<p>I know that SAT scores and GPA are both important but if it came down to choosing a very high SAT score or a very high weighted GPA (assuming 4.0 unweighted), </p>
<p>Which one would you choose?</p>
<p>Which one would colleges like better?</p>
<p>High SAT. SAT is universal whereas gpa is relative. A 4.0 gpa may not mean the same thing at different schools. Mine is not great, so a 4.0 is easy to get. Its not the same for other schools
I dunno which colleges would prefer, but I’m sure an ssr will make things clear in their decisions.</p>
<p>Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using CC App</p>
<p>Transcripts are generally said to be the most important aspect of an application by admissions officers. So GPA/Class Rank.</p>
<p>Definitely the high GPA/Class Rank. Colleges do not like high test scores and low GPA. It is a red flag for laziness. It is much better to have a stellar GPA if you only have one or the other. Obviously the best option would be to have both. :)</p>
<p>At a Yale info session, the Admissions officer said if he was forced to make an admissions decision and could only look at ONE item from a candidate’s application it would hands down be the transcript.</p>
<p>I would choose higher sat.</p>
<p>colleges would probably choose higher grades.</p>
<p>Definitely the SAT because other grades are relative. They may vary.</p>
<p>I feel like GPA would logically be more important because a high SAT score might just mean you’re good at taking a test (specifically the SAT) while good grades reflect more depth and a wider range of subjects.</p>
<p>yea, I thought GPA should be more important, but how focused are admissions officers when it comes to SAT/ACT scores? </p>
<p>are AP scores even considered? (because I don’t have good ones lol)</p>
<p>I’ve seen a lot of intellectually mediocre students who get by with a TON of work and memorization. And while hard work should be applauded, I can’t think of any faculty members who are keen to have average ability students who just work all the time and find ways to get the grade but have no deeper intellectual or cognitive abilities. </p>
<p>While sure the SAT has morphed into another thing you can cram and game and retake, it was intended to capture something like aptitude. </p>
<p>I’d also argue that grades can be relatively meaningless if one can’t take into account the school…the difficulty and grading standards vary tremendously. Granted this example is extreme but being the top student at a very competitive private school would not be remotely comparable to being the top student in a very bad, poorly evaluated public highschool.</p>
<p>As for what schools want, who knows. What they tell the consumers (which is often motivated by maximizing the most applicants), and what they actual select on are not necessarily one and the same.</p>
<p>What would be considered a “good” SAT score for colleges though? 750+ in each category or 2280+?</p>
<p>I was at a book store the other day. And I read a book called something like “hopeless and harvard”?(cant really remember)
I remember mentioning how SAT counts little bit more than GPA since the class you take in highschool might be easier compare to other schools.</p>
<p>I also think SAT is bit more important
But then how should I know.</p>
<p>I know I shouldn’t ask this here but
Would a college choose a student with GPA of 3.8 Weighted(Only APs) and 2260 on the SAT?? Or 4.0 GPA with 2100 SAT?</p>
<p>This is a pretty aimless question. By colleges, most of the posters here mean HYSPMC type schools, where you need a near perfect GPA, ~2300 SAT, and solid ECs scores just to be considered a competitive applicant. You need both the GPA and SAT, so neither is really “more important” because without one, the other is basically useless.</p>
<p>bump!!!</p>
<p>I think I would choose SAT. I think that is a better indicator of an applicant’s mental ability and intelligence more than GPA is because some applicants take easy classes, others get by with a lot of memorization, extra credit, and sucking up to teachers, and some schools have pretty lax grading standards.</p>
<p>Honestly, although both are extremely important in admissions, I would say, like most of the posters have, that the SAT matters more, since it supposedly measures aptitude. Not every school does their GPA the same way, so a 4.0 could be many different things. Then again, if your GPA is super low and your SAT scores are high, colleges see that you’re obviously not trying. A good combination of good SAT scores and good grades would be best.</p>
<p>Definitely SAT/ACT but, not by much when the colleges are intimately familiar with the curriculum and academic rigor of the HS.
Wayyy too much disparity in HS’s</p>
<p>While I think both are pretty important, I still think a higher GPA with lower SAT/ACT would look better than vice versa. I have a 2.42 with a 31 ACT, so I’m basically screwed for college admissions.</p>
<p>Higher grades/GPA. In fact, I’m ranked #1, so in reality, even if a school inflates/deflates, a really high GPA will help offset that in the eyes of admission committees, since a high GPA will most likely equal a high class rank.</p>
<p>In my school at least, SAT is a greater sign of mental ability and intelligence. 8 out of the top 10 ranked kids in my class scored less than 2000 on the SAT. The top 2, myself, and 2 other kids ranked in the 10-20 range were the only ones to score higher than 2000.</p>
<p>I would choose good grades. It isn’t that much work to improve a bad SAT score, but improving a bad GPA can be very hard to do.</p>