I’m more concerned about official reported numbers - apps, rates, and stats. App numbers are at “record” highs - I’m not surprised that each year brings a new record but rather the percentage size of the jump for 2018. I am still curious about the reasons for the increase this year.
I do think there are often important differences between admitted student data and enrolled student data. But, the 18-19 CDS with virtually all new (vs old) SAT scores for enrolled students won’t be published until after early apps are submitted for class of 2019. The 17-18 CDS contains a mix of new and old-concorded-to-new such that accuracy is questionable. The 16-17 CDS, the latest currently available at NCES, has only old SAT scores.
Increases because kids are told they need to apply to more colleges and cast a wide net? Kids applying to the lottery schools because “why not” or GCs not telling them they shouldn’t? Just applying the increase to an actual lottery, say megaball - if there are more lottery tickets sold and my chance of winning goes down, what is behind the increase? News media hype?
@evergreen5 I agree that the percentage jump is of great interest to someone looking at Class of '23 applications. That Haverford data, for example, shows a 6% jump in applications from the Class of '21 to the Class of '22. The likelihood that the overall class size has increased 6% is small. So it means lower chances of acceptance… but perhaps also lower yield. (Which of course explains why schools are turning more to ED, so as to retain their yield.)
It will be interesting to see how schools use their waitlists this year – some schools somewhere along the line are going to find themselves having to use the waitlist a lot more.
Based on the concordance issues (based on the 30+ schools I’ve looked at the scores for), the tables are about 20 points off on the high end (75th percentile), more like 10-15 points off below that. Because the 17-18 CDS was required to be concorded to new scores, I think it is possible that the 17-18 SAT scores are slightly too high (maybe 10 points give or take, depending on the mix of old and new in the applications). These are marginal differences, though.
@parent2one let me know what you think of UAH. right now its our top Safety. S19 has full tuition based on SAT scores but a full ride would be nice. Dont think we are getting that high though.
Wow, @coolweather that’s fantastic!! Congrats on being done with testing @sdl0625 I will definitely post here after our spring break trip - it’s tentatively our top safety as well (can’t say for sure until he visits and gets a feel for it), and S19 is also in the full tuition bucket. I’ll encourage him to actually prep next time, or try the ACT (with prep), to try to get into the free tuition+housing bucket.
S19 is done with SAT testing. He shocked me with 790V/800M . That’s a +100 bump up from his PSAT score. He did prep a lot with practice exams and the SAT Prep Black Book. He’s signed up for the ACT on Apr 14th, but it’s going to be hard for him to motivate now to prep for that.
We are off to So Cal for his first race of the season and will stay a few days extra to see friends. Plan to visit Pomona, Harvey Mudd and UCSD. They are all horridly expensive for us, but I think its good to visit while we are down there. The big tour will be an east coast visit to some schools where S can parlay his stats into lower costs and better odds (along with a few expensive reachy reaches that S will now be dreaming about, hmm).
I am looking for (new SAT) score profile for the top prep schools. (I am wait listed this year, with my SSAT from last fall. I just received my new SAT score. I believe some of the schools accept SAT when 10th/11th graders applying.
My question 1: would you think I should send the SAT score this year for admission (trying to move off the wait list)? and could I use the SAT to re-apply for 9th grade next year?
Question 2: does any one know where to find the average (new SAT) SAT scores for the graduating seniors at the top prep schools?
Question 3: does any of the school publish the SAT score range for their newly admitted 10th/11th grade students?
Congrats to the kids with stellar test results, that is impressive ,and worthy of a huge sigh of relief. You can all move on to other things to worry about now
@liska21 If you don’t mind losing the money, he can just bag the ACT. I paid for a second SAT and S19 never took it. There’s really no point in taking a second test with a 1590. At least in the case of the SAT, I had two options: cancel the test and get $10 back or use the credit for SAT2s. Since S19 needs to take two of those, I just used the credit. If he didn’t need them, though, I would have just taken the $10 back and let him skip that second SAT.
Congrats on the score! And kudos to your S for prepping and getting the job done. It’s so hard to prep during the school year but it makes a big difference!
Remind us which race he runs? Good luck this weekend!
@Heading2HS you posted this on the Parents of the class of 2019 board (it’s for parents of kids graduating next year). You may want to try reposting elsewhere
Congrats to the kids who got those sky high scores!
For those with kids scoring lower (and maybe not posting), I hope everyone is happy with the scores they got and the effort they put in. Some kids prep really hard to get a 1200 and I think that gets forgotten on CC sometimes.
My S had a makeup SAT today too. He came home very happy. Like bouncing off the walls happy. He hasn’t stopped smiling yet. He said it felt much better than the PSAT. I hope it translates into a score increase.
Happy to say that we are done with testing here too! D’s SAT scores came in about 150 points higher than we expected based on her practice exams (she prepped with a well known company), so well within range for merit for all of the schools on her list. (In fact, based on her practice scores we had her scheduled for the April ACT which she will now happily skip).
Nice to have another thing crossed of the list. Now the focus is on keeping her GPA and the upcoming AP exams.
Congrats to all of those who received good score news yesterday. Hugs and fingers crossed for those still waiting for scores, and those who did not get the score news that they wanted.
Son19 said he thought SAT went well, but he felt that math was harder this time. He has a solid math score already, so he just hopes to do well on the English section.
@eh1234 you are right, not all that many kids are able to achieve super high test scores, even with prep and study.
Sometimes you luck out and get a test that clicks with you, sometimes not. it is what it is. In a way, I think not having a great test score is actually a good thing, if the kid isn’t striving for the “top schools”. If the kid gets an average score they know right away there is no chance for “top schools” and come up with a reasonable list they get excited about. I’ve seen this with my older son’s friends. There is less stress involved with the whole process when you apply to schools that have higher acceptance rates.
@RightCoaster I agree with your score analysis. For my older S (class of 2016), his scores were just a bit above average, but then we weren’t looking for super selective schools for him. In the end, he applied to 12 schools, got into 10 and is a very happy sophomore at Ohio University. The best part was that he had 9 of his acceptances before Christmas break. I’d really like my D to have a number in hand early as well. It goes a long way toward managing stress senior year.
@zipstermom so your son had a good result, that’s great! He was probably able to enjoy less stress after the Christmas break. My older son only got in EA to his safety schools. the rest he was deferred, or only had RD apps.
So by mid March it was rather stressful, I didn’t like that too much.
Good luck to your D.
