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I’m not sure I agree with the idea that these are big numbers. 10,000 out of 2.5 to 3 million HS graduates is not a high percentage – obviously, since these scores fall into the 99th percentile.</p>
<p>Not all of these kids are heading for the most elite schools, although clearly many are. I recall reading somewhere that the Ivy’s plus MIT and Stanford have around 20,000 slots for entering freshman. I think they really are pretty special, whether they are scoring 750 or 800 on any particular test. When you start trying to differentiate between a 770 and a 790, I think you are running into restriction of range issues – the differences are just not that meaningful.</p>
<p>As others have said, the rest of the applicant’s profile comes into play once a threshold has been reached.</p>