I’m a bit confused. I’m applying to wesleyan ED2.
This data states that the average SAT score for wesleyan was a 1430: https://www.wesleyan.edu/ir/data-sets/CDS_2022-2023.pdf
This one however states that the average is a 1520: Class Profile, Admission & Aid - Wesleyan University
Which one is correct?
Thank you!
The 1430 median score represents students who enrolled at Wesleyan. The 1520 median score represents students offered admission to Wesleyan, of whom 65% chose to attend college elsewhere (or take a gap year, etc).
I see. In this case, do you think it would be a good idea to submit a 1400 sat? I have a 3.99 UW gpa and 4’s and 5’s on APS, so i’m not sure.
With a very good SAT score such as yours, it would seem that your decision will be more personal than statistical. Nonetheless, if you were to submit your score, I wouldn’t think of this as a bad idea.
The data OP cites is from different classes.
The 1430 median is for the enrolled class of 2026 (2022-23 CDS is two cycles ago).
We don’t have the composite median for the Class of 2027 admitted students who submitted scores (one can’t add the medians of the two sections)…we have EBRW of 750 and Math of 770.
OP should use the admitted scores from Class of 2027 to help decide whether to submit. OP, what does your HS counselor recommend?
Also note that Wes does not consider AP scores in admissions.
On the Wesleyan site, the chart for “Profile of First year students” shows SAT scores going back five years. The medians are 730 or higher. I’d assume this is for matriculated students?
The 22/23 CDS data for “first-time first-year” students shows a median of 710 for both EBRW and math.
Their data does seem inconsistent to me.
How are you arriving at that figure?
I think OP is referring to the numbers in the 50th %ile column, which is here in C9: https://www.wesleyan.edu/ir/data-sets/CDS_2022-2023.pdf
Regardless that’s data for class of 2026 enrolled students. OP should use the Fall of 2023 admitted data when deciding whether to submit, the student should also talk with their HS counselor.
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Like you say, only Wesleyan knows what numbers they are using and it’s on them that they also don’t make it clear whether the numbers in the 5 year table of test scores on their website are for enrolled or admitted students.
IMO, discerning between 50th percentile, mean and median is too pedantic for what people on CC are trying to accomplish which is using data to inform whether or not to submit test scores.
I couldn’t agree with you more. 
In answer to the OP’s question, I don’t think SAT scores will make a tremendous difference in the RD round since lately half the class has already been chosen and ED1 and 2 are where the lion’s share of students wind up submitting their scores. The RD round is much more “holistic” IMHO.
I’ve never been accused of being a pendant but for SAT scores, average or mean, across a class is much less useful for college admissions, IMO, than median. Ideally, I want to know what percentile of the admitted student population does X score place you at a particular school. Granted, a median by itself doesn’t do too much.
Wesleyan’s website has data for “Admit Median” for Fall 2023 (EBRW 750, math 770) and the five year “Profile of First Year students,” where no math score exceeds 760. It implies that the five year data set is for freshmen?
I found the discrepancy surprising, as some students, like OP, make decisions on the data. It is not hard to find a median in a list of numbers.
Maybe enrolled students provide their SAT scores after they have been admitted? This might explain it?
Good catch OP! Have no advice to offer you though. My student is a junior and I am learning about college admissions.
That is my conclusion, too, considering the fact that each of the previous five years are being compared to the enrolled freshmen for that profile. Wesleyan University could easily make things less confusing by publishing less information the way some colleges do - e.g.,
Apply - Class of 2027 Profile - Hamilton College
but Wesleyan has a lot of confidence in the ability of its market to handle information overload. LOL
Wesleyan does happen to require all enrolled students to submit their aptitude tests “if taken”. I hope that solves the puzzle.
That should be reflected in the CDS though, and the CDS numbers don’t tie to the 5 year chart, so 
.
Maybe the five year website chart includes only SAT scores that were submitted as part of an application package and the CDS data includes all student scores (possibly because they have to? – just speculating). That could explain it.
Could be, or could just be a mistake. Schools have a lot of flexibility in reporting data on the CDS too.
Here’s an idea: let’s take this discussion to DM. I’m sure other poster’s eyes are starting to glaze over from this sub-string. 
Okay, having done some consulting between posts, yes, the CDS middle 50% is the same as a median. The difference between it and the First-Year Profile on the Wes webpage is that the CDS almost certainly captures many more scores. According to the fine print at the bottom of the page, the profile figures were good as of August 1, 2022, much too early to really line up against the CDS profile which wasn’t even published until a few months ago.
I believe this is August 1, 2023. This is the profile for the Class of 2027 (HS class of 2023), not the Class of 2026 (HS class of 2022), which is what’s represented in the most recent CDS.