We read holistically, but I’m human and I understand that the testing profile is a convenient numerical way to gauge your competitiveness as an applicant. No, seriously, am I a competitive applicant? Conversely, a student possessing a 35 or 36 on the ACT may look competitive from a testing perspective, but still not receive admission due to other factors. Therefore, I won’t know if a student with a 29 ACT is a competitive applicant until I read the other chapters to their story. We read applications in a holistic manner, looking at every piece of the puzzle. There is also no formula or weight assigned to standardized testing at Vanderbilt. There is no cut-off/benchmark/requirement. Ranges are instructive because they help prospective students recognize we consider a wide swath of test scores. The answer to that question is the dreaded ‘I don’t know’. I have a 29 on the ACT, am I a competitive applicant? Additionally, prospective students have a broader understanding of the entire pool with the mid-50%. Reporting with ranges is helpful because outliers have less influence. Of our 1600 freshmen, 800 of those students have scores that fall at or between a 30 and 34 400 students scored either a 35 or 36 on the exam and 400 scored 29 or below. Vanderbilt example: our Class of 2014 ACT mid-50% is 30-34. The vast majority of the time you see testing ranges reported, they are reporting the 25 th percentile through the 75 th percentile, or the mid-50%. Therefore, the testing ranges we report reflect the highest Critical Reading + Math (regardless of test date) for the SAT and the highest ACT Composite in a single sitting. If I just tell you Vanderbilt’s testing range for ACT is 30 to 34 (or 1360 to 1530 for SAT), then you need to ask follow-up questions.įirst, question to ask: does that range represent applied, admitted, or enrolled students? Testing ranges for admitted students will almost always be higher than testing ranges for enrolled students simply because the highest testers have a greater number of post-secondary options.įYI: The ranges above are for our enrolled Class of 2014 the ranges for the admitted class were 31-1540.Īnother question to ask is: do you superscore tests? At Vanderbilt we superscore the SAT and we do not superscore the ACT. Some of my students find this frustrating, as if a testing range conceals a benchmark, but I promise you they are far more illustrative. If I told a room of prospective students the average ACT was 31.2 the student with the score of 30 may think they are not a competitive candidate for admission.īecause of the reasons above and others, most colleges report testing as a range. They can’t see that the single 36 is pulling the average upwards.įurthermore, there is a human tendency to process averages as a benchmark or cutoff. If I go around reporting 31.2 as the ACT average a student with a 30 ACT has very little concept of how their testing fits into the picture. I have 5 students and their ACT scores are as follows: 30, 30, 30, 30, and 36. Why? First off, averages are susceptible to outliers. The answer to the above question is not helpful to prospective students. Here I break down testing statistics: questions to ask to be sure you understand the numbers and how to use the numbers once you understand them. Numbers aren’t helpful if you don’t understand their reference. I noticed in recent months, though, that many students I work with don’t apply testing statistics to their college search process appropriately. Posted by Kylie on Thursday, Decemin Standardized Testing.Īs a counselor at a highly selective college I frequently field questions about standardized testing.
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