<p>SAT shows your potential and GPA shows whether you have lived up to your potential.</p>
<p>SAT shows your potential and GPA shows your maturity and your attitude toward authority.</p>
<p>I personally think SAT scores are a better indicator of intelligence. Sure the test isn't perfect, but seeing the discrepancies between the classes and GPA, I can tell you that GPA is a worse indicator. HS GPA is so easily inflated its ridiculous, even in my AP classes teachers will give extra-credit to students who do extra work or participate in activities that they sponsor.</p>
<p>IMO, GPA only correlates to how much work the student did. I'm barely in the top ten percent in my class, though my SAT scores place me in the top 1-2%. I know kids who are ranked way higher than me who are definitely dumber than me, and actually come to me this year and ask for help in certain classes, but work harder than me. I just never cared to take as many AP classes or work as hard.</p>
<p>Who deserves to get into college though? Both. People need to be smart to succeed, but hard work will also get you far.</p>
<p>I agree that GPA generally has more to do with hard work, and the SAT has more to to with basic analytical ability. But is intelligence really as important as work ethic? If I were an admissions officer, GPA would mean a lot more to me than test scores. It's about applying oneself. I have a couple friends who dominated the SAT but have below 3.0's. They'd sink at an Ivy -- they just aren't academically motivated. I'd rather talk to a motivated, inquisitive person of average intelligence than a very smart, uninterested person.</p>
<p>What does it matter how smart you are if you are not going to use it. Imaging a teen keeping up 4.0 GPA over 4 years, that's hard work, not luck or God's gift. As an employer, I would hire a hard worker over a genius. Of course a hard worker and a genius would be great.</p>
<p>A high GPA shows the student works hard and knows how to acheive high grades at the high school level.The AP/IB classes are usually very structured and the learning is reinforced by having students turn in regular assignments showing they understand the material. Students who are good at detail work and who impress their teachers with their diligence are likely to get a high GPA and to score high on the AP tests. Some students who are very intelligent and who are not detail orientated and do not excel at impressing their high school teachers with their diligence get a lower grade and still score high on the AP tests. These students are likely to be the ones that get SAT scores that seem out of sync with their GPA. Colleges like the diligent types because they know they are dependable workers. Colleges like the highly intelligent less organized types because they bring another dimension to the school. Neither is better, but it seems that GPA is a lot more valued than SAT scores by admissions officers. Those that acheive both get into the best schools. Most high GPA or high SAT kids can succeed at most colleges. Some of the high SAT/low GPA students do better in college because they get to learn independently on their own time and on their own schedule. Both SAT scores and GPA's matter but neither can really tell you for sure who will be the more successful college student.</p>
<p>To get into top colleges, I think you really need both...
Still, a good SAT score definitely won't salvage poor grades, whereas excellent grades and interesting ECs can make up for low standardized test scores. The SAT is only four hours- what if you were sick that day, or just tired? It's not a real representation of your ability.</p>
<p>Of course, it depends on your definition of 'low.' A 900/2400 would probably hurt you no matter what your GPA is...</p>
<p>I would pick the high SAT student.</p>
<p>REally - that's very interesting.</p>
<p>I have scored a 1500 on the SAT (1600 scale) and have a 3.45 cumulative GPA (weighted). I am still in my Junior year, and am taking and have taken a few honors classes. I play some sports, but am not exceptional in any of them, and I have done moderate to minimal service hours. I am a reasonably good writer and have no reason to expect anything but the best recommendations. In short, I am not worried about getting into a college. However, I am wondering if I stand any chance of getting into Columbia, which is my dream school and first choice. My counselers told me my GPA is too low, but I am still hopeful.</p>
<p>To the above poster, I believe you have a fighting chance granted you raise your GPA and show passion in one or more of your ECs.</p>
<p>As to the discussion, I believe that SATs are much more important than GPA. This is not to say that you don't need a good GPA to get into the elite colleges in the country. In fact, those schools are so inundated with amazing applicants that they need to use as many variables as possible to weed out the good from the great. However, on the grand scale I believe that grades are given much less weight than the SAT. Take this statistic: a whopping 43% of SAT takers report themselves as "A" average students. If teachers are handing out so many "A"s, how are colleges supposed to view GPAs?</p>