Behind the Numbers
Friday, August 1st, 2008
I would like to share a note I received from someone who wrote in disagreement to a statement I made in last week’s blog, “The Magic Numbers.” You may recall that I suggested the young woman’s test results (ACT: 34; SAT: 680/760/730) would put her on the competitive “playing field” at any school in the country. The writer disagreed and, pointing to the average SAT scores posted by the Ivies in the mid-700’s, predicted “she would be knocked out with her 680 Critical Reading.”
On the surface, this response makes good sense. After all, logic would suggest, “if your numbers don’t match or exceed those reported by the college, you’re not likely to get in.” This is where it is important, however, to understand what the numbers mean.
The student’s scores are actually projections of her ability to do the work in the first year
of college. The higher the number, the greater the probability she can do well in more challenging academic environments. That’s why I suggested that this young lady has scores that would put her on the competitive playing field at any school in the country. Please note, however, that this should not be construed as a guarantee of admission. Without compelling credentials in other aspects of her application she remains a long shot for admission at elite institutions.
Now let’s take a look at how scores are often regarded by colleges. Admission officers know from experience that students within a certain range of scores can do the work in their respective environments. While some students might be projected as successful at the Phi Beta Kappa (high honors) level, others might be able to “just get by.” Regardless, students with scores at either end of the spectrum, as well as everyone in between, are on the competitive “playing fields” at those schools. In reality, most students who apply to most colleges fall somewhere within that range.
Therefore the numbers reported by a given college reflect the average score performance for the students admitted to that college. They are not minimal or threshold requirements as, frankly, those numbers (i.e., the lowest possible SAT for an admitted student) are rarely publicized. Therefore, the average scores cited by my reader for the Ivies are actually the mid-points of scores of accepted students, half of which were above the average and half were below.
That said, it is important to remember that the Ivies, and many other highly selective institutions around the country, routinely turn down students with scores above their averages just as they accept kids with scores below their averages. My point in my previous blog posting was that they could take the candidate in question if they wanted to without any worry about her ability to do the work as they certainly take other applicants with scores below their averages. I didn’t say her credentials would guarantee her admission anywhere in the country—only that they would put her on the competitive playing field at any school in the country. She is a viable candidate.
And really, that’s all she or anyone else can ask for—a chance to compete. The trick is to find places that look beyond your scores to see what you have to offer the communities they are building through the admission process. The places that value you for what you do well will be those at which you have the greatest chance of gaining admission.
