I am not very experienced with college admissions at all. I know that nowadays that uniqueness is important, but I do realize that grades and tests still play a giant role. Anyways out of these two options (given they both were equally unique or talented in whatever way), which would be more likely to get into a better college:
A)
Has an ACT score of :28
Has a GPA in 9th, 10th, and 11th grade of : 3.5
or
B)
Has an ACT score of :31
Has a GPA in 9th and 10th grade of: 3.0
Has a GPA in 11th grade of: 4.0
Sorry if this is a weird question or confusing in anyway, but I am just curious…
Depends what you call better college.
The first one would get into most state flagship s, whereas the second student may not, since many flagships weight GPA more than test scores.
None would get into top 50universities or LACs, barring a hook such as legacy, overcoming obstacles, athlete…
Both would have a shot at private universities/LACs in the 50-75 range and their ECs and essays would make a lot of difference. For honors colleges, it’d depend on their criteria, which vary a lot.
Not sure about state schools with auto admit but for private colleges, B would do better although it depends if B had many Cs and in what classes. If B only had B-s but no Cs, I think that would help. If B could get their ACT or SAT to a 35 or 36, they would have a real shot. Especially if they were really interesting otherwise or had a good reason for low grades. For example they were a recruited athlete, homeless, MAJOR family crisis, until the end of sophomore year.
B also would have to have been taking AP or IB courses junior year, or whatever the hardest available was. Senior year grades would count a lot too.