Many students applying to Caltech assume that the Institute will only accept those applicants who have perfect SAT and/or ACT scores. With the introduction of a unique “bucket” system by which test scores will be evaluated alongside a number of other criteria, Caltech’s admissions team hopes to dispel this myth and prevent qualified students from selecting out of the process before they’ve even applied.
I want to take Cal Tech at face value, but why the significant and unfair edge to those who take the ACT? And putting people with 740 SATs in the bottom bucket supports the fact that they ARE looking for perfect scores.
Just weird overall IMO.
Their bucket A is above the 99th percentile for both tests. Their bucket B is approximately equal to 98-99th percentile for both tests. On section-by-section scores a 750 SAT math is “only” 95th percentile while an ACT 33 in math is 98th percentile. Why do you think there is some sort of unfair advantage to those who take the ACT? If your really think that I guess you could take the ACT. Their rationale says their decision and cutoffs are based on data on actual student performance at Caltech. Anyway I agree they want top scores I like that they are being transparent on what that means to them…ie a very high score but it doesn’t have to be perfect. Honestly I would think that people who “only” score a 750 or 33 on math would have previously thought it was too low so this guidance lets them know it’s ok.
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I did not look at an SAT/ACT conversion chart, but from memory, they are giving more credit for a lower relative score if someone took the ACT.
Overall, I do not think this will solve the problem they think they have… and I am not sure they truly have this problem.
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Are they looking to drive up applications by letting students know they don’t need a perfect score?
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That seems to be the case. They don’t want students to filter out because they have a 35/1580 and think it’s an auto reject.
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They mentioned students admitted TO who believed they wouldn’t have gotten in otherwise because of their non-perfect test scores
| Test | Bucket A | A-equiv | Bucket B | B-equiv | Bucket C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAT | 780-800 | 35-36M, 35-36E+R | 750-770 | 33-35M, 35E+R | <= 740 |
| ACT | 35-36 | 780-800M, 750-790RW | 33-34 | 740-760M, 710-740RW | <= 33 |
Equivalencies based on ACT to SAT Score Conversion Chart | ACT/SAT Concordance
Perhaps this is a way for Caltech to practice “affirmative action” toward applicants from ACT-dominant states (mainly in the central part of the US), since the SAT-dominant states tend to be on the west coast and in the northeast (and international applicants).
There’s an unfortunately egregious error of including 33 ACT in both Bucket B and Bucket C.
I expect more from Caltech that having such an obvious typo in their graphic. Note that an ACT score of 33 is both bucket B and bucket C.
I’m not sure what Caltech is trying to accomplish with the system. The linked page makes it sound the system is intended to show students that they do not need perfect scores. If so, it only suggests to kids that they need a 780+ SAT or 35+ ACT and can stop re-testing once they cross that almost, but not quite perfect threshold. It may give the impression that a 770 SAT / 34 ACT on EBRW/English/Reading won’t cut it. I’m skeptical that this system will have any notable benefit over a traditional non-bucket implementation.