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1460 SAT and rejected at Cornell has been trending on Twitter the last few days.
https://twitter.com/maiab/status/1736766407348814091?s=46&t=aQ6ajj220jubjU7-o3SuWQ
A lot of the takes were about him being rejected because he is white. The thing I find interesting is the condensing of the top 1-5% of scores into a smaller score range over time. My guess since the score differences look smaller it lets schools select more for other characteristics rather than pure mental horsepower. Getting a perfect score today or something that looks similar 1550 plus will not differentiate people as much.
Elon Musks apparently had a 1400 SAT. Bill Gates a 1590. Obviously they are both smart but I feel fairly confident Bill Gates is significantly higher pure IQ. With the way normal distributions operate I feel confident saying there is a big intelligence difference between the two but on the current system Musks would probably get 1580 and Gates 1600.
Digging thru SAT history there have been a few key years where the test had significant changes.
1993/1995 - some test changes but the big thing was a recentering to get scores back to about 1000 from 900. Before this update a median score at HYPS would have been 1370-1400 area. Bill Gates 1590 would have really stood out and guaranteed alone admittance to Harvard.
2005 - attempts to move the test closer to high school curriculum and eliminated analogies and quant comparisons. My guess is this made the test less of a pure intelligence test and closed gaps between highest performers and mid range.
2016 - more I guess dumbing down and trying to make the test more like what they did in high school. Multiple choice questions went from 5 options to 4 options and wrong answers no longer carried a penalty. This would make educated guessing far better.
Here is the current percentile for different scores.
https://blog.prepscholar.com/sat-percentiles-and-score-rankings
1500 is now solidly top 2%. 1450 is top 4%.
Here is the data from 2003
https://blog.prepscholar.com/sat-historical-percentiles-for-2005-2004-2003
1490-1600 was solidly differentiating between the top 1%.
I believe the new scoring significantly hurts the outliers at standing out from the test. And likely hurts the highest performing white, Asian, and Jewish males at getting into the most selective schools since the difference between a 1530 and 1600 SAT score just doesn’t seem that big statistically. It feels to me that studying for the new exam and learning test taking skills are more important today. Perhaps, you think this isn’t a big deal that the raw mental abilities of the top 1.2% and .3% of the population isn’t important and allowing schools to select more on other criteria is more important. My opinion for the very top programs finding the Bill Gates level intelligence matters. Men also have different intelligence bell curves (more people on the extremes) therefore on net I believe it hurts males.
I am also curious how someone who is really good at math could stand out in today’s environment. The SAT and a few good AP math scores wouldn’t seem to be enough. Do you need to have the opportunity to compete in high-end math tournaments?
Personally, the new testing I believe would have significantly effected my life. Coming from a lower class white family being able to crush the SAT gave me a way to stand out for a relatively cheap costs.
I am seeing a median SAT score of 1520 at Harvard and a median of 1440 at UMICH. My guess is back in the day that gap was much higher.
My primary reaction is probably not exactly fair to the kid, but is still the first thing I think of - who gives a fuck? Seriously, how did getting into Cornell become such an important part of this kid's identity that it's upsetting to fail? Cornell is, of course, a very good school and people that go there are apt to go onto excellent careers, but the same is largely true for whatever slightly lower rung school he gets into. Nothing all that important is lost, his college future is still on the table, and the prospects after that remain bright. His SAT was good, but nothing special, and if it turns out that a black kid with a slightly lower score got in, I just don't really see the gigantic fuss. I don't like affirmative-action style policies, particularly in genuine tournament jobs, but I just can't get myself all that worked up that a bright, but unspectacular kid will wind up going to Pittsburgh instead of Cornell.
you answered the question. These schools are highly competitive for a reason.
Eh, Cornell is ok. Do you know what Cornell Engineering students and MIT students have in common?
Wow, just wow. I thought promoting hate upon vulnerable groups was against the rules here.
I am confused at how the above comment is promoting hate upon vulnerable groups and would like to see this claim elaborated on.
I think the "vulnerable group" comment is referring to Cornell students' propensity to jump into the nearest gorge when undergoing stress.
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Are you perhaps a Cornell student?
I don't give out details like that so I'll answer no.
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I think it was just a joke about calling Cornell Engineering students so dumb that they're a vulnerable group. Obviously a joke because they're of course still quite smart, just not as smart as other top programs like MIT engineering.
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