If you're a college applicant, or a parent, counselor or teacher of an applicant, you're probably knee-deep in admission statistics. But what are they all about?
You need to know what to make of average SAT and ACT scores, as well as how to interpret acceptance rates, if you're going to be competitive in the college admissions process.
Most college applicants consult college admission statistics throughout the college admissions process, primarily to benchmark their performance against that of other applicants from previous years.
The main admission statistics you will probably be interested in include the number of applicants, acceptance rate, and standardized test scores.
* Knowing the number of applicants a college typically gets gives you an idea of its popularity. Many large colleges get tens of thousands of applicants each year.
* A college's acceptance rate is a key statistic to look at. This tells you how selective the college is. But in interpreting this statistic, you must also factor in self-selection. For instance, a college might have an acceptance rate below 10%. What does this tell you? It could mean different things, so be careful. If the applicant pool as a whole is very well-qualified, then you will need a strong application overall in order to be competitive. For example, in a given year, Harvard might admit fewer than 10% of applicants, most of whom are A students. Usually, C students won't bother applying to a college such as Harvard. By the same token, some colleges have high acceptance rates AND the applicant pool is less accomplished academically. What should this tell you? Well, you might not need to be at the very top of your class to stand a good chance of being accepted.
* Another important set of admission statistics are average standardized test scores of accepted applicants. Most colleges require applicants to submit either SAT or ACT scores. You should pay attention to average scores to see where you fit in. This can help you to estimate your chances of getting in.
* If you can get your hands on average GPAs of accepted applicants, that can be very helpful, too. However, not all colleges make this information publicly available. And, average standardized test scores can generally give you a good sense of the academic abilities of the typical applicant pool.
Admission statistics are essential in helping you to decide whether you should think of a given college as a dream school, safety school, or something in-between. Bottom line: don't ignore admission stats!
Recommended online source for college admission statistics: http://collegeadmissions100.com/admission-statistics/
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