<p>Hello,
Im a rising male junior, and i may be recruited to run at one of the ivies. im hoping yale, darmouth, and brown. i have a 4.0uw gpa going into junior year with honors classes, and will probably have taken 7APs by the end of my senior year. in general is a great SAT score "more valuable" to the eyes of ivy adcoms? or does a strong GPA in tough classes look better? i say this because i have been prepping for the SAT for a couple months.. and i took my first practice CR and Writing section... and scored 580, and 560 :( im really irritated and sad about these scores.. because i know they are not where they need to be. maybe i should give myself more time?
thank you for any advice or help</p>
<p>You should also try ACT.</p>
<p>They use something called Academic Index where they add up your GPA SAT etc. to determine your Ivy eligibility. So it is important for you to do well in a standardized test, either SAT or ACT.</p>
<p>See: [The</a> Academic Index - Ivy League Admissions Key? - College Confidential](<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/academic_index.htm]The”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/academic_index.htm)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If you have an unweighted GPA of 4.0 in an academically rigorous curriculum in an academically rigorous high school, that will help your application a lot.</p></li>
<li><p>The SAT scores you are getting as a rising junior will be lower than what you will score at the end of junior year, because you will have advanced in your reading, writing and math skills. But if your best submitted scores are going to be (only) in the high 500’s or low 600’s, then I doubt that a 4.0 GPA or running ability will make up for the low scores. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>I’ve been researching and i feel like the ACT might be a better fit for me, what should i do? i have been prepping for the SAT, and i bought the official sat study guide… but should i start studying for the ACT now instead…? and buy the official ACT book? any other advice or knowledge about the ACT/its differences from the SAT would be great.</p>
<p>SAT< GPA definitely. Of course your SAT/ACT can still hurt you, but nothing beats 4 years of education.</p>
<p>If you read posts on CC enough, you will learn that SATs are more important (from people with high SATs), that GPA is more important (from people who have high GPAs), and that impressive extracurricular activities are the most important of all (from people who have that). People who have none of the above will assert that what’s really important is writing a great essay. Honestly, all this stuff is important. A slight weakness in one area may be counterbalanced by strong performance in another area. Note the use of the word “slight.”</p>