No ‘rule’…schools can do whatever they want. The guidance doesn’t address when the student submitted the test score.
Here is the commonapp guidance:
You can read the above in the pdf format at this link:
That is the simplest way. But…if the test score wasn’t used in the admissions decision, that could be misleading, so it’s easy to make the case the school shouldn’t report test scores they didn’t have when evaluating apps.
Yes, and complicating things more is the fact that while the score block you quoted earlier is all admitted students (top half of the Wesleyan class of 2028 profile page), as data10 notes, the bottom half of the page provides scores for every current class, which seem to reflect enrolled students (not admitted; the SAT medians are different)—but given the discrepancy with the CDS data, probably only scores from enrolled students who submitted scores as part of the application.
The profile page is a marketing page, where Wesleyan wants to put itself in its best light. I assume it’s created and maintained by admissions, using admissions data. The CDS presumably is completed by their institutional data office and includes all available data.
At least…that’s what I’m going with!
I think @beefeater is referring to the CDS sections, “C9-C12” which also, coincidentally, calls itself a “Profile”. The profile page you are referring to is part of the Wesleyan admissions page.
And just to prepare everyone for the USNews rollout, each college will have a thumbnail overview which they will also refer to as a “College Profile” and will most likely be using stats that are lagging by two years.
I confused user names in my post above and was not scrupulous about my language in describing the two sources. I’ve edited my post for (hopefully?) clarity.
However an analyst may view Wesleyan’s CDS, a casual reader will be confused, especially when comparing Wesleyan’s CDS to those of other colleges. For example, Amherst, which states similar standardized scoring submission percentages to those of Wesleyan, posts a 25th percentile SAT score (1500) identical to that of Wesleyan’s 75th percentile score. As this is unlikely to represent the actual case, Wesleyan, it appears, has created an internal discordance in its CDS reporting when considered in relation to the practices followed by perhaps all other schools.
Does Amherst require all its matriculants to submit scores? Until we know that, it’s hard to tell which school is being “discordant”.
FWIW, D26 and I just sat through an admission session where again they explicitly stated to look at their class profile (as noted on the website) and to not submit scores below the 25% percentile. So, if you’re below at 730 EBRW / 750 Math, they’re advising applicants to not submit scores at all. As the admissions counselor said, “We can’t unsee it if you send it.”
And I stand corrected; you were referring to the “top portion” of the Wesleyan website that was entitled, “Class Profile”. Ironically, in the period since this thread was started, the web page has been revamped and the same information is now available after several clicks until you reach a section clearly labeled, “Applicant And Accepted Student Stats”. Application Process | Wesleyan University
And as several posters have stated, that is probably the information that is most relevant to a majority of students interested in applying to Wesleyan.
The new website separates admitted stats from matriculated. In the recent class of 2028, it looks like median admitted is 750/780, while median matriculated is 740/750. The median matriculated stats match IPEDS federal reporting and reflect the smaller portion submitting (28%/14% in IPEDS instead of 52%/19% in CDS, in previous class).
Could you confirm my understanding of what this means? This seems confusing to me. Here’s what I’m reading:
The median SAT score of those admitted that submitted SAT scores at admission is 750/780. Then, the median SAT score of those that submitted SAT scores at admission AND that matriculated is 740/750. THEN, the median SAT score of all matriculated students regardless of whether they submitted SAT scores at admission is 710/700 per the CDS. Is that right?
I can’t tell if I love this level of data insight or if it’s going to drive me crazy! 
This year’s IPEDS is not yet available. Assuming the structure is the same as last year, then I agree with your description.
Students who requested test scores be considered in admission decisions:
Applicants – Median = 750/780
Matriculants – Median = 740/750Students for which test scores are available:
Applicants – Median = ???
Matriculants – Median = 710/700
Just to confirm my understanding, this also tends to support the theory that for the Wesleyan CDS, the university is supplying “all available test scores”, not just the ones submitted at the time of application whereas the IPEDS is confined to the scores that were submitted earlier (hence, the smaller number?)
That’s interesting. As their own data on the CDS shows, they have plenty of students below these thresholds, so they accept students with lower scores all the time. I understand that they can’t “unsee” a lower score, but they also can’t “unknow” the fact that many of the people who do not submit scores have scores that are below those numbers, and yet they accept them. I am not sure why they can ignore lower scores in one situation but not the other.
Normally I would assume that is not about “unseeing” at all — rather they are doing this to raise their SAT ranges for marketing purposes, as some schools are known to do. But then if they are doing that, why would they use the lower score ranges for the CDS? That wouldn’t make much sense either.
I have one guess, and it is very much a guess. I suspect that the scores below the 25% percentile are recruited athletes. So if you’re applying as a non-athlete, then it might make more sense to have those scores above the 25% percentile or not submit. If you’re an athlete, then they might require or ask you to submit test scores.
Or maybe they’re trying to maintain their true “test optional” nature and encourage students to not submit scores at all (but then a relatively high percentage of accepted students submitted test scores).
But the CDS thing is actually very strange to me. I’m not sure why anyone would ever want or need to see scores that were not at all used in the admission process.
Which brings us full circle to the OP’s original question: whether Wesleyan is simply being logical and whether other colleges are following its example?
The scores below the 25th %ile could be other hooked applicants in addition to athletes. But the same advice applies to regular applicants.
Right. That’s the “test optional” in test optional. Every TO school admits students below given thresholds through TO. Those students don’t submit predominantly lower scores for admission purposes. The “can’t unsee” comment was presumably directed at students who mistakenly submit scores that wind up being below competitive thresholds. If students don’t submit, I’m sure the Wes admissions people realize that the scores for those students aren’t competitive.
I don’t think Wesleyan is doing anything to boost their score profile. If they were, assuming they have some clue about how all this works, they would just disclose scores of those who submitted for admissions purposes. That profile will necessarily be higher and it’s really all that matters for the next round of students trying to figure out whether to submit scores.
Why Wesleyan chooses to share scores of students who did not submit for admission is a mystery to me. Their webpage is a cornucopia of information about the incoming class, so I suppose it’s out of some kind of effort to be transparent about admissions.
As @circuitrider said, what does “submitted” mean and what does Wesleyan think it means? I’d bet a buck that including scores for total enrolled moves the 25th percentile score down. They are not doing themselves any favors here. They also use the word “enrolled” in the question. Might that be the reason that Wes dumps in the rest of the scores (to their profile’s detriment)? IDK.
