Old SAT scores compared to redesigned SAT scores.

keiekei
Sat, 08 Apr 2017 15:37:53 +0000

@evergreen5

Looks like means and medians are higher for Class of 2021 than for Class of 2020, for both Old SAT and ACT

A very important difference is that the Class of 2020 figures are for actual enrolled students, whereas 2021 figures are for admitted students. The 2021 figures for actual enrolled students will almost certainly be closer to the 2020 figures, because the strongest candidates treat Vassar as a safety and many of them will matriculate at higher ranked schools.

These figures Vassar provided are very interesting because they provide the actual number of students submitting each test. The first thing we notice is that the total number of test submissions (2074) is greater than the total number of students in question (1769). Assuming each student submitted at least one score (Vassar is not test-optional, and in fact advises students to use College Board’s concordance tables to determine which of their scores is best*), that means there are 305 “extra” scores from students who submitted more than one test type.

Of particular interest are the 75th percentile scores. When I was looking at schools for my unhooked daughter, this is the main one I would focus on. We can see a gap between the 75th percentile of admittees (2021: ACT 34) and enrollees (2020: ACT 33); this is to be expected. Also, if you look at the 2020 data, the ACT and old SAT percentiles are in perfect alignment with the concordance tables (33 vs 1480). However, the 2021 data show a misalignment between the ACT and old SAT 75th percentiles (34 vs 1550). A 1550 on the old SAT concords to a 35 composite ACT. These old SAT scores are really high (more along the lines of the 75th percentile of an Amherst or Williams) and I consider this another indication that the old SAT cohort was a small group that self-selected for high scorers.

If you got a 1550 on the old SAT, you did it before the new SAT even came out. Many counselors will say: Your score is high enough and you’re done, don’t take the SAT/ACT anymore. Therefore, a lot of these kids wouldn’t have bothered with the new SAT, so the new SAT cohort is deprived of a small but significant population of high scorers. This will depress the 75th percentile for the new SAT at a school like Vassar.

For reference, here is the Academic Rating (AR) cheat sheet that Williams admissions allegedly uses to group applicants according to academic caliber. The SAT scorers are for the old SAT. Unhooked applicants are not admitted below AR 2, and are preferably AR 1.

     verbal     math      composite  SAT II    ACT    AP

AR 1: 770-800 750-800 1520-1600 750-800 35-36 mostly 5s
AR 2: 730-770 720-750 1450-1520 720-770 33-34 4s and 5s
AR 3: 700-730 690-720 1390-1450 690-730 32-33 4s

http://ephblog.com/2010/12/02/academic-rating-at-williams/

Similar rubrics are used at Amherst, etc.

*Vassar’s advice to applicants to use the College Board’s concordance tables:

SAT middle 50% ranges are based on the pre-March 2016 (“old”) SAT. Please Note: The CollegeBoard has indicated that scores for the redesigned SAT are higher than scores from the pre-March 2016 SAT. To determine how your scores from the redesigned SAT compare to these middle 50% ranges, please use the CollegeBoard Concordance Tables to convert your scores.