<p>Hi everyone!
Just signed up for an account after lurking around here for the past month or so. I’m a junior at what’s been ranked the top public school in the US (not bragging, just background info). My school allows us access to this program called Naviance and in it there is the SuperMatch College Search. When looking in-depth at colleges there is a scattergram of those who have applied. It ranks SAT vs GPA for the kids that went to my school and applied to whichever college you’re looking at. The average SAT score and GPA (out of 100) for kids from my school that have been accepted are much higher than the official averages that the college websites list. Here’s an example for Johns Hopkins, the first number is from my school and the second is from the college’s information:</p>
<p>GPA: 94.54 VS 3.72
SAT 2206 VS 2082</p>
<p>I don’t know what a 3.72 is equal to but really, why is the average SAT about 120 points higher? Is it just because the kids in my school that apply are above average for the college?</p>
<p>Any help would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the wordy post!
Isaac</p>
<p>How large is the sample size for the scattergram? There may be a self selecting nature to the students who apply to Johns Hopkins from your high school like you said. </p>
<p>In addition, colleges also tend to take into account the resources available to each applicant. A 2200 on the SAT from a top high school where the average is something like 2000 may not stand out as much as a 2100 from a mediocre school in some underrepresented area that has a mean score of 1400. Also, some of the accepted student contributing to the lower overall SAT average may have special talents outside of the academic realm, whereas those from your high school got in because they were just good students.</p>
<p>The scattergram for JHU encompasses 2007-2011. 84 applied, 12 admitted, 2 enrolled. Those reasonings make sense, the average SAT score in my school was a 2050 last year and had increased marginally from years previous. I’m just worried because I’m attempting to set a benchmark for what scores/grades I want to achieve (although I realize these two are not the only components of getting accepted).</p>
<p>Thanks! Any other opinions would be great.</p>