<p>Maybe not everyone means the same thing by “perfect.” To me, referring to test scores, “perfect” means the highest scaled score possible (2400 on the three-section SAT, 1600 on the former two-section SAT, and 36 on the ACT). Perfect scores are rare. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.act.org/news/data/07/pdf/National2007.pdf[/url]”>http://www.act.org/news/data/07/pdf/National2007.pdf</a> </p>
<p><a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools; </p>
<p>Perfect grade-point averages are AT LEAST two orders of magnitude more common than perfect test scores, but again by “perfect” I would mean nothing less than the highest average possible according to a given high school’s grading scale. At some high schools, that would 100, and at other high schools, that would be 4.0, and at some high schools it would be some other number. A student with that peak number at that student’s high school has a perfect G.P.A. (possibly not uniquely even at that high school). Any student with a lower grade average does not have a perfect G.P.A., and I think that is the main point of the OP’s concern. </p>
<p>I am certain that ALL colleges every year admit students with less than perfect standardized test scores. Perfect standardized test scores are too rare for the facts to be otherwise. </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/413821-sat-score-frequencies-freshman-class-sizes.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/413821-sat-score-frequencies-freshman-class-sizes.html</a> </p>
<p>I am also certain that Harvard is in earnest when it says it has NO minimum G.P.A. requirement, because Harvard (and colleges like Harvard) would rather choose a student who challenged herself in high school than a student who played it safe with wimpy courses to preserve a grade average. But students with perfect grade averages are sufficiently numerous that Harvard COULD, if it would, fill its entire enrolled class with students with perfect grade averages, still leaving enough left over to fill the classes of several other highly desired colleges.</p>