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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

And the differences go away completely when you look at the Wes scores for submitters only—the apples to apples comparison. In fact, Wesleyan jumps to the top of the list on SAT (and is the same as Bowdoin on ACT).

SAT Composite percentile 25th - 50th - 75th
Wesleyan: 1480 - 1520 - 1560
Bowdoin: 1470 - 1510 - 1530
Middlebury: 1440 - 1500 - 1530

ACT Composite 25th - 50th - 75th
Wesleyan: 33 - 34 - 35 
Bowdoin: 33 - 34 - 35
Middlebury: 33 - 34 - 34
[/quote]

Since we are already down in the weeds:
A) The Wesleyan data cited here is for admitted students. This is different than the test score data reported in the CDS and displayed above for Bowdoin and Middlebury, which is for matriculating students. Usually for a school in the position of Wesleyan (or any of the elite SLACs for that matter), admitted student data shows higher test scores, class ranks, etc. than matriculating student data, because many admitted students have also applied to, been accepted at, and will attend other "more desirable" schools such as Ivies. 
B) It is incorrect to add together SAT subscores at the 25th - 50th - 75th percentile levels to infer composite scores at those levels. Look at the CDS data for any of these schools where both subscores and composite scores are reported-the composite score at the 75th percentile level is lower than the sum of the 75th percentile levels, and the composite at the 25th percentile level is higher than the sum of the 25th percentile level subscores. This is related to the difference between joint and marginal distributions.

"The narcissism of small differences" comes to mind here...
[/quote]

Points taken, and agreed. The larger point is that there is minimal if any distinction in test scores and qualifications among the students at these schools and that trying to separate the schools into tiers is an exercise in splitting hairs.[/quote]

DP. The exercise is always about splitting hairs so that someone feels superior to someone else. That’s the reason my kid wanted out of the DMV and NE schools. The overall culture here is ultra-competitive, snobby, and prestige hungry. Kid was super well qualified and went to the highest rated SLAC outside the NE and Mid-Atlantic. ED. One and done. [/quote]

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