<p>I suppose it’s different in America, but here in my school (in Europe) the people who score highest on the SAT are usually the most motivated or the smartest, not the richest. We don’t have SAT courses here, so nobody takes them. Our school library is very well-supplied with prep books for standardised tests and people usually use its resources to prepare. For free.</p>
<p>What I’m saying is, it’s a myth that you have to be rich to succeed on the SAT. Retaking it twelve times doesn’t help either, because most high schoolers cannot improve their score after the 2nd or 3rd take.</p>
<p>Yes, yes. Also, I think the two balance each other out. For example, if a student has a relatively poor GPA, his high SAT score will make slightly make up for it, and if a student has a poor SAT score, his high GPA will counter that. Of course, it goes without saying that it’s best to have a high SAT score and GPA :)</p>
Most of the highest-performing students I’ve seen tend to not “spend thousands to boost their scores”. SAT Prep classes are, in my opinion, largely ineffective if one wishes to score in the highest percentiles.</p>
<p>Even if you only have 20 bucks, if your motivated you can still score 2200+. However, I can’t take the collegeboard very seriously because of its essay which is utter BS. My sister, who going to be a writer and actually won some state writing contest got an 8 on the essay… maybe she wasn’t motivated? who knows. I on the other hand suck hard when it comes to writing and i got a 12… That essay swings someone’s score 50 points…</p>
<p>^Completely disagree. Prep classes are the best way to raise one’s score to be top notch (2200+). IF you have money.</p>
<p>Prep classes are geared towards lower-scoring kids. Motivated self-study or a personalized tutor (for the wealthier) are the best ways to boost your score above 2200-ish. </p>
<p>I do agree that the essay is BS. Still, it can be gamed without too much difficulty, and one can get an 800 with a perfect MC score and a 10 essay.</p>
<p>Colleges pay attention to both aspects. The SAT is as important as your high school GPA. But the world is no stranger to Princeton attendees with 3.5 HSGPA-1930 SAT Score. So, you really can’t say. However, you can be sure of the fact that both results are importantly valued.</p>
<p>The number one thing colleges look at is GPA and course selection. So if you have a 4 GPA but took only math up to Geometry, that doesn’t look good. THey also look at test scores. But other than some state colleges that have automatic formulas, there is no magic way to get in. Get the best GPA you can in the hardest classes you can and the best test scores you can and then evaluate where you stand. If the test score is high enough to show you can benefit from the college, your GPA then counts the most. Colleges want to see hard workers, not lazy kids who can get an amazing test score occasionally. But some colleges do have unstated minimums for test scores or GPAs which is why you apply to a number of schools unless you get an positive rolling decision to a school you would not mind attending early on.</p>
<p>I personally think SATs confirm your GPA. Anyone with a true 4.0 should be able to perform well on the SATs (and I don’t mean they need 2400 but maybe 2000+). Any lower brings suspicion of grade inflation and the student not fully earning his/her grade.</p>
<p>I don’t think it is grade inflation. The SAT I math portion I did well 600+. Though my English sections are lacking. My SAT II scores were in the 600s. Is there a chance for me to get into UCI and UCSD?</p>
<p>GPA for sure. The SAT is a joke. I took it in this year(7th grade) and got 1940 without really trying very much…and somehow I got a 10 on the essay even though my writing is PITIFUL.</p>
<p>I really think GPA is more important, as well as rank (in the context of the school of course). Nevertheless, one can be successful in both through diligence and/or intelligence.</p>
<p>I don’t think SAT should be more important. Because some people simply can’t concentrate for 4 hours while taking the test. Which leads to a low score.</p>
<p>I think the schools should look at GPA and AP scores more closely than SAT score.</p>
<p>Webass - I think you’ve brought up a very good point. </p>
<p>Ok, so most of you have mentioned that one of these tests or the other can possibly make up a bit for the latter, if the other is exceptional. GPA is a must. SAT is important, it’s fine to hate it becuse it is absolutely absurd to think that a Standardized Apptitude test is an equal way to compare students nationally. Kids from well regarded schools are far more likely to consider and try at achieving more than the minority kid from the ‘bad school’ that doesn’t offer AP’s due to it’s microscopic endownment. I am not striking down the select few who overcome all odds and achive astronomically. They’re probably working three times as hard in the applicant pool as the rest of us. But compared with the atmosphere of the middle and upper middle class schools, the odds are against these kids. Would it occur to you to re-take an SAT 1 after you had gotten a 1780 when that was the highest score achived by a student in your year? These tests need to be put in perspective, and belittling your peers really doen’t make the sun any brighter. </p>
<p>For all you adverage kids, don’t lose hope on colleges because of your SAT score. </p>
<p>As webass has already pointed out, AP scores are out there as well. They’re made by the same company as the SAT and are, I believe, more reasonable in showing how much one has leared within a year or so of highschool, I reccomend taking them if these tests are availible. There is also the SAT II’s, which ALSO offer good news because the choice, to an extent, is up to you on which subjects you take them in. This means that all you hard working bad test takers out there still have a decent shot at the schools of your dreams. </p>
<p>So what happens if you score a 1600 on the SAT 1, a 4 or 5 on AP tests, and a 700+ on three or more subject tests? The person reading your application is going to think, “Well, when you know what to study for, you do extremely well!” </p>
<p>I’m nearly finished with this rant, so I’ll just ask you all one more thing:
If the SAT is ment to function as a representation for what you have learned in highschool, why would the SATII’s serve as less important?
Jee, I have my speculations, what do you think?</p>
<p>It’s all relative. Obviously the best advice would be do your best both ways and there would be nothing to worry about, but that’s a hard thing to do. My class has (or will have after our high dropout rate takes a hit) 300 students, the smallest in my school. But it’s an extremely gifted class and 25% if not more have a 3.5+ UW. Colleges aren’t going to see that though. They’ll see, 1 out of 300 with a 4.0, or 40 out of 300 with a GPA of 3.8. They’ll think “If you can’t compete under the same circumstances and same opportunities as your peers, then on a college campus or in the work force you’ll do the same thing.”
If that girl ranked 40th though has an SAT of 2100 and and ACT of 32 to boot, they’ll be impressed and at that point realize the school/class she was with might have just been an overachieving one, and maybe she knows her stuff after all.</p>