<p>do colleges see a difference between a 29 and a 30 ACT?</p>
<p>do colleges see a difference between a 690 and a 700 in MATH and ENGLISH?</p>
<p>do colleges see a difference between a 89 and a 90 for GRADES?</p>
<p>do colleges see a difference between a 4 and a 5 on an AP EXAM?</p>
<p>honestly..... when do colleges see a difference?</p>
<p>when do the score differences actually matter?</p>
<p>An 89 and 90 is the difference between a B+ and an A- in my school, so yeah...there's a difference. My transcript doesn't show percentages in the class, just a letter grade.</p>
<p>And a 4 and 5 on the AP exam is a pretty significant difference, in my opinion.</p>
<p>^ yah but there's always a 4 --- close to a 5, and a 5 that's close to a 4. like someone could be a few points shy from getting a 5 but got a 4 instead. that's unfair to say there's a huge difference between a 4 and a 5</p>
<p>I personally don't think they see those minute distinctions as very significant when they pop up here and there. For example if a student has a handful of AP scores, all 5s except for one 4, then I don't think that 4 is a sinker. If they have mostly A's, but a B+ or two sprinkled in, no, I don't think that would be determinative.</p>
<p>However, if you've got a student with lots of A's and a B+ or two or three, and you're comparing that student to one with two or three A's and lots of B+s, then yeah, I think if you're having to find SOME way to choose between people you'll go for the one with the higher grades. I don't even necessarily think the admissions people truly believe that student with higher grades is better, smarter, or whatever, but the reality is they have to make choices based on something because there isn't a place for every applicant. When there are 5-10 applicants for every opening, you almost have to look for reasons to exclude people just to get those decisions made.</p>
<p>They might make very different decisions if they really personally knew all the applicants. I mean, to be honest, I know several kids locally who are 2350+, straight-A high school superachievers, and they are a little weird for the most part. I'm not sure they are people those admissions officers would want to invite to dinner, but they will likely invite them to college.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>do colleges see a difference between....<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>"Colleges" may not see a difference but people do. And admissions decisions are made by people, not some mindless institution.</p>
<p>The "difference" between say a 690 and 700 on an SAT section may not be statistically significant, but it can be psychologically significant. There is such a thing as a mental threshold. The actual talent and achievement difference between a kid with an A- GPA and 700, 700, 700 SAT I scores and another kid with a B + GPA and 690, 690, 690 score is probably quite small. But to the humans sitting on the admissions committee those two may well look like one kid who always manages to push himself over the achievement threshold and another one who always falls short.</p>