Chronicle List

Colleges Whose Top 25 Percent of First-Time Enrollees Had the Highest Entrance-Exam Scores, 2015-16

By Chronicle Staff

December 3, 2017

At five colleges, the 25 percent of new students with the highest scores in critical reading on the SAT college-entrance examination all attained the highest possible score: 800. For the SAT mathematics exam, the top quarter of students at those same five colleges, as well as six other institutions, attained 800. Among colleges for which the ACT was the predominant test taken by first-time new students, Vanderbilt University had the strongest overall showing, with a composite score of 35 out of a possible 36 achieved by the top 25 percent of students. The score that the top 25 percent of students attained or exceeded is identified in this table as the “75th-percentile score.”

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SAT: critical reading

Rank	Institution	Number who submitted SAT scores	Percentage who submitted SAT scores	75th-percentile score
1.	California Institute of Technology	184	76%	800
1.	Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering	51	67%	800
1.	Harvard U.	1,333	80%	800
1.	U. of Chicago	965	63%	800
1.	Yale U.	1,006	74%	800
6.	Princeton U.	1,048	80%	790
7.	Brown U.	1,153	71%	780
7.	Columbia U.	1,054	69%	780
7.	Dartmouth College	656	59%	780
7.	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	889	80%	780
7.	Stanford U.	1,377	80%	780
7.	Williams College	411	75%	780
13.	Amherst College	252	53%	773
14.	Duke U.	1,174	67%	760
14.	Harvey Mudd College	169	79%	760
14.	Haverford College	238	69%	760
14.	Pomona College	244	61%	760
14.	Reed College	311	74%	760
14.	Rice U.	697	72%	760
14.	Swarthmore College	297	73%	760
14.	U. of Pennsylvania	1,408	58%	760
22.	Claremont McKenna College	198	58%	750
22.	Cornell U.	2,387	75%	750
22.	Georgetown U.	1,228	78%	750
22.	Johns Hopkins U.	999	73%	750
22.	Middlebury College	375	64%	750
22.	Tufts U.	730	54%	750
22.	Vassar College	392	59%	750

SAT: mathematics

Rank	Institution	Number who submitted SAT scores	Percentage who submitted SAT scores	75th-percentile score
1.	California Institute of Technology	184	76%	800
1.	Carnegie Mellon U.	1,316	84%	800
1.	Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering	51	67%	800
1.	Harvard U.	1,333	80%	800
1.	Harvey Mudd College	169	79%	800
1.	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	889	80%	800
1.	Princeton U.	1,048	80%	800
1.	Rice U.	697	72%	800
1.	Stanford U.	1,377	80%	800
1.	U. of Chicago	965	63%	800
1.	Yale U.	1,006	74%	800
12.	Columbia U.	1,054	69%	790
12.	Duke U.	1,174	67%	790
12.	U. of Pennsylvania	1,408	58%	790
15.	Amherst College	252	53%	780
15.	Brown U.	1,153	71%	780
15.	Claremont McKenna College	198	58%	780
15.	Cornell U.	2,387	75%	780
15.	Dartmouth College	656	59%	780
15.	Johns Hopkins U.	999	73%	780

ACT: composite

Rank	Institution	Number who submitted ACT scores	Percentage who submitted ACT scores	75th-percentile score
1.	Vanderbilt U.	1,014	63%	35
2.	Northeastern U.	1,194	43%	34
2.	Northwestern U.	1,253	62%	34
2.	U. of Notre Dame	1,194	59%	34
2.	Washington U. in St. Louis	1,185	68%	34
6.	Carleton College	288	59%	33
6.	Case Western Reserve U.	778	62%	33
6.	Grinnell College	272	62%	33
6.	U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor	5,132	85%	33
6.	U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	2,124	52%	33
6.	Washington and Lee U.	241	53%	33
12.	Colorado School of Mines	854	90%	32
12.	Hendrix College	356	90%	32
12.	Macalester College	336	58%	32
12.	Rhodes College	433	77%	32
12.	Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology	409	75%	32
12.	Southern Methodist U.	931	68%	32
12.	Trinity U.	311	52%	32
12.	Tulane U.	1,043	61%	32
12.	U. of Miami	961	46%	32
12.	U. of Tulsa	537	75%	32
12.	Wheaton College (Ill.)	415	69%	32

ACT: English

Rank	Institution	Number who submitted ACT scores	Percentage who submitted ACT scores	75th-percentile score
1.	Northwestern U.	1,253	62%	35
1.	Vanderbilt U.	1,014	63%	35
1.	Washington U. in St. Louis	1,185	68%	35
4.	Case Western Reserve U.	778	62%	34
4.	Grinnell College	272	62%	34
4.	Hendrix College	356	90%	34
4.	Macalester College	336	58%	34
4.	Northeastern U.	1,194	43%	34
4.	Rhodes College	433	77%	34
4.	Tulane U.	1,043	61%	34
4.	U. of Miami	961	46%	34
4.	U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor	5,132	85%	34
4.	U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	2,124	52%	34
4.	Washington and Lee U.	241	53%	34
4.	Wheaton College (Ill.)	415	69%	34

ACT: mathematics

Rank	Institution	Number who submitted ACT scores	Percentage who submitted ACT scores	75th-percentile score
1.	Northwestern U.	1,253	62%	35
1.	Vanderbilt U.	1,014	63%	35
1.	Washington U. in St. Louis	1,185	68%	35
4.	Case Western Reserve U.	778	62%	34
4.	Northeastern U.	1,194	43%	34
4.	Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology	409	75%	34
4.	U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor	5,132	85%	34
8.	Colorado School of Mines	854	90%	33
8.	Grinnell College	272	62%	33
8.	Hendrix College	356	90%	33
8.	St. Olaf College	609	80%	33

Notes: Scores in this table represent degree- or certificate-seeking students who enrolled in college for the first time in 2015-16. The highest possible score for SAT critical-reading or math tests is 800, while the highest possible score for ACT tests is 36. The 75th-percentile score is the one that 25 percent of first-time enrolled students attained or exceeded. Colleges were ranked only for the college-entrance examination for which the higher percentage of their first-time enrollees submitted scores. Institutions with tied scores are listed alphabetically. Colleges with fewer than 50 first-time enrollees submitting scores for a particular test were excluded. Scores for the ACT and SAT writing tests were excluded because they were neither required nor recommended by many colleges in 2015-16. Questions or comments on the Chronicle List should be sent to Ruth Hammond.

Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data