We have rolled out our interactive flash scatterplots (also known as scattergrams), available on every college page under the ‘My Analysis’ tab.

These graphs display the accepted and rejected applicants scattered across a 2D canvas according to the variables that you choose. For example, you might look at Unweighted GPA & SAT, or Instate & Average AP Score. To get started with this new tool, see Cornell’s scatterplots.

For any given SAT score, valedictorians appear more likely to get into Cornell than non-valedictorians.

Because there are many, many overlaps, you can set a level of jitter, so each point floats near its true value. For example, if you look at Unweighted GPA and Valedictorian Status, everyone will clump on top of one another. (You either are a valedictorian, or you aren’t, so there are only 2 slots that you might possibly fit into – hence lots of clumping.) If you set a 20% jitter to Valedictorian Status, things will spread out nicely, so you can see what is really going on.

With your feedback and criticism (please post it here or in the forums), we’ll work on improving the tool. Enjoy!