My son received a number score from his pre-read. Coach said number was out of 240. Has anyone had any experience with this?
Sounds like an academic index score. The AI is used by Ivy league schools to determine eligibility for recruitment and to ensure that the academic credentials of both teams and the overall athletics program are within one std. deviation of the average of the schools student body.
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That sounds like his academic index. There is a minimum for the Ivy League, and then each coach needs to hit an average with supported athletes that is assigned by the AD, so that the school hits their required average.
Ok, makes sense. Thank you.
Yep, the academic index score. This is the description provided to enrolled students who request their Penn admissions file:
“AI: Academic Index — this is a calculated value that combines GPA, ACT/SATs, and SAT IIs (if available).”
240 used to be the max for the Academic Index used by schools in the Ivy League, but since the SAT subject tests are gone, it’s no longer a relevant number. (The AI was 1/3 GPA, 1/3 SAT/ACT, 1/3 SAT Subject Tests.) So either the coach has been around for a while and is using old data, or this is a Penn-specific number (possibly based on the old AI).
Ivy League schools are still using AI (inconsistently since covid and test optional). Since the demise of the subject tests, SAT/ACT are 2/3 of the formula.
AFAIK, this calculator is accurate, with all of the caveats (test optional Ivy leagues don’t always require scores from all recruits, GPA includes only core or allows non-core, etc)
Penn was still using 240 as the top of the range as recently as two cycles ago, even for TO applicants.
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Does anyone know what would be a good score based on the 240 model? Im not finding good information online. Im just trying to confirm what the coach told me son. Thanks!
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It really depends on how good an athlete he is and where he is on their recruiting board. There is a minimum, but the program needs to hit a specific average number. So a high recruit may be able to get by with a lower score, and conversely a lower recruit may need a higher score to bring up the average for the team.
This is all overlaid by the Ivy agreement that the AI average for all athletic recruits must be within 1 standard deviation of the AI average for all students. Some schools in the Ivies have higher and other lower AI averages. As @Momofthree24 notes, often teams are given separate AI averages to hit so that in the aggregate the school complies for all athletes. So it could be that fencing has to hit a much higher target than football, but within fencing, the coach may need a high AI student who is decent to support a lower AI athlete who is Olympic caliber. Long way of saying, your kid needs to talk to the coach whether or not he has met the AI target the coach has set for him.
220 is the score that the coach needed.
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I understand that, but what is considered a high score? Average?
This number is specific to your student athlete and their sport and their position on a recruiting board. OP’s kid may need a different number.
The only one who really can answer this is the coach, and really the whole thing is probably very fluid at this point.
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Again with the above caveats, in the past when my kids were recruits, 220 and higher seemed to be pretty safe, but this number will vary by school (HYP will be higher than Penn) and by sport (football will be much lower than fencing). You really need to communicate with the coach.
All I know is the average score that the coach needed for the team was 220, some were above and some were below. He did not even tell her what her number was, but he said it is good. I agree with the others, the coach will let you know.
So, the answer to averages, below 220 is below average. Higher than 220 is above average.
AFAIK, the minimum AI to be recruited is still 171. You can use the calculator linked above to reverse engineer GPA and SAT/ACT scores to get there. Generally only male helmet sports would have any recruits with an AI below 190 or so.
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Yep, 220 and above is in range.
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