<p>Throughout my college search I have been reading different things and I cam across something that said that at a typical college the admissions office is willing to overlook a GPA that is average and below what the normal average of admitted students if the applicant has great test scores and writes essays very well.</p>
<p>It is quite the contrary - low test scores are somewhat “overlooked” if your GPA is consistently high and you write good essays, good teacher recs. This is because the SATs are a one-time snapshot of you whereas GPA and teacher recs are the culmination of your high school career. Of course, there is the possibility of “inflation” and whatnot. </p>
<p>How low of a GPA are you talking about? I would think that one will counter the other to an extent, but if your GPA is reallly low, then don’t bet on it. </p>
<p>Also, it depends on the college, I guess. I heard some schools accept JUNIORS if their SATs are above a certain score.</p>
<p>Each college and university sets its own admission policies. So, the answer is Yes, there are places out there that will admit a student with less than stellar grades who presents excellent test scores and has written very good essays.</p>
<p>However, whether the colleges/universities on YOUR list fall into this category is an entirely different thing.</p>
<p>It might depend on how the colleges assign a value to their applicants. Some highly selective schools calculate an academic index (at least they used to and still might) to determine the value they place on each applicant. According to a former Dartmouth admissions officer (Michele Hernandez) they use SAT/ACT scores, GPA, and SAT subject scores to calculate their academic indexes. IF this is still true, then two-thirds of an applicant’s value is based on standardized test scores while only one-third is based on GPA. </p>
<p>Ms. Hernandez wrote a couple of books about how the admissions process works at highly selective colleges, including Dartmouth. Don’t know if they still work that way, but it does make sense to use a common set of factors like the test scores rather than varying GPAs that fluctuate with the strength of the high schools.</p>
<p>Good luck to you!!</p>
<p>at the top schools, the GPA is way more important than standardized testing. getting a 800 on SAT 1 math for example means you are 1. had a good day 2. are capable of doing 8th grade math</p>
<p>on the other hand, a high GPA shows CONSISTENT performance relative to other students in class. some people just suck at standardized tests, and its one day… what if you have a fever and cant retake?</p>
<p>so long story short, they probably wont overlook a mediocre GPA for good SAT scores. the best u can do on the SAt is a 2400, and there are a lot of people who get that</p>