Are you in state? This is nuts. My kids attend(ed) a high performing school in MD, the kids that are accepted from their school have about 1300. My first kid at the school had a little above that two years ago, was accepted.
I really wish schools would bring back required test scores. In a way I think it would be less stressful and would level the playing field a bit.
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Agree
I agree - as it stands, when kids submitting are only the kids that have a â1500â, it skews the common data set for these schools so no one really knows the real median score for admitted students. 1500 is scored by only 1% of takers (includes 11 and 12 grade), or 19000 students. Are the same ~9500 students (assuming half the 1500 are seniors) applying at every top school, being accepted and skewing results?
If a student gets a 1290, they are in the top 10 percent of test takers! Yet that score isnât considered good enough for LOTS of schools. It is really sad.
I agree but I think schools love how the TO trend has inflated their admitted SAT/ACT scores. Now they can show advertise how high their scores are. What school doesnât want their incoming class to look more impressive year over year?
On the other hand, for those kids who are bright but are terrible test takers, the TO trend is a game changer and they can consider schools that never would have been on their radar before TO.
I agree that TO is bs and I wish it would go away. If test scores donât matter then become test blind. If they do, then make them required. It canât be both.
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They can âconsiderâ them but they donât usually get in at most competitive schools. They still want to see scores itâs all a big lie and it needs to go away
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If you look at a schoolâs common data set you can see how many ADMITTED students submitted tests or not. So some students who apply TO do get in. For example, at UMD, only 41% of admitted students submitted SAT scores. Only 7% submitted ACT. So over 50% didnât submit test scores. Some schools it is a higher % and students should look at that when determining if they want to submit their scores or not. And if they donât then a school with a higher percentage will likely be a harder admit for them.
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Yes instate in Montgomery County.
Iâm not a fan of TO either. The college admission process is opaque enough.
A 1300+ SAT is a good score.
A 1400+ SAT is a wonderful score.
A 1500+ SAT is an amazing score and shouldnât be seen as the only score band âsocially acceptableâ.
Its madness. All of those scores should be pluses for someone applying to their state school.
If people ignore the fact that more than 50% did not submit the score and then use 75th percentile as the threshold to submit scores, then it is just poor guidance from the counselor. UMD is very transparent with the data, unlike a lot of other public universities. https://irpa.umd.edu/CampusCounts/Admissions/apps_ug.pdf
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When I say âso no one really knows the real median score for admitted studentsâ - what I mean is, the kids that were admitted that did not submit scores are not factored in to that calculation. We can assume that the kids that did not submit scored significantly lower than those that did submit. So the ârealâ SAT score of admitted students as a whole will never be known, but I could believe it is probably several hundred points lower than 1500. This atmosphere of âonly submit if you have above a 1500â skews the Common Data Set numbers and becomes a vicious circle. In reality, only a couple of kids per school score that high. There are a lot of students applying (and being admitted) with scores around 1290 and lower - I can see that in the Naviance scatter plots for our high school.
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Iâm agreeing with you @ritad0000 . The scores shared in the CDS are skewed and they will continue to trend higher and higher each year. What I think is important to look at in the CDS is the % of admitted students who submitted scores as a gauge on whether your student should submit them or not. I do agree that if your studentâs score is under the 50% then submitting them will not help admission chances. AND if the school has less than 50% of admitted students who did submit scores, then not submitting scores wonât hurt you (as much as it might with a school where 70% of admitted students submitted scores)
Maybe your Naviance is different but our schoolâs naviance doesnât tell us what year those GPA/test scores belong to. Numbers from 2018 arenât as relevant as those from 2023. Wish that was a feature for those graphs.
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As I agree with you! And no, out Naviance does not break down the years in that scatter plot, I overlooked that! How you are having a nice holiday!
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Just to give some possible perspective⊠UMD really does evaluate holistically. Thatâs not to say GPA, academic rigor, and test scores donât matter. An academically strong student with superb test scores will certainly stand out. But Iâll give you my familyâs experience. My older son was an academic star. Checked all the academic/number boxes (GPA, test scores, rigor, etc). He was accepted and is now a sophomore at UMD.
My younger son wasnât as academically strong in high school. He was solid. Definitely solid. Pushed himself to take some tough classes (honors and AP), but he didnât have the highest possible rigor by any means. Very good GPA⊠but not superstar level. He did well enough on his SATs that he submitted them to every school EXCEPT UMD. To be honest, he (and we) figured this was a massive reach school for him. What a lovely surprise when he was accepted to to their spring semester, with the option to start in the fall through Freshman Connection. I know legacy doesnât play a factor here. I can only think it was his personal statement (which was amazing and truly from the heart), which was also related to his chosen extracurricular activities. It was a cohesive story that truly helped showcase the amazing person he is.
He ended up not choosing UMD, realizing that another school was a better fit for him. But the fact that he got into FC was a true testament to the fact that holistic review is part of the equation.
I wish everyone the best of luck!
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As stated by @MRRB_SE, UMD does evaluate holistically. UMD also has a mission to educate the children of Maryland taxpayers. And, by Board of Regents Policy, UMD is required to maintain a Student population that is approximately 70% In-State.
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They even explicitly list the holistic factors they consider:
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The TerpBus, which traditionally informs a few in state students about admissions the weekend before decisions are released, rolls out today.
FINGERS CROSSED that means decisions are next Friday!
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Have they ever gone out before Jan 31 / Feb 1 in past years?
They always go out last Friday of the month but that, this year, is Jan 31. But since that is so late who knows?
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