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A university accepts SAT scores at or above the 75th percentile of all test takers, which works out to a score of 1220. Aisha scored exactly 1220. Which statement about her result must be true?
AShe answered 75% of the questions correctly
BHer score is higher than every other score
CAbout 75% of scores are at or below her score
DShe placed in the top 5% of all test takers
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. About 75% of scores are at or below her score
1. A percentile describes a score's standing relative to all other scores, not the share of questions answered.
2. Scoring at the 75th percentile means about 75% of all scores are the same as or less than that score.
3. Equivalently, about 25% of scores sit at or above it, so option C is the only guaranteed reading.
4. Option A confuses a percentile with a percentage score, the single most common trap with this concept.
_Source: OpenStax Introductory Business Statistics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 2 "Descriptive Statistics", section 2.2 Measures of the Location of the Data_
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