Median ACT Score for USNS?

SA2017

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Looking at the recent profiles for the different academies they list the median ACT score. USNA instead lists a wide range of SAT scores. Does anyone know the median ACT score for USNA?

Sorry top line should read median score for USNA
 
ACT

I sent this question a few months ago to USNA:
In the Class Profiles I've seen posted, you include the "Middle 50th percentile" for the SAT. Are you able to share that information for the ACT?

Response from USNA:
I am sorry, but we did not calculate the Middle 50th percentile for ACT.
Generally speaking, we are looking for ACT scores of 26 English and 26 Math, although a score of 24 or 25 can be waived if the student has a strong academic background in the appropriate subject area.

I have not looked at the other SA's, but I would suspect if their SAT Middle 50 are similar, their ACT Middle 50 would be to. If one's Middle 50 was is higher, the ACT middle would track similarly.
 
The median depends upon which group you're in. Note it has declined significantly over the past 4-5 years. The overall median, beyond pointing in a very general direction, is useless for directing candidates toward top performance.

Note that despite substantially greater population of applicants and some specifically higher standardized test scores, The Princeton Review now ranks USNA the least "selective" among the major Service Academies. As we always discover, there is no free lunch.
 
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link

whistlepig,
Can you send a link to The Princeton Review where is USNA the least "selective" among the major Service Academies. I just did a search and could not find that myself.
Thank You
 
My general advice- get at least 31 on Math and English on the ACT.

You could definitely slide by with lower scores but strive for these standards. Use test prep books. I started off with 31 and 28 but ended with 35 and 33 the 4th time I took the test.
 
The median scores shown on the school profile are the median for all accepted midshipman they are not dependant on which group you are in. They have trended down somewhat over the last several years but in fact went up last year over the year before - about 20 pts on both verbal and math. You can compare years by searching for the class profiles. Although USNA does not publish the median for the ACT you can get a rough idea using the conversion charts. Preferably you would want to shoot for somewhere in top quartile - 32 +.
 
One of the minor lessons we re-learn by the manipulation and padding of some numbers is that stats may be "facts" but facts don't always explain the truth. Or maybe the other one of stats don't fib, but they can be used to create some convincing fibs. And a 3rd one is that it can be disappointing to learn your best girl wears a heavily padded bra. It can enhance public perception and self-image but sooner or later gotta come clean.:eek:
 
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One of the minor lessons we re-learn by the manipulation and padding of some numbers is that stats may be "facts" but facts don't always explain the truth. Or maybe the other one of stats don't fib, but they can be used to create some convincing fibs. And a 3rd one is that it can be disappointing to learn your best girl wears a heavily padded bra. It can enhance public perception and self-image but sooner or later gotta come clean.:eek:

???? Are you saying the SAT numbers published have been manipulated? If so that is a pretty serious charge. Do you have evidence of this?
 
Refer to this post "USNA Inflated Application Numbers Finally Revealed via FOIA" on page 2
 
Thanks cb. AikiB's implication is how rumors get rolling. In memory of Sargent Friday and the late, great Colonel Potter, "Just the facts, ma'am." RIP Harry.
 
say what?

I dont want to put words in whistle Pigs mouth, but what I think is being stated here is that the mean ACT/SAT scores can be misleading. It will be acceptable to have lower scores if you are a recruited athlete or an URM. However, someone has to balance out those lower scores. Therefore if you are NOT a recruited athlete or an URM you will need to have significantly higher scores.

No where can you figure out though, what the scores need to be if you are not a recruited athlete or an URM.

and that is the challenge.
 
I dont want to put words in whistle Pigs mouth, but what I think is being stated here is that the mean ACT/SAT scores can be misleading. It will be acceptable to have lower scores if you are a recruited athlete or an URM. However, someone has to balance out those lower scores. Therefore if you are NOT a recruited athlete or an URM you will need to have significantly higher scores.

No where can you figure out though, what the scores need to be if you are not a recruited athlete or an URM.

and that is the challenge.
Amen. Nicely, clearly, simply explained. Mostly.

So the stats don't lie. They simply don't lend great insight to forecasting and lending guidance for those you've noted.
 
I would suggest that candidates speak with their BGOs about the level of competition in their locale before settling on a 26 math SAT. My observation has been that 26 tends to be the floor for 3Q, but not particularly competitive in this area. Frankly, my unvarnished recommendation to any SERIOUS candidate is that he/she needs to aspire to be the best qualified candidate he/she can be! Playing odds or doing the least possible tends to be a loser's game.
 
Refer to this post "USNA Inflated Application Numbers Finally Revealed via FOIA" on page 2

We are not talking application numbers here but SAT numbers. The SAT numbers reported are not that of all the "applicants" but of the accepted midshipmen. Including all the applicants would probably bring the SAT scores WAY down.
 
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I dont want to put words in whistle Pigs mouth, but what I think is being stated here is that the mean ACT/SAT scores can be misleading. It will be acceptable to have lower scores if you are a recruited athlete or an URM. However, someone has to balance out those lower scores. Therefore if you are NOT a recruited athlete or an URM you will need to have significantly higher scores.

No where can you figure out though, what the scores need to be if you are not a recruited athlete or an URM.

and that is the challenge.

Any low scores would show up in the bottom quartile and any high "offsetting" scores would be in the first quartile. That is one of the reasons most schools show the middle 50% of scores. Again the scores are simply the sum of all the accepted or reported midshipman then broken into quartiles. I should have put a smiley face by my last post - I was purposely being over dramatic - not trying to start "rumors"(?) :shake:
 
not to quibble

I think what you are saying Akibudo is "the scores are the scores take 'em or leave 'em"

I dont think anyone would disagree with the posters like 1964BGO who say-simply constantly trying to improve is all you can do.

The poster who quoted their response from USNA by stating "I am sorry, but we did not calculate the Middle 50th percentile for ACT.Generally speaking, we are looking for ACT scores of 26 English and 26 Math, although a score of 24 or 25 can be waived if the student has a strong academic background in the appropriate subject area." is in a sense quoting fiction for my son. He plays a high level sport but will not be recruited by USNA and he is half Irish and half Scottish (a fighting combination but by no means an URM). We live in a competitive area- so my son needs to be an offsetter.

Dont forget most of these students applying are geared towards the engineering field. Thus more than likely their parents are also programmed that way. Those types of people feel safety and comfort in statistics (myself included):redface: So you can tell people to just move forward on faith, and dont look at the numbers but it is like putting a thousand piece puzzle together without the picture on the box and someone telling you that you may or may not be a couple pieces short-but just keep trying to put it together. Sometimes you want to sneak a peek at the picture on the box.

I think that is alot of what this website is. and this question in particular
 
I think what you are saying Akibudo is "the scores are the scores take 'em or leave 'em"

I dont think anyone would disagree with the posters like 1964BGO who say-simply constantly trying to improve is all you can do.

The poster who quoted their response from USNA by stating "I am sorry, but we did not calculate the Middle 50th percentile for ACT.Generally speaking, we are looking for ACT scores of 26 English and 26 Math, although a score of 24 or 25 can be waived if the student has a strong academic background in the appropriate subject area." is in a sense quoting fiction for my son. He plays a high level sport but will not be recruited by USNA and he is half Irish and half Scottish (a fighting combination but by no means an URM). We live in a competitive area- so my son needs to be an offsetter.

Vista, you are exactly right. It applies to all highly competitive schools. Almost all of them field a full slate of men's and women's D1 sports. They also have obscure Academic Departments and Majors, which need warm bodies. Both my sons have been raised as "offsetters" and taught not to resent it.

It is so difficult to impress on a teenager that the most beneficial competition is with oneself. Looking at stats for more than a general ideas is a fool's errand at best and seriously counter-productive at worse.

BTW If your son is applying to USNA I am sorry to tell you that my son has an advantage over yours. He is Scots-Irish on my side and Polish on his mother's.:biggrin: They didn't consult the statistics when weighing the possible outcomes of sending their Cavalry (and I means real horses) against German Pansers.

Highly recommend a book by James Webb (USNA Grad), "Born Fighting".
 
I think what you are saying Akibudo is "the scores are the scores take 'em or leave 'em"

Sort of. The scores are the scores and they are not being "manipulated" so take them for what they are worth - maybe a rough estimate of where you need to be on the SAT/ACT. As 1964BGO pointed out the real competition is in your state and congressional district. If any candidate needs an SAT/ACT number to shoot for - look at the top quartile - you want to be an "off-setter" in everything you do.
 
My personal problem with getting wrapped up in the stats is that some of the less sophisticated or motivated candidates are going to get caught short and not realize that fact until it is after April 15 and they are reading their TWE. If you really are committed to one of the SA's why would you handicap yourself by doing less than you could to be your absolute best?
 
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