I know someone who is much less smart than I am (I don’t mean to sound rude or anything) but they got a higher score than me (and I did study!) Now I’m concerned because I hear that schools weigh scores more than GPA, and I have a high GPA and have worked hard for it and now people may be getting into higher schools than me because of one 4 hour test, not because of 4 years of hard work. Just wondering if I’m the only one who did worse on a standardized test than someone dumber than me…
Maybe they aren’t dumber than you after all. Some people aren’t very motivated in school or have external issues that affect their ability to prepare for class. Some people hide their light because they are shy or don’t want to bring attention to themselves.
Lol how did you come to the conclusion that this person is “dumb.” Einstein was considered mentally retarded as a child, and we all know how that story ended…
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“she is much less smart than I” not me – normally i’m not the type to correct someone’s grammar, but if you pride yourself on being so smart, i thought you should know.
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how the heck (please moderators, let me curse here) did you figure that someone is dumber than you based on their gpa? someone’s gpa is NOT an indicator of their intelligence, nor is their standardized test score. you sound like nothing but a whiny brat (excuse the colloquialism) by saying that.
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the fact of the matter is, some people are naturally good test takers. I consider myself fairly intelligent, however I stink at standardized testing. My friend, also quite intelligent, could take standardized tests in her sleep and still perform better than me. We all have different strengths and weaknesses.
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Another possibility is perhaps they just studied more for the test than you. Standardized tests are extremely trainable, and if this person spent more time studying than you, taking prac tests etc. then there’ s that.
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i’m not even going to answer your question about weighing scores over gpa. there are literally tons of forums on that topic, and articles as well.
“Someone dumber than you”???
Really???
It seems to me that you have a LOT of learning to do yourself.
How do you know that they are less smart than you are? I don’t see how you could possibly tell.
Some people are just naturally good test takers. It’s just how it is. Or maybe they studied more. I don’t know. Or maybe, they’re just as smart as you are.
I know people who are smarter than me and scored lower. But in this case, I’m inclined to think that they’re just as smart as you are. Maybe smarter.
Churchill started his early life with a poor academic record as well - obviously he was not dumb.
What even is your basis for your claim that this person is “dumber” than you? You have no right to make that sort of judgment, because you clearly don’t know much about the person.
Also, one test does not determine whether one gets into a “higher” school. There are many facotrs involved, and test scores are just one of them.
General Patton flunked his first year at West Point. Guess he’d be one of those “dumber” people.
I don’t know that schools rate scores over GPA every time, absolutely. Chill out. It’s just one test. No need to whine. Some people are better at taking tests than others. No reason they should be criticized for that.
Certainly test-optional, test-flexible, and no standardized testing schools do not rate SATs over GPA. See http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional for a list. Schools who receive tons of applications may use SAT as an initial cutoff to get the number of apps to be read within a reasonable amount (GPA varies by school and by course rigor, so it’s not an easy initial benchmark). But standardized tests are only one factor in admissions decisions.
I also had kids in my grade who were higher ranked yet scored lower on the SAT. Guess that makes me dumber than them. Oh well. I’ve still managed to have a pretty successful career despite my apparent “dumbness”.
Lol @ “much less smart”
A smarter person would worry about their own damned self, and not be worrying about other people.
I think you need to emotionally mature before you go to college.
Intelligence isn’t defined, nor is “dumbness.” If the most intelligent and educated psychometricians (and other academics in related fields) can’t crack that nut, it’s pretty safe to say that you haven’t either.
Get some humility and stop worrying about other people unless they need your help.
Completely agree. I hate it when dumber people score better than me on standardized tests. The nerve of them to overstep the boundaries I’ve pre-established for their potential.
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This is just a continuation of your other threads. You didn’t hear what you wanted to, so you started a new one.
Just know that neither standardized testing nor grades in classes are true tests of intelligence, and that getting smarter or learning is not going to come from repeatedly making threads here asking people to validate your efforts.
@ambitionsquared that made my way ^^^
And to answer OP’s post, standardized tests are a better indicator because of the national uniformity and easy comparison. GPA does nothing in comparing students. It’s basically how much your teacher likes you, how much you can play the system, and how much inflation your high school has. It measures nothing in aptitude.
I’m going to get long and detailed here, just because this is a very personal topic for me and I have a lot to say.
I don’t think GPA is accurate at all in measuring intelligence because of the amount of stuff that goes into it, like handing in assignments, participation and stuff. I do think that the standardized tests are more of a measure of natural ability than GPA (at least they were before people started studying for them and hiring private tutors and such). I still don’t think they are really accurate measurements, but I think they are decent because they factor out a lot of the extra stuff that goes into GPA, like I said before.
Personally, there is a huge disconnect between my GPA and my SAT score. I have a lot of trouble paying attention in class and I don’t always do that well turning in assignments on time and such. I do consider myself smart, but I fall outside of the top 10% for my class in terms of rank. From this I guess one might call me dumb. In fact, my old elementary school teachers did just that, and I was with the special ed group until middle school. I have been misjudged a lot during my school years, and only in high school did teachers start to recognize that I’m actually fairly intelligent.
However, I have seen psychologists and I have been classified as “gifted and talented”. I have a 2300 SAT superscore with zero prep. My GPA isn’t stellar, but it certainly does not make me any less smart than the kids who have higher ones. Not saying that my test scores do, but I think that if you are calling someone dumber because they have a lower GPA, then you might be making assumptions that aren’t true.
Here is a metaphor that my psychologist told me: There are academic sprinters, and then there are academic marathon runners. The sprinters have high test scores and high natural ability, but lower GPAs. Over the long term, the sprinter gets tired or bored. But the sprinter is “fast”. The marathon runner has endurance. The marathon runner has a high GPA, and maybe lower test scores. They might not naturally be as “fast”, but they are hard workers and they can keep up.
Ideally, you want to be both a sprinter AND a marathon runner to get into the top schools. However, some people just can’t. Maybe your friend is a sprinter, like me.
BTW, you seem like both a sprinter and a marathon runner. I saw your score. It’s fine.
These are personal opinions and I’m not saying my ideas are correct, I just wanted to throw in my input
It’s nice to see CC acknowledging the triviality of grades and scores in determining intelligence.