IB vs. SAT SCORES- HOW IMPORTANT??

<p>I'm a gap year student, finished an IB Diploma with 43 points, yet my SAT score is EXTREMELY low compared to my IB score:
CR-610, W-680, M-690 TOTAL: 1980
I really wanted to get into good Uni's, and i'm wondering if they'll even consider the IB score because it seems like the SAT overrides EVERYTHING else primarily in the admissions decision!</p>

<p>You should understand that every single US high school gets to set its own grading standards and course contents. SAT scores are important because in many cases they provide the only way to compare applicants from different schools.</p>

<p>That’s not entirely true in your case because the IB is a standardized program and 43 points is an impressive score! Colleges will most certainly pay attention to it.</p>

<p>If you want to do a bit more research, there’s two things you can do. First, most colleges indicate on their Common Data Set the relevance of various application items for admission. (very important, important, considered) Test scores are often ranked as less important than high school grades and the rigor of your curriculum, but almost never as higher.</p>

<p>But maybe colleges don’t give a fair representation of their own admission policies. If you want to see hard data, you can play with the [UC</a> Stat Finder](<a href=“http://statfinder.ucop.edu/statfinder/default.aspx]UC”>http://statfinder.ucop.edu/statfinder/default.aspx). You could, for example, get admission rates broken down by SAT score and high school GPA for all of the UC campuses.</p>

<p>Wow that;s awesome! But what’s a common data set?
Thanks for your help</p>

<p>bump bump bump</p>

<p>The Common Data Set is a standardized form that summarizes basic information (on admissions, academics, student life, etc) on a school. Most colleges publish it on their website, but locating these data sets can be tricky sometimes. Luckily you don’t need to do this.</p>

<p>You can also get the information you are interested in from Collegeboard, under the “Admissions” tab of a college profile. See here for example: [College</a> Search - MIT - Admission](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>