Although I consider S23 a “regular” kid, he had high stats and good ECs. He ended up at Colorado State which was a 90% acceptance rate.
5 Likes
This is really accurate. My above average daughter with her above average admits—it feels like nothing compared to some of the other students on here.
2 Likes
There was no sourcing data on this article, so take it for what it’s worth. But a high standardized test score and a degree from a high falutin’ college is not necessary for a successful life.
Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club and recent bestseller The Backyard Bird Chronicles, among other titles, has received many honors, including being presented with the National Humanities Medal by Biden (her bio). According to the linked article, she scored in the 1100s on her SAT and attended Linfield College and San Jose State. Her bio says she attended 5 colleges: Linfield College, San Jose City College, San Jose State University, UC-Santa Cruz, and UC-Berkeley.
Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th president of the United States, allegedly earned a 26 on his ACT and attended Texas State University.
And, just to be clear, 1100s on the SAT or a 26 on the ACT are still above average.
5 Likes
I work at a community college (love CCs and believe in their mission) and we routinely see ACT scores in the teens.
5 Likes
Back in ‘his day’ a 26 was probably a lot higher percentage than it is now. No prep classes, no taking the test 2-3 times (or 6), not everyone taking the test (especially because it wasn’t used by states as a NCLB substitute).
.
At my hs, very few took the SAT or ACT as they weren’t required for state schools, and of the 30 to 50% of grads who were going to college, almost all went to in state schools. Even my best friend, whose father was the admission officer at the (state) university in town didn’t take the exam.
1 Like
Yeah, not exactly a profound observation I am about to make, but the vast majority of kids going straight to a non-profit four-year college were above-average HS students. So the “regular” kids in that four-year-college-bound population are almost necessarily good students in the greater scheme.
Now of course some kids who were good HS students simply choose not to go to college. Others choose a CC either because that is the only degree they need, or they want to save on the total cost of a four-year degree. So not all good HS students choose a four-year college as their next step.
But others are late bloomers, meaning they were not such good HS students overall, but have developed to the point they are ready for college, and who need to start at a CC before transferring to the four-year college they would want to attend (and it is great when that works out for them!).
Anyway, unfortunately when you are hanging out with just a bunch of four-year-college-bound kids (or their parents), you can get a misleading sense of what the distribution of HS students overall looks like, and where a given good but “regular” (for a college-bound) student might fit into it.
And then if you are hanging out somewhere that a lot of the kids (or their parents) are particularly interested in very selective colleges? Definitely not a representative crowd.
3 Likes
Editing to quote the right person:
I stand by my statement about those scores being above average…including for the population of students who intend to attend a 4-year college.
The resource below isn’t as extensive as I would like, but it does give an indication for a few different states what the thresholds are to take college-level (rather than remedial) classes:
Generally, it’s an ACT score between 18-20 or an SAT score of about 960 or above, though there are some which allow students with scores even lower than that. So if you have an ACT score of 20+, you’re considered college-ready.
(Sidebar: And considering all the stories that we hear about students who go from high school to college and use the Pell grants or other $ for “college” courses only to find out later that they were remedial courses and don’t count toward a diploma…there are a lot of students going into college that are not coming in with college-ready standardized test scores.)
An ACT score of 26 is at the 86th percentile, a 20 at the 61st percentile, and an 18 at the 49th percentile.
And though there are definitely states that require all students to take the ACT, regardless of their college intentions, the majority of high school graduates are going directly to college (source).
I love examples like this. Helps me walk myself back from angry mode when people tell me that because of my kid’s SAT math score, she shouldn’t pursue a career in STEM. The naysayers can go take a long walk off a short pier as far as I’m concerned.
5 Likes
I am not sure why you phrased it this way. I am not arguing against that. When you regularly see ACT scores of 13, a 23 looks miles better.
2 Likes
Sorry, I’m tired, and I think I was reacting more to this:
which made me feel as though a 26 wasn’t a perfectly good score in 2025. Apologies for directing that message to you. I’ve edited my post to reflect the other quote.
2 Likes
It is a perfectly good school in 2025 and will get the student into a lot of good schools, but in 1928 when LBJ was starting college, it would probably have gotten him into any school he wanted (if his hs grades were good) and could afford. He wasn’t from a wealthy family and I think went to a school close to home.
Would it have been enough for U of Texas in 1928? Probably. Would it be high enough today to get accepted? I don’t think so.