What Do Selective Colleges Look for in an Applicant? Standardized Tests

How Do Colleges Use the SAT?

Standardized tests seem more objective to colleges because they are independent of the varying grading standards of high schools. They also help separate students from each other since grade inflation means that grades alone no longer do that well. But the tests are not without their critics and most colleges are wary of relying too heavily on them because of doubts about what they really measure and lingering concerns that they may be biased in some way. Of special concern is the growth of the test prep industry, which often claims to guarantee significant score improvements for students who take special courses that can cost $1,000 or more. Clearly, usually only those who can afford to pay for those classes can take them.

I don’t think the SATs are a fair indication of someone’s potential for college. The math is insanely tricky. And they’re so long. Four hours. By the end, you just can’t think. You start making silly mistakes. - High school senior who wonders what the SAT really measures

In response to these concerns, some selective liberal arts colleges have made standardized tests optional—the decision whether to submit scores is left to the student. New schools are going test-optional with some frequency.

Despite calls to eliminate standardized tests entirely from the college admissions process, it is likely that the tests will continue to be used by most selective colleges for the foreseeable future. With grades difficult to interpret, most colleges are unwilling to lose the additional information, however imperfect, that a test like the SAT provides.

The College Board, the organization that owns and administers the SAT, encourages colleges to report the SAT scores of the middle 50 percent of their freshman class rather than average SAT scores when providing information to prospective students. It is more useful to know the 25–75 percent midrange of scores (each part of the test is graded on a scale from 200 to 800) than a single average score, since the range gives you some information about how scores are actually distributed. Knowing that the midrange for the freshman class was 570 to 730 on the math section, for example, is more useful than simply knowing that the average score was 650.

Evaluating Your Score

In general, if your test scores fall roughly in the middle 50 percent range of a selective college’s freshman class SAT distribution, they won’t hurt or help your chances of admission much, but the greater they diverge from the middle, up or down, the more they will help or hurt your chances accordingly. In the example just discussed, a math score of 740 or greater would fall in the top 25 percent of the freshman class and be likely to help make your case for admission. Just how much a higher score will help depends on the actual score, the weight the college places on it, and the rest of your record. Scores falling in the lowest 25 percent of the freshman class for a selective college (560 or less in this example) would usually need to be offset by one or more compelling factors (for example, an outstanding academic record or, a special hook) for you to be a viable candidate at that college, especially if the college’s admission rate is relatively low; that is, it is selective.

SAT scores have also experienced inflation. In the mid-1990s, the College Board “recentered” the test to offset the fact that the average score on each part of the test had been declining over time. As a result of recentering, SAT scores appeared to dramatically improve by as much as 120 points out of a possible total of 1600. In reality, only the numbers and not the actual performance had changed. SAT recentering is the main reason why Baby Boomer parents who took the SAT themselves as teenagers often find that their children’s scores are more impressive than their own.