<p>Which looks more impressive to admissions officials?</p>
<p>I'd say 2400 as long as the other is within reasonable range. SAT is a semi-equalizer. Individual schools have different rigor.</p>
<p>SAT 2400 is FAR FAR FAR more impressive as something like 0.3 percent of the the SAT takers achieve that. 4.0 GPA, while still very impressive, is manageable by a higher percentage of students. It is all about standing out among your peers. That is why i have always backed IB over AP. Too many AP students+very few US IB students=IB advantage. Off topic, but similar reasoning.</p>
<p>depends on the circumstances. If it is like a 3.9 or even a 3.85 with super hard courseload, I would take the 2400
lazy but super smart isn't the best way to look i don;'t think</p>
<p>2400 all day long. Many many students applying to colleges will have a 4.0 GPA whether it be weighted or unweighted. I think 7 students in my high school class had a 4.0, but no one scored over 2300.</p>
<p>At a lot of schools, especially prestigious ones, SAT scores and GPA aren't deal makers or breakers. If you have impressive extracurriculars and good essays, and a good interview, a little lower SAT score or GPA, as long as you challenged yourself, isn't necessarily the end of the world.</p>
<p>i have a 4.0 uw. i would much rather have 2400 sat</p>
<p>2400 definitely.</p>
<p>I would say the 2400. But then again, like passion said, a 2400 doesn't guarantee anything. You still have to be an interesting person.</p>
<p>4.0 and a 2390.</p>
<p>Lets put it this way:</p>
<p>If you had a 3.0 and a 2400 SAT score, you probably have a shot at UCB or UCLA;</p>
<p>If you had a 4.0 and a 1500 SAT score, you're headed to UCR.</p>
<p>
[quote]
4.0 and a 2390.
[/quote]
Dot.
10 char</p>
<p>i'll say this:
35/250 people in my class have a 4.0 (with honors)
0/250 have a 2400.
...
hmm</p>
<p>These statistics from Princeton's admissions office might be of interest.</p>
<p>Percentage of applicants with a 4.00 GPA accepted: 16.8%
Percentage of applicants with a 2300-2400 SAT accepted: 26%</p>
<ol>
<li>No discussion really if you're applying to the top privates.</li>
</ol>
<p>4.0 is a lot harder in my opinion.... you have to keep it up... and actually do the dreadfully repetitive homework made for the mentally challenged... it's pure torture. On the other hand, even if you fail the first time, you can still keep on trying to get 2400. it's a lot easier.</p>
<p>Then why do so few applicants have a 2400 in comparison to the number of applicants with a 4.0?</p>
<p>
[quote]
4.0 is a lot harder in my opinion.... you have to keep it up... and actually do the dreadfully repetitive homework made for the mentally challenged... it's pure torture. On the other hand, even if you fail the first time, you can still keep on trying to get 2400. it's a lot easier.
[/quote]
Unless you are a genius, you're probably not ever going to get a 2400 without spending some time doing "dreadfully repetitive" prep work. Even then, you still probably won't.</p>
<p>^That's why I think a 4.0 is better. Very very few people get a 2400. Someone who knows just as much or more regarding SAT prep may get a 2260 which may really only be like 5 wrong on the whole test. Those 5 could have been silly errors, or the student could have gotten a slightly harder test (assuming two different dates). Anything above a 2250 is considered the same and anything above that is <em>luck points</em></p>
<p>A 4.0 on the other hand is achievable through consistent hard work. </p>
<p>However, would receiving a 2400 with say, a 3.8 GPA look better than a 4.0 with, say, a 2000?</p>
<p>I hate to sound so cliche, but I really think it has to do with the "whole package". Of course a perfect SAT score is a plus--but one does not need a perfect SAT score to get into a top school, merely a decent one (2100+ or so...). However, people with excellent grades who are in the top 10% of their high school class are generally hard workers, not just good test takers. </p>
<p>I guess a 2400 on the SAT is more of a "hook"--I would be more likely to say "Wow this kid got a perfect SAT score" than "Wow this kid has a 4.0". However, scores are representative of a few Saturday mornings, and grades represent your whole high school career. Colleges know that some people are bad test takers but that most people, if they try hard enough, can get good grades. </p>
<p>In response to the very interesting question that chinnychinchang posed, I would say that both students have excellent grades (the difference between 3.8 and 4.0 is negligible) and great SAT scores, and would go on to look at the essays or perhaps the relative difficulties of the classes the students were taking. Admissions committees don't make their decisions without <em>all</em> of the information in front of them.</p>