Exclusive: Inside Look at Standardized Test Scores and GPAs of YU’s Incoming Students Since 2015

The Commentator has obtained information from the Office of University and Community Life on the GPAs and standardized test scores of the past three cohorts of First Time On Campus students (FTOCs), printed here.

The statistics contain information on classes of FTOCs going back to Fall 2015, and also makes distinctions between the general cohort of students, as well as Honor’s enrollees in YU’s three baccalaureate colleges. Additionally, they contain the first set of data on incoming students who have taken the new SAT, which removed the vocabulary components of its critical reading section, among other changes.

On the whole, the information points to a slight edge for male standardized test scores, and a slight edge for female students’ GPAs. These differences were most pronounced between Yeshiva College and Stern College for Women students.

SAT scores on the old SAT remained relatively equal across undergraduate programs and campuses, with the exception of a 72 point increase in Syms-Womens’ scores from 2015 until now. However, due to the fact that Syms-Women students are the smallest group of undergraduate students at YU, averaging just 44 students a year since 2015, it is more likely that average scores would fluctuate over time.  

The Honor’s SAT scores at the liberal arts colleges fluctuated slightly, while the Honors Syms-Womens’ scores declined 52 points, to 1346, in 2017.

The biggest drop came in the average SAT score of a Syms-Men Honors student, which declined nearly 100 points, from 1424 to 1327.

In terms of the new SAT, data is only available for FTOCs in Fall 2017. For this cohort, YC students scored an average of 1214, while Syms-Men averaged 1207. On the Beren campus, the women of SCW and Syms-Women scored 1254 and 1137, respectively.

ACT scores for all FTOC cohorts in all undergraduate programs has remained essentially flat, varying by +/-1 point from year to year, with the exception of a 2 point drop, to 25 from 27, for Stern College for Women students this past year, and a two point jump, to 26, for Syms-Women from Fall 2015 to Fall 2016.

The average GPA of FTOCs at Syms-Men has risen dramatically since last fall, from 88.6 to 93.1. The average GPA of FTOC’s at Syms women, however, saw an inverse change, dropping 4 points from 92.1 to 88.1.

In the past two years, SCW’s GPAs have edged YC’s in both the regular undergraduate program as well as honors, by around 1.6 and 1.0 points, respectively.

The averages of Honors students on the Wilf campus in both Yeshiva College and Syms declined slightly since last year, by 0.6 points to 94.1 and 93.1.