Even norming for SAT results, maybe having to call up the school to have them send you an application in the mail was that big of a barrier to applying.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SAT was different in the 80s. Harder. You rarely heard people hitting 1400+ SAT.

I remember 1200-1300 was a solid SAT score in the 80s (put you in play anywhere). So the score report doesn't mean much...BUT--yes it is much more selective everywhere due to common app, number of applicants (not as many people went onto 4-year colleges), holistic approach and test optional.

1200+ was a very good score back then.

Graduated 94, sat 1290, got me in W&M as international student. 0 test prep and 1 EC.

Note that score would be like a 1350-1360 today and with a bit of prep (really just reading the book and doing a few practice tests) probably could have been pushed up to 1400. Which is in range for W&M today.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SAT was different in the 80s. Harder. You rarely heard people hitting 1400+ SAT.

I remember 1200-1300 was a solid SAT score in the 80s (put you in play anywhere). So the score report doesn't mean much...BUT--yes it is much more selective everywhere due to common app, number of applicants (not as many people went onto 4-year colleges), holistic approach and test optional.

1200+ was a very good score back then.

Graduated 94, sat 1290, got me in W&M as international student. 0 test prep and 1 EC.

Northeastern
University of Miami
USC
BU
NYU
Tulane
Vanderbilt

Anonymous wrote:It's not that people aren't capable of understanding this. It's that they are often not aware of it.

Which explains the handful of sad, bewildered parents at graduation of kids who were are great students, took all the right classes, and STILL got shut out of all their reach schools.

Back in the 90’s we didn’t have to jump through ten million hoops to just be competitive for an elite college- actually getting in now is another story. Good grades with a few B’s, a few AP’s or honors classes, good test scores, a couple activities, no leadership were enough to get into most T-25’s or SLAC’s. It wasn’t perfect back then but I feel like many of up who came of age then were able to enjoy more “natural” and less curated childhoods.

That list is wild. Back in the 1990's it was demonstably easier to attend an "elite" college.

Something change, for the worse.

The Johns Hopkins stat is mind blowing. 53% admission rate in 1990. Vanderbilt at 65%. Northeastern at 88%.

Missing from the list is the UChicago, 45% admission rate in 1990. WashU at 62%.