Those who took the GRE AND the SAT chime in, please

[system]

<p>

So, The average for KSG is the 93rd percentile of their particular applicant pool.

Yeah, and that’s good. But I was just trying to say that in comparison to many other Harvard schools, it’s not so insanely competitive:</p>

<p>Harvard College average SAT: approx. 1490
Percentile: 99+</p>

<p>Harvard Law School average LSAT: 173
Percentile: 99.32% (according to the slightly old but very detailed chart at <a href=“http://www.powerscore.com/lsat/help/scale.htm[/url]”>http://www.powerscore.com/lsat/help/scale.htm&lt;/a&gt;)</p>

<p>Harvard Medical School average MCAT: 35.1
Percentile: 98%</p>

<p>I was just objecting to the use of KSG statistics to show that a particular score was really high, since the Harvard name conjures images of places like the Law and Medical Schools, with their extreme selection processes. The real way to talk about the strength of a score is simply noting its percentile (which UCLAri did, but tomslawsky didn’t in the post to which I responded). Of course, then deciding what percentile is appropriately deemed “great” is really subjective.</p>

<p>

If you look at these numbers and don’t think that a 700 GREAT score, or that a 630 is still an awesome score, then it’s hopeless. You have made up your mind, facts be damned and no one should even bother to convince you otherwise, because logic has been tossed to the wind. My God, a 700 verbal puts you at the 93rd percentile of literature majors and a 630 in the 76th percentile of the same group.

So that I don’t seem like I’m completely crazy for not being happy with the sample test score, I should note the circumstances: I had just read, on Princeton’s own website, that its economics Ph.Ds averaged 780-800 on each section of the GRE. If a school’s mean verbal test score is between 780 and 800, it mathematically can’t admit very many 700s. Now, looking at the ETS results summary, an average verbal score that high for one department is basically impossible, so I don’t feel as bad. Their listed statistic was probably wrong.</p>

<p>But still, the entire point of this thread was “GRE-SAT comparison,” and I couldn’t avoid that myself. I’m used to test scores being a big admissions advantage - and so, although I know that it’s certainly possible to be admitted with a 700 verbal, I had hoped that I could start upon even better ground. This was both a little arrogant and a little naive, but it was a product of my experience: both times I took the SAT, last year and about five years ago, I got verbal scores well above 700. Naturally, I was inclined to compare to myself.</p>

<p>So what this told me is that, unlike in the past, I can’t just assume that I’ll get a perfect score on any standardized test that comes my way. ETS is eliminating all the question types that I missed on the sample test (analogies and antonyms), so I’m in decent shape, but this indicates that I’ll certainly want to study some when the time comes. If you want to view this as the deflation of a cocky and clueless 17-year-old, go right ahead.</p>

[UCLAri]

<p>randomperson,</p>

<p>Do you have the URL to the page that said that?</p>

[system]

<p>

Do you have the URL to the page that said that?

You mean the Princeton website? Sure, I posted it already (in post #34):
<a href=“http://www.econ.princeton.edu/grad/prospective.html[/url]”>http://www.econ.princeton.edu/grad/prospective.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[UCLAri]

<p>randomperson,</p>

<p>Now, Princeton may be the only program in the US with scores like that, but every other top 10 program I read from had around 720 or so on verbal.</p>

<p>780-800 seems a bit high. Either way, you’ve just graduated from high school for goodness’ sake! You have 4 years of academic development ahead of you. Calm the eff down, son. :)</p>

[nspeds]

<p>How Princeton weighs the GRE varies from department to department. The philosophy department, from what I have gathered from conversations with their faculty, does not care about the GRE.</p>