How do the colleges judge the difficulty of the school?
Does this mean that I have to purposely tone down my SAT so that I won’t be considered lazy?
I know I should’ve gotten a higher GPA, but that’s already past. I’m trying to make best of what I can do at the moment, and that is to study my butt off for the SATs. Then I start seeing people say that low GPA & high SAT signals “lazy” to adcoms. This is ridiculous. Please enlighten me or solidify my opinion that undergrad admissions are messed up. Or that many CC posters are ignorant.
<p>first of all, it depends what year you are. If your going into junior year, you still have time to pick up those grades and show your not a slacker. Second of all, most people who use this argument are valedictorians who scored in the mid 1200's. And third of all, if you purposely "tone down" your SAT scores your stupid.</p>
<p>i always found the notion that a low gpa (or rank) vs high SAT =LAZY to be very annoying, because of course, my son fell into this category.</p>
<p>While his GPA was not low (3.79 weighted/3.7 unweighted), his class rank was only top 18%. I attribute that low rank directly to his taking Honors courses in school. Those classes were toughter than regular classes but did not get any additional weight. In all he took 6 honors math/science courses that had an adverse effect on his GPA and rank.</p>
<p>When it came time to apply to colleges, he bypassed those colleges who indicated class rank as a top priority. But in truth those schools missed out on a kid with a SAT in the 99% range who acheived those stats while working 30/hours week, played varsity lacrosse and went surfing every spare minute he could find - hardly a LAZY kid!</p>
<p>Yes! I really hope that works out. I mean people do say that about me. I am good in grades and know my stuff. But the SAT.. it just can't judge things anymore. I mean I beat the MENSA standards when they still used it, but now a'days they have thrown it out. I am hoping colleges look at my other aspects.</p>
<p>No, roadrunner, first semester of senior year is not your only hope. You have that, plus second semester, plus college, plus the rest of your life. </p>
<p>If you want to major in biology and possibly go on to med school (I read your "am I set?" post), there are literally hundreds of choices out there. Everyone has a biology department, and many have very good ones, and quite a few of those would be very happy to have you. </p>
<p>What you do once you get there is more important than the rank of the school or whether you were part of the honors program or whatever bit of status might be attached to the selection. </p>
<p>What matters most is whether the academic environment is the right one for you so that you have the best chance of success. You are obviously very bright -- your low gpa probably has something to do with not being fully engaged in the learning environment. Whatever the reasons were for that, if they weren't transient due to some external force that has now been removed, make sure your list of colleges includes schools that offer more of what works for you and less of what doesn't.</p>
<p>I think that it is unfair to label students in this catagory as lazy. People have different interests and different priorities. There can be many reasons why a bright student may not achieve top grades. Maybe he or she have other interests than getting top grades. Maybe grades are just not that important to them. That doesn't mean that they are not as likely to succeeed in college as someone who prioritized grades. Students that have top grades but average SAT scores should be proud of their work work and determination. Still, that does not mean that they are anymore qualified than students that are naturally bright but don't want to achieve top grades at all cost.</p>
<p>Absolutely get the highest SATs you can. So yeah, top colleges aren't going to take you with low GPA and high SATs, but there are a ton of second tier colleges who accept high scorers just to raise thei rankings.</p>
<p>Yeah, that's really unfair to say that I am lazy just because I do well on tests. I hate this argument, as it makes a lot of people look like slacker idiots just for always doing well on standardized testing.</p>
<p>I studied my arse off for that June testing date. I have work ethic. I'm not lazy just because my GPA sucks.</p>
<p>I hate this assumption with a passion. My GPA isnt the greatest because I totally sucked at Spanish. I was lucky to eek out B-'s in regular college
prep classes, but I wanted to get a least 3 years in. For other kids it's math etc etc. I would hope the ad coms would look closely at a transcript with an average GPA and good SATs to see that some kids are mostly A students but one thing or another juist isnt their thing.</p>
<p>I fall into the category of ~3.6 GPA, 2100 (hopefully up another 100 soon) SAT, and top 20%. This is at a very competitive private non ranking high school (20% is an estimation, I know I'm not 10% because they have awards for that).</p>
<p>I don't consider myself lazy. If I tried a lot harder I could probably pull a 3.9 or so but I have EC's that take up much of my efforts.</p>
<p>High GPA + Low SAT could equal an easy school, easy curriculum, good memory, bad test taking, or a number of other things. Now there are many who are smart and have this combo, but LOTS that I have met really just memorize lots of info. (aka having a 4 page review sheet for a minor quiz) I also know a lot of people with "low" GPA's that just don't try as hard in classes they feel are less relevant (I might be guilty of this to a lesser extent also)</p>
<p>Note this: Albert Einstein got F's, but I guarantee he would have slaughtered the SAT. Intelligence is in no way linked to GPA.</p>
<p>I wouldn't automatically assume that a low GPA and high SAT indicate laziness. It might indicate different priorities and time allocation, lack of motivation, or a variety of other things. Doing well on standardized tests and earning a high GPA take different skills and a different approach.</p>
<p>Some have suggested that sometimes admissions officers seek out the occasional high SAT/low GPA student if they think that the student has innate talent and will perform better academically in the more challenging and motivating university environment.</p>