<p>So apparently last year there was a kid at our school who slacked and didn't take his classes seriously, had around a 2.8 gpa or something really low like that, but he got a 2310 on his SAT and got in to berkeley. I believe that he was an intelligent kid and got that score, but is a great SAT score like that really enough to get in to a school like berkeley? I'm not sure, but I don't think it would get someone in to a top Ivy.</p>
<p>Just curious about how much a stellar SAT score can do for an applicant vs. their gpa. any thoughts appreciated!</p>
<p>Your GPA and transcript is far more important than your SAT/ACT scores, as your GPA and transcript reflect four years of your life, whereas SAT/ACT scores are determined in a few hours.</p>
<p>A high SAT can help make up for a mediocre GPA, but not as much as a high GPA can help make up for a mediocre SAT.</p>
<p>thanks for the comment! </p>
<p>re: the second part, don’t colleges see high gpa low sat score as a student who went to an “easier” high school? I’ve heard that it can be seen as grade inflation - any truth to that? it seems like the sat would be a more accurate representation of the intelligence as all high schools have different curriculums, grading scales, etc, but I’m just guessing.</p>
<p>Usually people who get in to elite schools with very high SATs and low GPA also have some amazing achievement (wrote and published a book, won a national/international science competition, etc.)</p>