As my son and I we delve more deeply into college search / application for Fall 2018, we have gotten a bit bewildered by conflicting info on SAT and GPA requirements for at least some schools. To site two examples:
Rutgers-New Brunswick:
U.S. News - Mid-50% SAT 1110 to 1350, GPA not available.
Niche - Mid-50% SAT 1110 to 1340, GPA not available.
rutgers.edu (College of Arts & Sciences) - Mid-50% SAT 1240 to 1450, GPA 3.6 to 4.0.
rutgers.edu (Rutgers Business School) - Mid-50% SAT 1330 to 1500, GPA 3.6 to 4.1.
rutgers.edu (School of Engineering) - Mid-50% SAT 1340 to 1520, GPA 3.7 to 4.2.
(I couldn’t find an overall SAT / GPA for all admitted students.)
Villanova:
U.S. News - Mid-50% SAT 1220 to 1420, Mid-50% GPA 3.6 to 3.8.
Niche - Mid-50% SAT 1240 to 1400, GPA not available.
villanova.edu - Mid-50% SAT 1360 to 1480, Mid-50% GPA 4.0 to 4.44.
The admissions profile info published by these schools makes the schools seem much more competitive than the same data published by U.S. News and Niche. Have Rutgers and Villanova suddenly gone this far up as far as expected SAT and GPA, or is there some other explanation for this discrepancy?
Edit - just to note this is not just a theoretical question - my son looks like a solid match at RU based on U.S. News and Niche data, but is a reach at the RU Business or Engineering schools based on rutgers.edu data.
Check the dates. Villanova and Rutgers may be using data from the most recent admissions cycle, College class of 2021, while USNews and Niche may be using class of 2020
@oldnit I agree with wisteria100. I’m almost positive that Villanova is using the data from their 2021 admits. They admitted their most competitive and academic class ever this last cycle. If you are doing your research you have probably also noticed that the admissions rates the schools report also don’t agree to other sites. All probably for the same reason, different data years.
Best bet is to google each school’s common data set for 2016-2017. You will be able to see exact numbers for the SAT/ACT
Yes, check the Common Data Set for schools of interest. Then search SAT or GPA
The CDS is not always perfectly or completely updated and no one polices them. But it’s another resource.
I think you’re going to have to go with “as is” and keep checking for the 2017-18 figures.
The rule of thumb here is to be toward the top of the mid-50%.
And the jury is out on how the New SAT changes these numbers, some schools reporting higher, some a tad lower, than the 3-part old SAT.
I think that Villanova is quoting the middle 50th % of their admitted students, not their enrolled students. To the extent that a school does not have 100% yield, the stats of admitted students will be higher than the stats of enrolled students. (This falls off as the 75th percentile approaches 800.)
I agree that these figures are probably for the class of 2021 and I cannot locate the CDS for that class yet.
Thank you for the responses. Looking at the CDS for Rutgers and Villanova, the SAT scores do closely match data posted by external sites like U.S. News and Niche:
Rutgers CDS 16-17 - Mid-50% SAT 1110 to 1350, GPA not available.
Villanova CDS 16-17 - Mid-50% SAT 1220 to 1420, average GPA 3.68 unweighted, 4.08 weighted.
I also confirmed that the CDS data is for enrolled students, while admissions info from Rutgers and 'Nova specifies admitted students. (I had suspected that already, but I didn’t notice the source of data from external sites.) In cases where less than a third of admitted students accept their offer and enroll a noticeable difference between admitted and enrolled students makes sense.
The stats for admitted students is what makes it onto the college website and press releases. the stats for enrolled students requires some digging but the CDS should be accurate.
The Rutgers Business and Engineering Schools are competitive because you have to apply to them and they are going to be very good, non-expensive college choices.
Thank you for the responses. Looking at the CDS for Rutgers and Villanova, the SAT scores do closely match data posted by external sites like U.S. News and Niche.
I also confirmed that the CDS data is for enrolled students, while admissions info like the below from Rutgers specifies admitted students. (I had suspected that already, but I didn’t notice the source of data from external sites.) In cases where less than a third of admitted students accept their offer and enroll the difference between admitted and enrolled students makes sense.
Thank you for the responses. Looking at the CDS for Rutgers and Villanova, the SAT scores do closely match data posted by external sites like U.S. News and Niche.
I also confirmed that the CDS data is for enrolled students, while admissions info like the below from Rutgers specifies admitted students. (I had suspected that already, but I didn’t notice the source of data from external sites.) In cases where less than a third of admitted students accept their offer and enroll the difference between admitted and enrolled students makes sense.