What exactly does the Academic Index Indicate?

Applying to College
1

<p>I just found the Academic Index and I used it and it said my AI is 225.5 with a rank of 8.</p>

<p>I have never heard of this and just used it and I am curious about what it means? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>you are academically qualified for any school</p>

3

<p>It means your grades and test scores are above the threshold for the most competitive schools. To increase your chances at those schools, or for merit aid, focus on essays, ECs and being an interesting, good person. </p>

4

<p>The Academic Index itself is a composite score which ranks your academic ability on a scale of 1-9 (1 being the lowest and 9 being the highest). It SAT/ACT scores, GPA/Class rank, and SAT Subject tests to create a score which is then classified as 1-9 based on subjective bounds applied by each admissions office.
A score of 8 means you are highly academically qualified for ANY school. However does not by any means indicate that you’re a shoe in to the Ivy Leagues. Now is the time to focus on essay sand ECs to make your app stand out among the other highly qualified applicants. </p>

5

<p>See: <a href=“A Is for Admission: The Insider's Guide to Getting into the Ivy League and ... - Michele A. Hernández - Google Books”>A Is for Admission: The Insider's Guide to Getting into the Ivy League and ... - Michele A. Hernández - Google Books;

<p>Also: <a href=“Before Athletic Recruiting in the Ivy League, Some Math - The New York Times”>Before Athletic Recruiting in the Ivy League, Some Math - The New York Times;

<p><a href=“A Rare Glimpse Inside the Ivy League's Academic Index - The New York Times”>http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/ivy-academic-index/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/academic_index.htm”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/academic_index.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>is this academic index thing even valid? Like for fun I put my SAT as 800 800 800, and SAT IIs as 800 800, but GPA as 3.5. I still got an AI of 9 (which is clearly wrong, since a 3.5 would put you out of the running for most of those schools…). Thoughts? </p>

7

<p>No, it’s not wrong. Think for a moment that you are a football player with a 3.4 GPA. Now what SAT score would you need to have to qualify for a college that needs an athletic recruit to have no lower than a 216 AI?</p>

<p>Remember the main purpose of the AI is so to ensure that recruited athletes are within one standard deviation of the entire student body. But to make those calculations you need to have an AI on the entire student body of a college. The average AI of athletes at HYP is thought to be 220, while at Cornell and Columbia it’s 210. Dartmouth. Upenn and Brown is supposed to be about 216. That means that students who are non-athletes need to have at least those scores to be competitive applicants.</p>

8

<p>@RunningForLife Sadly, these schools put a lot of weight on test scores, which eliminates about 95% of a senior class.</p>

9

<p>According to the NYT, it’s a mistake for any non-athlete to think their AI makes them a lock for a spot. It’s more a tool for athletes, but if calculated correctly for non-athletes, it may indicate you have a chance based on academics. But remember, an awful lot of Ivy acceptance depends on non-academic factors, which the athletes presumably have covered, but the non-athletes don’t.</p>

10

<p>Well the thing I am wondering most about it is how accurate it is? Because the my index is fairly high but my SAT score is “only” 2100. It seems that this SAT score is low for some of the most selective schools, but the AI is still high enough too be acceptable at selective schools… why is this?</p>

11

<p>Athletes. <a href=“https://www.mka.org/uploaded/college_counseling/Publications/AI_Guidelines_Worksheet.pdf”>https://www.mka.org/uploaded/college_counseling/Publications/AI_Guidelines_Worksheet.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
In 1985, the Council of Ivy Group Presidents created the Academic Index “to monitor the academic qualifications of recruited athletes.” This measure insured uniformity of admissions practices across the Ivy Group, underscored the importance of academics at those institutions, and addressed a perceived deterioration of standards in certain programs, especially male revenue sports. This formula has governed Ivy athletic admissions thereafter with only minor modifications.</p>

12

<p>@lookingforward Ok, I see…it is mainly for athletes. Does it have any indication for non-athletes or not really?</p>

13

<p>The 1 to 9 scale (1 to 6 some places) is for non-athletes too.</p>

<p>To give you an example: my son is in the highest tier for Ivy athletes, which is over 210 on the Tier One scale, but when I put his scores into the AI calculator on CC, he is a 6 out of 9 where 9 is the most academically qualified. But compared to athletes, he is in the top tier. The trick is to get the Ivy coaches to want your kid, and your kid to want to play and have the ability to play a sport at a high level. And do well in his classes.</p>

<p>It would be hard to get athletes at Ivies if not. And someone like my son who might not be admitted without sports, actually would help average out a less academically qualified athlete (say, 3.0 GPA and 1800 SAT for a lower Ivy). He’d likely be in the 25th percentile or maybe lower compared to the average lower Ivy (not HYP) student.</p>

14

<p>but the AI can’t be accurate though…it clearly gives test scores like 100 times more weight than GPA (which does not happen in real life; test scores and GPA are weighed roughly equally)</p>

15

<p>The AI is only used to establish eligibility for consideration, not actual admission. It is best known as the minimum standard that the Ivy League uses for acceptance - usually for those who probably would not be admitted without “hooks,” and especially for athletes. It is worthwhile for some of the young people who keep asking for “chances” at the most elite colleges to take a look at it. If they do not meet a threshold, they will know that they could not even get in if they played great football and their parents were alumni/ae.</p>

16

<p>Maybe you should go back to the link from Michele Hernadez’s book A is for Admission that I posted and read the entire chapter about the Academic Index, including this passage:

</p>

<p>FWIW: Prior to writing this book, Ms. Hernandez was an Admissions Director at Dartmouth, so she knows the score, so the AI is accurate for what it measures – insuring uniformity of admissions practices across the Ivy Group. The AI basically creates a bottom number by which no recruited athlete (or academic applicant) can be admitted. However, it does not take into account lots of subjective factors such as essays, teacher recommendations and EC’s. Having a high AI does not mean your chances are better. On the other hand, having a low AI (below that of the average recruited athlete) does mean your chances are not good.</p>

17

<p>Also see: <a href=“https://www.mka.org/uploaded/college_counseling/Publications/AI_Guidelines_Worksheet.pdf”>https://www.mka.org/uploaded/college_counseling/Publications/AI_Guidelines_Worksheet.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;