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To get into Jesuit High in New Orleans, you need to have parents with money, no criminal record, and a pulse. The average student ACT score there is 31. That's the 95th percentile nationally. Those kids get great educations and have involved parents, but they aren't averaging 31s due to merit unless you're counting their parents' wallets too.



That looks to be about the equivalent of 1400 in the SAT. An ACT of 31 is more aligned to Tulane’s admitted class than Harvard’s. (Tulane is a top 50 university, so still “a good school” relative to the entire population of 18 year old high school grads.)


I’ve taught at Tulane and I promise you some of these 31 ACT kids can’t add fractions or understand how exponents work, leave aside integrals.




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