<p>Yes lots of kids don’t test well, but ultimately, SAT/ACT math is very, very easy. It is arithmetic, algebra and trigonometry. For most engineers, these kinds of things shouldn’t hardly require thought, at least at the ACT/SAT level. For that reason I can see there being a loose correlation at least in terms of pass/fail. If you don’t have a nearly automatic ability with that then the basic calculus and physics “weeder” courses are going to hurt.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I don’t believe there has ever been shown a correlation between SAT/ACT performance and final GPA for those who do finish the program. I wouldn’t expect anything more than a week correlation at best. Some of the best testers I know were middling students in undergrad and some of the brightest students had fairly pedestrian test scores compared to the whole of the undergraduate engineering student body.</p>
<p>Basically, test scores can be an indicator of your readiness for the basic intro math and physics courses and your likelihood of passing them easily and therefore sticking with the program, but they probably aren’t so good an indicator of your potential to excel. I would even call them a poor indicator of that.</p>