Could taking the Bocconi Test give you an advantage over SAT applicants if SAT scores are becoming more competitive?
I’ve been thinking about something regarding Bocconi’s conversion between the Online Bocconi Test and the SAT, and I’d be interested to hear what other people think.
As far as we know from Bocconi, the SAT and Online Bocconi Test are considered equivalent for admissions, and Bocconi uses an internal conversion system based on comparative tables/percentiles to make the two tests comparable. Obviously, we don’t know the exact conversion formula.
My question is whether this could potentially create an advantage for people taking the BocconiTest if SAT performance among applicants has become more competitive over time.
For example, looking at posts from previous years, I feel like it was more common to see people applying with SAT scores around 1440–1450, whereas this year I’m seeing more people around 1470+.
I’m not saying this is a statistically representative sample, but hypothetically, suppose that two years ago a 1450 represented the 75th percentile of the relevant applicant pool, while now a 1470 represents the 75th percentile because SAT scores have increased.
At the same time, I haven’t noticed the same apparent increase in Bocconi Test scores. One possible reason is that the Bocconi Test has much more limited opportunities to retake it — you can only take it a limited number of times within a certain period — whereas the SAT can be taken more frequently and has a much larger amount of preparation material available.
So hypothetically, imagine that a 37/50 Bocconi Test score corresponds to the 75th percentile, and that previously, the 75th percentile on the SAT was 1450.
Now, because the SAT applicant pool has become stronger, the 75th percentile is 1470.
The 37 Bocconi Test score remains around the 75th percentile.
If Bocconi recalculates the conversion based on the current relative performance of applicants, wouldn’t that mean that the same 37 Bocconi Test score could effectively correspond to a higher SAT-equivalent score now than it did previously?
In other words, could Bocconi Test applicants have an indirect advantage if the SAT distribution has shifted upwards faster than the Bocconi Test distribution?
I’m especially interested in whether this reasoning actually makes sense given how Bocconi says it uses comparative percentiles to equate the two tests, or whether I’m misunderstanding how the conversion would work.
Obviously the 1450 → 1470 example is completely hypothetical — I’m mainly trying to understand the mechanism.