kidderek wrote:
I still think it's the first-digit-syndrome (Pelihu, help me trademark that). I firmly believe that even if 700 was 89th% and 710 was 90th%, people would still aim for a 7XX.
My grading system in HS was on a 100 scale and everyone would kill for a 9X average. Students wanted at least a 90 average and would be disgusted with an 89.9--classic first-digit-syndrome.
I agree with you there. I have seen admissions consultants say that they believe there is a psychological difference between 690 & 700. Really, they are within the testing error (which is about 26 points if I recall), so essentially they should be the same.
From a statistical standpoint, based on the testing error, you really need to have a 30 point difference to matter. But hitting the various plateaus does changes things, and I believe can make a difference in close admit/deny cases. The plateaus are as follows:
640-650 - really the minimum score necessary to have any chance at an elite or ultra-elite. If you are below this, the only realistic chance would be if you are an underrepresented minority. If you have at least 640, you can try to make up for it in other parts of the application; if you are below, it will be almost impossible to overcome the score elsewhere.
700 - this is the most popular psychological barrier, and I believe, for the top schools, it means that you're pretty right in range with their average. This score will not help or hurt your chances at an elite or ultra-elite (although an imbalanced score could still hurt). The median scores at the top schools have actually all moved past 700, but the psychological barrier will probably stand for another year or two. I'd bet money that 2 years from now, people will be looking at 720 as the average competitive score, unless they re-balance the scoring somehow.
760 (used to be 750, but things changed this year) - the cut-off for the 99th percentile. This is an additional level that schools tend to view as indicative of highly capable students. They are statistically distinguishable from those that score 710-750.
Anything higher probably does nothing to help your candidacy, although achieving very high scores on both Q & V sections probably does have some additional benefit.