How good of a school does a perfect SAT or ACT alone get you into?

College Search & Selection
1

I have roughly a 3.4 GPA in the most rigorous course load available with little to no extracurriculars. I’d say that’s a solid albeit not spectacular GPA. If, theoretically, I had a 36 ACT of 1600 SAT, how good of a school would I be able to get into.

I recognize I’d have no shot for schools like Stanford due to there being a surplus of students with strong scores, grades, and extracurriculars. I think I’d have a near 100% shot of getting into a school like Penn State or UConn since that my standardized test scores would be so strong in comparison to most of their undergraduate that they’d, at the least, want to take a flyer on me.

Essentially, I’m curious how far a strong score can get me and from there I can evaluate what would be a realistic chance.

2

Schools with acceptance rates above 60%.

3

^ With your GPA maybe you could have a slim chance at a place like Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt has been notorious for placing inordinately big importance on scores to boost its ranking. Still though last year only about 12% of its class had a high school GPA below 3.5 so the chances would be slim.

I would say you would have a decent/good for schools outside the top 30/top 40.

4

You are a prospective engineering student, right?

Both Purdue and Pitt denied a student this admissions season with a 36 ACT and a 3.4-3.5 (not exactly sure on the GPA but it was in that range) —denied for engineering.

You should hope for the best but prep for a liberal range of schools.

5

Many colleges consider the transcript (course rigor, GPA) at least, if not more important than standardized tests. A perfect standardized test score and your GPA could indicate a student that doesn’t work to his/her potential. Other things such as recommendations, essays etc. could prove to be important to some schools when academics send a mixed message. If you do get a very high standardized test score it will be a positive of course, but as others suggested you would need to apply to a wide range of colleges and see how things turn out.

6

What is your weighted gpa? Some schools (ex. U Colorado, U Alabama) are more concerned with weighted GPA.

7

Would also depend if your GPA is rising/falling, and any mitigating circumstances you have that explain a low GPA and high test scores. Too many variables to tell.