Class profile across several years

The number of applicants dropped quite a bit from class of 2020...
 
The number of applicants dropped quite a bit from class of 2020...

I would love the see all of the academies give information as to how they compile data. Is it anyone who registers? Is it completion to some point? Does it include summer programs?

The upward trend of USMA is in stark contrast to the data presented by a college site which said the average was a 25 on the ACT.
 
I would love the see all of the academies give information as to how they compile data. Is it anyone who registers? Is it completion to some point? Does it include summer programs?

The upward trend of USMA is in stark contrast to the data presented by a college site which said the average was a 25 on the ACT.

My understanding is anyone who opens an application with USMA is an applicant.

Sites that quite USMA stats may not be updated with the latest and greatest.
 
For the stats, on the left side it says “at entry to USMA”. So I would assume that below “1st day of class”, it’s all those who showed up for that first day of class.
 
The profiles listed come directly from the USMA website, so they should be accurate.

Opening the initial application (Candidate Questionnaire) in itself does not qualify someone as an applicant in the class profile. For example, the profile for 2020 lists 14,830 applicants. However, the total number in the database and assigned a candidate ID for that admissions year is 15,628. Also, some who submit the Candidate Questionnaire are not approved to have their portal open to the full application.

Only admissions knows for sure how the profile numbers are determined, but it appears that opening the Candidate Questionnaire and submitting test scores approximates the applicant number in the profile. This would be consistent with reporting procedures for other universities - many filter out applicants with disqualifying test scores, but still count them as applicants without reading the rest of the application.
 
One of the most interesting things to me is on another link: https://westpoint.edu/about/west-point-staff/g5/institutional-research/class-profiles
Towards the bottom of each page is # of "national merit scholarship recognition", which I take to mean Semifinalist (top 1% of PSAT scorers) and Commended (top 3 - 5% of PSAT scorers).

There's been a huge increase over the past few years. It's almost hard to believe, compared to a relatively modest increase in combined math/verbal SAT/ACT. One explanation is an increase in high scorers, offset by an increase in low scorers. Only other explanation is a change in the definition of a commended scholar on the part of the PSATs or USMA.

Commended Scholars tally:
2017: 171
2018: 129
2019: 101
2020: 117 (and then the big jump follows)
2021: 351
2022: 525

To me, that's the strangest thing I've seen in USMA numbers in my long 3 month history of digging into them ;)
 
I would love the see all of the academies give information as to how they compile data. Is it anyone who registers? Is it completion to some point? Does it include summer programs?

The upward trend of USMA is in stark contrast to the data presented by a college site which said the average was a 25 on the ACT.

Do a search on this site. The topic has been parsed ad infinitum. I will promise you this, if you're a "typical" applicant, you aren't getting in with a 25 ACT
 
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The average ACT score is well above 25.

Applicants are admitted with 25 ACT and lower, just like at Harvard, Princeton, Stanford etc. - they are recruited athletes; minorities; and for USMA, soldiers.

"Normal" applicants usually must have a score higher than the average and much higher than 25, just like at Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, etc..
 
My DW and I did some number play. Assuming intake of 1200 ( 280 are athlete recruits, enlist, prior service and 920 non-recruited athlete) and mean of SAT is 1290 for all class ( which is kind of low from my understanding, but it's what it is from usma link)

- if mean of Recruited Athlete SAT is 1150, then mean of non-recruited comes to 1333
- if mean of Recruited Athlete SAT is 1100, then mean of non-recruited comes to 1348
- if mean of Recruited Athlete SAT is 1000, then mean of non-recruited comes to 1378
 
i'm still surprised at the increase in commended but it does make more sense. If National Merit commended is top 4% (3 - 4% apparently, not 5%) and if we assume that equals top 4% of SAT, that is about a 1390 on the SAT.
So I guess of that 920 student group, there could be 500+ kids who get over 1390 on SAT and 400 that get more like 1300 and it still works out.
#Math
 
I would think for NMC and Semifinalist you'd have to look at the number of kids from each state. Some states have super high cutoffs for semifinalist, and some lower, which lowers the commended cutoff. If they accept a larger group of kids from higher scoring states on the PSAT then that may help explain the higher number of commended kids. It is surprising to see such a huge jump from 2020 to 2021, but I think that's the year they changed how college board scored the PSAT, right? Didn't it change in 2015 or 2016? Wonder if that has something to do with it.
 
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I didn't realize they changed the scoring of the PSAT, but that seems it would be the likely driver. They changed in Oct 2015 (per google). so if you were a junior in Oct 2015 taking psat, you graduated high school in 2017, making you USMA class of 2021, exactly in line with the jump. That has to be it.
I didn't think that scoring would affect % of kids who are commended (that's about 3.5% from what I'm reading now), but perhaps it somehow did.
 
Do a search on this site. The topic has been parsed ad infinitum. I will promise you this, if you're a "typical" applicant, you aren't getting in with a 25 ACT

Agreed as a mom of 2 - 99 percenters on the ACT without LOA's.

This is the site I was speaking of with the data.

 
Agreed as a mom of 2 - 99 percenters on the ACT without LOA's.

This is the site I was speaking of with the data.


HAHA - I too have a DS (Class of 2023) that scored in the 99th percentile and DID NOT receive an LOA. While I'm biased, he seemed like the perfect candidate to receive one. Admissions works in mysterious ways!
 
HAHA - I too have a DS (Class of 2023) that scored in the 99th percentile and DID NOT receive an LOA. While I'm biased, he seemed like the perfect candidate to receive one. Admissions works in mysterious ways!
My DS was in top 3% and no LOA not even sure he got an LOE.
 
An average ACT score of 25 is a reasonable estimate of the average ACT score for those receiving special consideration and appointed as Additional Appointees. For perspective, football players in one recent class had an average ACT score on the Math/English sections of 25 and median of 24.

Averages for those appointed from competitive categories or as Qualified Alternates is necessarily much higher in order to bring the overall average down to the numbers reported in the class profile.
 
For most candidates, LOA's are at the discretion of the Regional Commander. Some use them more than others, so geography does matter.
 
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