Lesson 5

In Try This 3 you may have found that only knowing a person’s percentile rank may not be enough. Also knowing how many students are being ranked may be important.

Many programs at technical institutes and colleges are oversubscribed and students are ranked to determine who will gain entrance into the program. In the next Self-Check you will see an example of how percentile rank can be used in admission requirements at post-secondary institutions.

Self-Check 6

Joan wants to enter the veterinary assistant program at her local technical institute. When reading the admission requirements, she notes that the minimum requirement is a 75% average out of high school. However, Joan knows they only take the top 20% of applicants, so she must be at or above the 80th percentile of all the applicants.

1. Joan knows that 150 people have applied for admission to the veterinary assistant program. If she meets the minimum academic requirement and 25 people are ranked ahead of her, will Joan be admitted to the program? Explain your reasoning. Answer
2. Another institute only has 25 spaces available in the veterinary assistant program. If there are 150 applicants and Joan is ranked in the 80th percentile, will she be admitted? Explain your reasoning. Answer
   

In Self-Check 6 you may have found that knowing a percentile rank can help you answer other questions. For admission to a post-secondary institute, a percentile rank could help determine how many people are ranked ahead of a person and if she or he would be admitted to a program. In the next Self-Check you will practise how to determine percentile ranks and how percentile ranks can be interpreted.

Self-Check 7