How do people have such high GPAs with comparatively low test scores?

<p>I have found that it is very difficult for me to maintain a 3.75+ GPA. I'm not trying to brag to anyone(there are many people much smarter than me here) but I take 8 AP classes and go to one of the top high schools in my state, which is also one of the top in the country, and it is very difficult to maintain the 3.73 UW that I have. This is not even in the top 10% at my school, though in W GPA I am well in the top 10%.</p>

<p>However, I got a 36 ACT on my second sitting and an 800 Math II SAT and 800 Physics SAT on my first sitting. I see all these people with 4.0s sitting on ~30 ACTs and ~730 SAT IIs after multiple attempts.</p>

<p>I'm just wondering what's the deal. I feel as though I am so much smarter than my GPA shows, but everyone else going to other (in my opinion easier) high schools and getting 4.0s and suddenly theyre way smarter than I am.</p>

<p>I literally just started crying over this, and over how many of my prospective colleges may not even give me a second look. Do colleges look past the raw GPA number, and look at high school difficulty and course rigor? Or will I just be dismissed?</p>

<p>I just feel so worthless :(</p>

<p>It depends on where you apply, but colleges will definitely look at the course rigor. </p>

<p>I had a 3.89 GPA with 8-9 AP courses (rest were all honors) and scored a 4 or a 5 on all of the AP exams.
My GPA was only 3.89 because of my performance during the first semester of freshman year. Ever since then, it’s always been 4.0. </p>

<p>In my case, maintaining the GPA was much easier than scoring well on the SAT or the ACT. I tell everyone that I never took the ACT because I just want to forget about it forever. I got 2100 on the SAT I and 29 on the ACT. These were my best scores after 3 attempts. I just couldn’t score any better.</p>

<p>The only way I could explain the scores/GPA is that I am very bad with multiple choice. I cannot focus for a prolonged period and I am very low on vocab. Therefore, my score on the reading section was very low (which is mainly why I got 2100). AP exams were much easier because I got to choose the subjects (you only take AP exams for the courses that you chose to enroll in, you know). </p>

<p>Admissions will definitely look at both your GPA and standardized test scores, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much. </p>

<p>If you think about it, GPA proves your performance over time (4 years!), not just in one sitting. This is why it’s important. On the other hand, standardized test scores could work as something that supports your GPA (it gives the admissions the chance to compare every applicant under same condition----unlike high schools with different grading systems). So they’re both almost equally important. </p>

<p>First of all, a 3.75 GPA is a strong GPA, especially in light of the course load you are taking. There are a number of reasons for the discrepancy. Your school may be presenting AP curriculum with fidelity which means that these classes are intended to be challenging even for really bright students. Also, your school may not have a grade inflation problem. Your strong test scores provide a second measure of your abilities. Colleges know that some high schools with high average GPAs sometimes have only average test scores and they take this into account. They look at you as an individual. More and more high schools are doing away with class rankings because the differences between students in the top ten percent or even more differ very little in GPA. Celebrate your drive, the rigor of your courses, your ability to handle the load, and what you are learning. From that rewards will follow. Your GPA is not a measure of your worth. </p>

<p>Meh, I think that you have a partially jaded view of everything. A 3.73 GPA isn’t bad by any means, and the rigor of coursework matters greatly. And ~730 on SATIIs aren’t bad. They’re nothing unheard of, but there are a huge variety of reasons why people don’t get 800s on subject tests, even the ones in their strengths. A 30 ACT isn’t “bad” either, especially if someone has to spend a lot of time studying or work very hard to maintain their GPA. I have lots of smart friends who have test anxiety or who have to work very hard to maintain their GPA and just don’t have the same gift for understanding things as others do.</p>

<p>There are lots of reasons for people to never reach their potential in high school. Hopefully the colleges you apply to will understand that and realize that you’re clearly an excellent student who took difficult courses and still managed to do very well.</p>

<p>GPAs are not standardized. They have to be taken in context. Most colleges consider 3 things most hightly. GPA, course rigor and standardized tests. They have a tendency to bring clarity to each other. Based on what you have said in your post I would come to the following conclusion 1. You are a good student that has the ability to understand and comprehend college level material, 2. You retain the material and test well 3. You are likely to be successful in college. If you had a 3.2 GPA with the sames material I would say college level work is challenging for you. If you had a 4.0 with an easier schedule I would wonder how you would handle college level work, especially at an elite level. If you had a 25 ACT after taking the course load you indicated I would wonder if there was grade inflation in your school or question your retention or testing ability. I think you’ll be fine. Choose your matches wisely and you’ll have great opportunities. </p>

<p>It is difficult to rationalize isn’t it, although in your case all your numbers are very good. My daughter has a 4.1 UW, nearly a 5.0W at an IB school considered one of the most challenging in the state and in the top tier in the country. She (and I) figured she’d nail the standardized testings. No. She got a 1900 on her first round of SATS so decided to try the ACT after hearing that sometimes a student tests much better on the “other”. ACT was 25! Talk about discouraging. Turns out she hadn’t finished most of the tests for the ACT so we presume that was the issue there. Not many students take the ACT in the northeast so she didn’t really have much guidance on what it was about. She retook the SAT and managed a 2100 the second time. That seems more on par with her GPA but still low I think. In the end, she’s hoping her courseload rigor and GPA stand out more than her test scores. She’ll take the subject tests this weekend and the SAT for a third time in December. In the end, what will be will be. </p>

<p>Colleges do look at the rigor of the high school and consider GPA in context of the other information they have about a student. </p>

<p>Who they decide to admit is not something anyone can predict exactly. They will also look at all the other aspects of your application when they decide.</p>

<p>That 36 weighs in your favor. </p>

<p>I think you should apply to any schools that interest you- but you should also have a balanced list of schools that include colleges where your credentials are at the top of the applicant pool and that are less selective than the top colleges.</p>

<p>I would suggest this to any student as admission to a college is never completely predictable. No matter where you end up attending, you are likely to do well. You are not worthless and should not feel as if your application is less. It’s fine. You just can’t predict things so it is best to be cautious. Focus on doing the best you can in school and hope for the best.</p>

<p>I do not see why GPA should be highly correlated with test scores. There’s an order of magnitude more perfect GPAs than perfect test scores out there. Seems to me that GPA has more to do with diligence and organization skills than it has to do with whatever it is that leads to very high test scores. Often the two go hand in hand, but far from always.</p>

<p>As others have stated, your GPA is pretty high, especially considering your course rigor and school difficulty. I doubt your higher GPA classmates are any smarter, but maybe they are a little harder working?</p>

<p>YZamyatin I don’t think grades themselves have a direct correlation, however, I think that grades and strong rigor may have a stronger correlation. However, as NEPatsGirl has shown there can be other circumstances. If her daughter didn’t finish the ACT perhaps she thought it was like the SAT and would deduct 1/4 point for a wrong answer. It doesn’t. It is a much better test to guess on if you are not sure which answer is correct. A student who can quickly pare the answers down to a couple that might be right can do better than someone who needs to analyze each answer. The SAT will penalize you for answering wrong. The standardized test cover material than many advanced students covered very early in HS so perhaps they need to brush up on things learned 2-4 years prior. Much of the time if there is a mismatch it creates questions to be looked into. In the OPs case I think she’s just fine. </p>

<p>My high school is ridiculously easy. There are kids with 4.0 UW GPA’s and 23-25 ACTs</p>

<p>First of all, there is no standard in GPA. That is why the SAT and ACT are called “standardized tests”. GPA 3.75 at one school may be more competitive than GPA 4.0 at another school. The adcom can tell from the school profiles and the statistics of former students from that school. In addition, it is also difficult to compare GPA of two students even from the same high school due to the different course rigor. So the adcom cannot view the GPA at the face value alone. On the other hand, the standardized test score only provide a snapshot of the student at certain time point and it could be with or without a lot of practice, while HS GPA is a cumulative effort over the high school years. So the adcom would have to look at multiple factors more than just scores and GPA.</p>

<p>A couple of things. First, as everyone has already pointed out, gpa is not standardized. Your 3.73, in the context of your own school, sounds like it’s quite strong when your class rigor is factored in. I have had children at two different high schools. The first one was a traditional, old school, grade deflated place where kids had fairly low average GPAs (~3.3) but were high achievers. Colleges knew the practices of this school and accepted kids with much lower grades than yours. The second high school is a more typical American grade-inflated school where the median gpa is somewhere around 3.7. There’s no way the gpa at school 1 is interchangeable with the gpa at school 2.</p>

<p>Second, test performance skills are different from school performance skills. There are kids who suffer from the anxiety of the testing situation. Don’t minimize the importance of this! The test is measuring more than intelligence, it’s also measuring the ability to stay calm and focus under pressure and that’s a skill that doesn’t emerge full-blown for everyone at this point in life. There are those whose abilities allow them to read multiple choice answers with greater complexity and who might be able to defend their answers with a short answer. There are those who work at a slower pace than what these tests require. I hear that the ACT is something of a speed reading test. So there are kids who have the ability to excel in school but not to perform as well in the pressure of a 3 hour test. </p>

<p>OP,</p>

<p>If you always look at the other horses in the race, you will always feel worthless. You will always be unhappy. I think your issues might go beyond what other students at other schools are doing. If you learn early in life that your self esteem is your own. Not what others do & accomplish, you will be much happier.</p>

<p>I’m not sure if my SAT factors into comparatively low, but it’s 2250. On the other hand, my GPA is a 4.0 UW, much higher weighted (over 60% of my classes in 4 years are AP level, and the rest are all honors), and I attend one of the most difficult schools in my state (relatively big state). For me, grades are a lot more “predictable” than standardized tests. I have no doubt that I can get a 2350+ on the SAT (my PSAT for example is 234), but on any given day, I can’t tell how I’ll do on SAT. </p>

<p>Colleges look at your GPA in the context of the classes you take and the HS you attend. My kids went to a super competitive HS that does not weight GPAs and their HS and level of classes was definitely taken into account in college admissions. If your HS has Naviance it would give you a good idea of where you stand relative to others in your HS.</p>

<p>@kha123, you started another thread and stated that you are taking 5 AP classes. You then started this thread & sate that you are taking 8. If you want honest and sincere advice, you must be equally honest & sincere. I’m starting to wonder if you had a hidden agenda when starting this thread. </p>

<p>@NewHavenCTmom I said 7 in the other one, I mightve miscounted by 1. I am sorry.</p>

<p>I mean, are you crying for the other kids who don’t have your test scores? I don’t get what the pity party is all about. If you don’t understand how college admissions work, why don’t you get a good book on the subject. I think it would be helpful. </p>

<p>There are also kids who have high test scores and low gpas. Whats up with that?</p>

<p>Its called maybe your grades arent always indicative of your performance on standardized tests and vice versa. And that is fine. </p>

<p>The fact that you think a 30 ACT is bad shows your delusion for what is “good” and “bad”. A 30 is the 95 percentile, meaning 5% of test takers did better. Maybe those kids with 30s and 4.0s are poor standardized test takers, or maybe they just work harder than you.</p>