tOSU Admission Standards

[SCBuck13]

On College Confidential, a lot of kids for next year's class with 27 and 28 on the ACT are getting deferred. They still might ultimately get accepted, but it tells me that there's a lot of 29+ scores in the applicant pool, and admissions is waiting to gauge how many accept their offers. Average ACT should jump from 28 to around 28.5 this year.

The other great thing about that page is that you'll notice that Fredo of Ohio pays to run two 24/7/365 banner ads on Ohio State's discussion page. Hey Fredo, if it's come down to taking out banner ads, you've already lost.:box:

Im one of the lucky ones who got in with a 28. A friend of mine was able to get in with a 24, but im pretty sure he scored much better on the SAT. We were both accepted within the past month too.

 

[Class'13]

How is chemical engineering? I'm starting off in chemistry, but I dunno if i'll stick to it

Pretty difficult. The beginning core classes are difficult and is basically a year and a half of weed-out classes. I've just started to get into the main major classes this quarter, and its much more relaxed, but still pretty tough.

 

[FrancisSoyer]

My familys all teachers, its not that OSU standards are increasing that much, they are, but a large part of it is now kids are learning how to score higher on the act. Least the ones that score high on it.

I think there is some truth there. I doubt that kids are that much smarter than people coming in 5-10 years ago when a 28 ACT score was somewhat rare. I think preparation has come a long way. I also think it's much easier to cheat with smart phones now in almost every pocket - I know I witnessed it plenty in college.

National ACT scores in 2009: http://www.act.org

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

I think there is some truth there. I doubt that kids are that much smarter than people coming in 5-10 years ago when a 28 ACT score was somewhat rare. I think preparation has come a long way. I also think it's much easier to cheat with smart phones now in almost every pocket - I know I witnessed it plenty in college.

National ACT scores in 2009: http://www.act.org

Yes and no. Certainly test prep has come a long way since I took the two tests. I went to a very good public high school and didn't know of anyone who was taking test prep classes on the weekends. A few kids bought practice books but most just went through the 3 or 4 days of senior English and math classes that were devoted to the test then walked in with their #2 pencils.

I agree that the massive amount of prep for the tests might turn the 28 scorer of 1985 into a 30 scorer today. I, however, have a hard time believing that any amount of test prep is going to turn a 20 scorer into anything more than a 20 scorer.

I could only find data going back to 1998, but it shows virtually no increase in average test scores.

National Average ACT Composite Score, 1998?2008
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
21.0 21.0 21.0 21.0 20.8 20.8 20.9 20.9 21.1 21.2 21.1
Score Range 1?36

National Average ACT English Score, 1998?2008
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
20.4 20.5 20.5 20.5 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.4 20.6 20.7 20.6
Score Range 1?36

National Average ACT Math Score, 1998?2008
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
20.8 20.7 20.7 20.7 20.6 20.6 20.7 20.7 20.8 21.0 21.0
Score Range 1?36

National Average ACT Reading Score, 1998?2008
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
21.4 21.4 21.4 21.3 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.3 21.4 21.5 21.4
Score Range 1?36

I've seen data for the Rhodes era. Ohio State--due to its science and engineering--departments still pulled in a higher percentage of 30+ kids than any other Ohio public, including Fredo. That, however, was balanced by the bottom fourth of the class that cincibuck has talked about never making it to their sophomore year. That's was the foundation for the admissions gap between Ohio State and Fredo. John Millett allowed Fredo to reject those kids while forcing Ohio State to take them...if only for a year. Clearly, those kids are not in the realm of possibility for Ohio State today. I don't think they've suddenly turned themselves into 28 ACT scorers. They're still out there. They're just getting rejected or not bothering to even apply.

 

[FrancisSoyer]

Yes and no. Certainly test prep has come a long way since I took the two tests. I went to a very good public high school and didn't know of anyone who was taking test prep classes on the weekends. A few kids bought practice books but most just went through the 3 or 4 days of senior English and math classes that were devoted to the test then walked in with their #2 pencils.

I agree that the massive amount of prep for the tests might turn the 28 scorer of 1985 into a 30 scorer today. I, however, have a hard time believing that any amount of test prep is going to turn a 20 scorer into anything more than a 20 scorer.

I could only find data going back to 1998, but it shows virtually no increase in average test scores.

National Average ACT Composite Score, 1998?2008
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
21.0 21.0 21.0 21.0 20.8 20.8 20.9 20.9 21.1 21.2 21.1
Score Range 1?36

National Average ACT English Score, 1998?2008
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
20.4 20.5 20.5 20.5 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.4 20.6 20.7 20.6
Score Range 1?36

National Average ACT Math Score, 1998?2008
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
20.8 20.7 20.7 20.7 20.6 20.6 20.7 20.7 20.8 21.0 21.0
Score Range 1?36

National Average ACT Reading Score, 1998?2008
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
21.4 21.4 21.4 21.3 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.3 21.4 21.5 21.4
Score Range 1?36

I've seen data for the Rhodes era. Ohio State--due to its science and engineering--departments still pulled in a higher percentage of 30+ kids than any other Ohio public, including Fredo. That, however, was balanced by the bottom fourth of the class that cincibuck has talked about never making it to their sophomore year. That's was the foundation for the admissions gap between Ohio State and Fredo. John Millett allowed Fredo to reject those kids while forcing Ohio State to take them...if only for a year. Clearly, those kids are not in the realm of possibility for Ohio State today. I don't think they've suddenly turned themselves into 28 ACT scorers. They're still out there. They're just getting rejected or not bothering to even apply.

Cool, kudos to OSU for being selective and raising standards. Sucks for the slackers like myself but this isn't 'nam. There are rules.

 

[PrincessPeach]

I'd be interested to see what the score distribution is for each year - is that available somewhere? It's possible that while the average is rather constant, there is still a greater number of 30+ scores now due to increased and/or better quality preparation. (I, too, recall maybe one or two people I knew buying books for self-study, but I don't remember even knowing that classroom instruction and tutoring were an option back in my day.)

This is purely conjecture from anecdotal evidence, but I'd guess that there might also be an increase in high-scorers due to a greater number of students having extra time. If the pressure of the time crunch were eased, surely most students would do better, as the material is really rather basic. With a documented diagnosis of ADHD or a learning disability, many students are granted extended time accommodations. Obviously, those diagnoses are much more prevalant now than they used to be.

I don't know what might cause a corresponding increase in the number of low scores, though. Is it possible that there used to be more students who would have scored poorly that just didn't take the test because they knew that college wasn't for them?

 

[PrincessPeach]

I agree that the massive amount of prep for the tests might turn the 28 scorer of 1985 into a 30 scorer today. I, however, have a hard time believing that any amount of test prep is going to turn a 20 scorer into anything more than a 20 scorer.

I'll disagree with this one, though. I've seen tremendous improvement by students who started at all score levels, and often lower scorers see more. Of course, the margin for error is much greater when moving from a 20 to a 25 than from a 27 to a 32, but students who already do reasonably well usually also have an intuitive sense for "tricks" of multiple choice tests, while lower scorers do not. Sometimes you can almost see the light bulb when they realize they can do things like plug in answers to math they don't exactly know how to do or that eliminating obviously wrong answers greatly increases their chances when they have to guess.

 

[OSU_D/]

On College Confidential, a lot of kids for next year's class with 27 and 28 on the ACT are getting deferred. They still might ultimately get accepted, but it tells me that there's a lot of 29+ scores in the applicant pool, and admissions is waiting to gauge how many accept their offers. Average ACT should jump from 28 to around 28.5 this year.

The other great thing about that page is that you'll notice that Fredo of Ohio pays to run two 24/7/365 banner ads on Ohio State's discussion page. Hey Fredo, if it's come down to taking out banner ads, you've already lost.:box:

While I certainly feel for people who are denied admission or deferred, I am very glad to hear about the ACT scores as they relate to admission. Having worked in Admissions at OSU I am glad to see our standards keep rising; I hope they are rising faster than our benchmark competition - that would really excite me.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Here is the distribution of scores from 2005

And here are the percentile breakdowns (with SAT conversion).

SAT (with writing test addition) ACT composite score The percentile of students at or below this score for the ACT (not SAT)
2400 36 100%
2340 35 100%
2280 34 100%
2220 33 99%
2160 32 99%
2100 31 98%
2040 30 96%
1980 29 94%
1920 28 92%
1860 27 89%
1800 26 85%
1740 25 80%
1680 24 75%
1620 23 69%
1560 22 62%
1500 21 55%
1440 20 47%
1380 19 39%
1320 18 32%
1260 17 25%
1200 16 19%
1140 15 13%
1080 14 9%
1020 13 5%
960 12 2%
900 11 1%

There are more students taking the test than even ten years ago, so it would follow that the pool of 30+ scorers has increased accordingly. I can't find anything specifically addressing the distribution of ACT scores over a historical period unfortunately. That being said, when only 5% of all scores score 30+, and 31% of Ohio State's freshman class do, while 75% of all scorers score 24 or below as opposed to only 8% of Ohio State's freshman class, this speaks to the level of selectivity. Still, I think that it's quite evident that the admissions gap between Ohio State and Michigan is smaller than it is between Ohio State and every Ohio public save Fredo.

 

[SCBuck13]

Where to live on Campus?

To all the current and former Buckeyes, where would you recommend living? I'm filling out my housing contract right now and I know that I probably won't get my top choice, but what are the best dorms to live in? I'm not really sure of where I should aim to live on campus, so any input would be great. I'll be an engineering major, FWIW.

 

[bassbuckeye07]

To all the current and former Buckeyes, where would you recommend living? I'm filling out my housing contract right now and I know that I probably won't get my top choice, but what are the best dorms to live in? I'm not really sure of where I should aim to live on campus, so any input would be great. I'll be an engineering major, FWIW.

I would pitch a tent on top of the Varsity Club

 

[woofermazing]

To all the current and former Buckeyes, where would you recommend living? I'm filling out my housing contract right now and I know that I probably won't get my top choice, but what are the best dorms to live in? I'm not really sure of where I should aim to live on campus, so any input would be great. I'll be an engineering major, FWIW.

North campus will be quieter and closer to your engineering classes, but you are packed in like sardines if you have 4 people to a room.

 

[CleveBucks]

North campus will be quieter and closer to your engineering classes, but you are packed in like sardines if you have 4 people to a room.

But you do get your own bathroom.

Some of the South Campus dorms are undergoing renovation right now, so that might make it harder to live down there.

 

[Buckeye Maniac]

Go for Morrill. A lot of people will tell you it sucks, but I absolutely loved it. If you don't mind having a ton of roommates it's a blast. Just make sure you get a two person room as opposed to the four person.

 

[DaBears]

Go for Morrill. A lot of people will tell you it sucks, but I absolutely loved it. If you don't mind having a ton of roommates it's a blast. Just make sure you get a two person room as opposed to the four person.

I couldn't agree more. I lived in Lincoln and loved it. As long as you are in a two person room, you can't beat Morrill or Lincoln. It also take you two minutes to get to the Shoe on Saturdays.