top colleges were publicly promising to admit a large percentageof test-optional applicants — so there were fewer available slots for kids who actually submitted scores. (Never mind all the ED applicants and sports recruits, etc.) Now, for the '26 cycle and beyond, that might have receded a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last cycle, Vanderbilt emissions officer told us as part of their August tours not to submit below a 34. “Don’t submit anything that you would not think improves your admission chances.”

33 is neutral and does not improve.

Did they say anything about SAT scores?

Our high rigor, 4.0 UW/4.5W, lots of arts and a sport kid did not get in with a 1520. TO wasn’t great for them.

A lot of private counselors recommend submitting if at or above 50 percentile. Depending on schools, 1520 may not be enough for 50 percentile.

That's not how it works. 1520 is absolutely high enough to tick the box no matter it's 50 percentile or not. It's laughable if anyone thinks that this kid was not accepted because of SAT.

Yes. Agree that it wasn’t the score that got them denied. They submitted. I think that TO hurt them because so many kids that didn’t submit got in. Just the way it goes I guess. We thought they had a good shot with the whole package.

Our 1520/4.0 kid — who was applying in 2023 — had similar results in being waitlisted or denied at many top schools that were taking a ton of test-optional kids. 2023 was a weird year in which many top colleges were publicly promising to admit a large percentageof test-optional applicants — so there were fewer available slots for kids who actually submitted scores. (Never mind all the ED applicants and sports recruits, etc.) Now, for the '26 cycle and beyond, that might have receded a bit.

Yes, the tide has turned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last cycle, Vanderbilt emissions officer told us as part of their August tours not to submit below a 34. “Don’t submit anything that you would not think improves your admission chances.”

33 is neutral and does not improve.

Did they say anything about SAT scores?

Our high rigor, 4.0 UW/4.5W, lots of arts and a sport kid did not get in with a 1520. TO wasn’t great for them.

A lot of private counselors recommend submitting if at or above 50 percentile. Depending on schools, 1520 may not be enough for 50 percentile.

That's not how it works. 1520 is absolutely high enough to tick the box no matter it's 50 percentile or not. It's laughable if anyone thinks that this kid was not accepted because of SAT.

Yes. Agree that it wasn’t the score that got them denied. They submitted. I think that TO hurt them because so many kids that didn’t submit got in. Just the way it goes I guess. We thought they had a good shot with the whole package.

Our 1520/4.0 kid — who was applying in 2023 — had similar results in being waitlisted or denied at many top schools that were taking a ton of test-optional kids. 2023 was a weird year in which many top colleges were publicly promising to admit a large percentageof test-optional applicants — so there were fewer available slots for kids who actually submitted scores. (Never mind all the ED applicants and sports recruits, etc.) Now, for the '26 cycle and beyond, that might have receded a bit.

Exactly what happened to my kid, too. Same score and highest rigor possible.

[Anonymous]

Wash U on 2 different visits said not to submit if lower than 1500. There’s a thread from last spring where I asked about submitting a 1490 in that situation. Responses were all over the place. Because no one here actually knows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:any statements made by Duke?

Take this for what it’s worth: I have had multiple college counselors (private and school ones) all tell me that Duke wants to see scores. They like staying TO for the numbers game and to cook their acceptance rates (the more applications they receive the better because it makes their acceptance rate lower).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last cycle, Vanderbilt emissions officer told us as part of their August tours not to submit below a 34. “Don’t submit anything that you would not think improves your admission chances.”

33 is neutral and does not improve.

Did they say anything about SAT scores?

Our high rigor, 4.0 UW/4.5W, lots of arts and a sport kid did not get in with a 1520. TO wasn’t great for them.

A lot of private counselors recommend submitting if at or above 50 percentile. Depending on schools, 1520 may not be enough for 50 percentile.

That's not how it works. 1520 is absolutely high enough to tick the box no matter it's 50 percentile or not. It's laughable if anyone thinks that this kid was not accepted because of SAT.

Yes. Agree that it wasn’t the score that got them denied. They submitted. I think that TO hurt them because so many kids that didn’t submit got in. Just the way it goes I guess. We thought they had a good shot with the whole package.

Our 1520/4.0 kid — who was applying in 2023 — had similar results in being waitlisted or denied at many top schools that were taking a ton of test-optional kids. 2023 was a weird year in which many top colleges were publicly promising to admit a large percentageof test-optional applicants — so there were fewer available slots for kids who actually submitted scores. (Never mind all the ED applicants and sports recruits, etc.) Now, for the '26 cycle and beyond, that might have receded a bit.

NP. I agree with this take. There were a few years where some admission offices were emphatic about scores being truly optional. In addition, test optional applicants are more likely to yield. However, with the return to tests required at top schools, while some will remain optional, it will be interesting to see the % of submitters enrolled going forward. Unfortunately the data lag is long.