Thanks Buff81- I appreciate your comments. I was curious about the 24 ACT score for a 9th ranked school. It is of course one of many factors in their analysis but certainly seemed low to me. My DS scored in upper 30's and that is what is needed for WP but I wanted to know what an average score was. This was posted by PrepScholar:
What's a Good ACT Score Compared to the Rest of the Country?
The short answer: 20 (composite score) is the national ACT average. About half of students score above that, and half of students score below. The top 25% of ACT takers score about 24 or more, so if your score is
above 24, that's excellent. The bottom 25% of ACT takers score
16 or less — so if you're scoring in that range, be careful!
Again, to reiterate:
> 24 = Excellent
20 = Good (Average)
< 16 = Lowest Quarter
Here is the precise Official ACT chart of percentiles.
The number 20 is not a coincidence. The ACT makers actually design the test so the target average score is about a 20, and the target section score is 20 on each ACT section as well.
Remember that the lowest score you can get on the ACT total is 1, and the highest you can get is 36. If you're comparing your ACT score against the SAT, keep in mind that the SAT has a much higher minimum score.
Now, these are statistics on a national level. What's really important to you is how your ACT score compares to other students applying to the same colleges as you are. If you don't impress the admissions officers with your stats, you may find it hard to get in.