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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Some of these SLACs are just as difficult as the Ivys to get into.  Pomona has a sub 10% acceptance rate and top ranked schools like Amherst are getting close with record applications this year.

https://www.amherst.edu/system/files/C%2520Admission_1.pdf

The middle 50% SAT range for ENROLLED students at Amherst is higher than many of the Ivys:  720-770 Verbal and 710-790 Math.  The top 25% of enrolled Amherst students have SATs higher than 1560/1600.

And the endowments of the top SLACs are higher on a per student basis than many Ivys (but behind Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Stanford): 
https://www.collegeraptor.com/college-rankings/details/EndowmentPerStudent[/quote]

Amherst is very sneaky about testing. They only report the highest submitted between the ACT and SAT by each student (you'll see [b]the total for scores submitted adds up to exactly 100%[/b]).  The other Ivies and SLACs report every test score when students report both instead of cherry-picking the highest, bringing their numbers down. And then some universities only report the highest single setting score, instead of a superscore. Amherst has done this starting from last year to do well on US News's "selectivity" benchmark. I'd be careful about making a statement that their testing is inherently higher- it probably isn't. The fact that only 83% ranked in the top 10%, while every other Ivy besides Cornell is at 92%+, is telling. [/quote]

How do you know this is true?  Amherst admissions hasn't made any statements to this effect.  I'm a Williams grad and there have been musings on a Williams alumni board that because Amherst's scores are higher than Williams, they MUST be doing something funny.  On the flip side, Williams reports 91% in the top 10% but some say Williams and some Ivies include kids who come from high schools that don't rank at all (such as in Fairfax County) in the top 10% just based on their transcripts while Amherst does not include these unranked kids.  So unless there is a uniform way for colleges to complete their common data sets it is difficult to compare peer schools at the granular level.  What is clear is that for all these highly selective schools including SLACs that the bar has been raised significantly over the last 10 years as far as the quality of kids they are accepting at least based on test scores, GPA and # of APs taken.[/quote]

I explained why. Amherst is choosing between the higher of the two scores when enrolled students submit both. This is not what Williams, Swarthmore, Bowdoin, Carleton, Pomona, Vassar, Middlebury, etc. do. It is purposefully done to inflate their testing more than it actually is for the U.S. News rank boost.

To give an example of two schools:

Swarthmore- Total of scores submitted = 118%. 690-760; 690-780; 31-34
Amherst- Total of scores submitted = 100%. 720-770; 710-790; 32-34

If Swarthmore intentionally got rid of the bottom 18% to hit 100%, its testing would be pretty much identical or higher than Amherst, pushing both the 25% and 75% range up since those below the 25% would be eliminated. But they don't, because the understanding by these schools is to report both superscores or single settings (if available).  The percent of the totals at most schools will be well above 100%. On the corollary, the actual median SAT and ACT of the students at Amherst is lower than what U.S. News and the CDS would have you think.

With the way Claremont McKenna purposefully inflated their scores several year back, I would not be surprised about suspicious string-pulling happening to preserve the status quo for any of the top 10 LACs. That includes Swarthmore. Amherst has a fully viewable instance of manipulation, so when someone on the board wants to give them kudos for being as selective as an Ivy, they should keep the reality in mind. The Ivies don't hide test scores submitted when an applicant has both.

I agree that LACs and most universities have become more competitive now than they were before.  [/quote]

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