SAT Question

<p>I feel like this might be a trivial question but I want to ask it just to see the actual enormity of it. I've heard that Georgia Tech puts a huge emphasis on the SAT. First off I would like to know how true this statement actually is? Also I would like to know how much a 750+ on the SAT would help out around a ~3.4 UW GPA (big upward trend) when it comes to admissions? I'm hoping that the upward trend will show that I have learned to work hard and also that doing well on the SAT would show that I am more then capable when it comes to Math. I'm also planning to take the SATII Math section (not sure which one) in April I think. I plan to get at least above a 700 on that. I took the SAT for the first time in January (got a 700 on math) so I know I can achieve this goal if I practice the problems they will give. Also I take one of the most rigorous course loads at my private school just in case you were wondering. Any help on this are of interest would be helpful.</p>

<p>I think you should be alright.</p>

<p>Yes, I do believe Georgia Tech puts a BIG emphasis on the SAT. </p>

<p>However, 3.4 GPA is rather low. I think you would need to do INCREDIBLE on the SAT to offset a low GPA.</p>

<p>At least through last year, Tech gave 1/2 extra quality point for gifted or honors (and I think AP) if you made a B or C. Since they give no extra credit for an A, you move closer to those 4.0 folks. They do care alot about SAT (or the math and English parts of the ACT).</p>

<p>GT definitely values SAT over GPA. I suspect this based on empirical evidence from friends that got rejected by my alma mater (UF) with 1400s M+V SAT's but 3.4 GPA's but were accepted to Tech.</p>

<p>Granny, I think that policy changed this year, with A's now getting weight. And, the only courses being weighted are AP/IB/college, with honors no longer weighted.</p>

<p>I like tht they don't count honors courses in the weighted grade. I come from a school where there are few honors classes (although classes are still hard). I also know that at public schools almost every class has an honors class. Thanks for the help guys.</p>

<p>According to Georgia Tech's Common Data Set, academic GPA is the only criterion that is "very important." Standardized test scores are "important."</p>

<p>Even though all I have is anecdotal evidence, I'm skeptical of their claim.</p>

<p>One of my friends applied to Georgia Tech with a cumulative 2.9 GPA. He had SAT scores that placed him in the top 25% and fives on several AP exams. He got in.</p>

<p>Another of my friends actually failed one semester of senior English and had to retake it over the summer. His SAT was 2370. He got in.</p>

<p>
[quote]
One of my friends applied to Georgia Tech with a cumulative 2.9 GPA. He had SAT scores that placed him in the top 25% and fives on several AP exams. He got in.</p>

<p>Another of my friends actually failed one semester of senior English and had to retake it over the summer. His SAT was 2370. He got in.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yeah I have similar stories. I know a guy who went to Tech, got an F in senior AP english and had a 3.0ish GPA but had a 1400ish SAT and 5's on several science AP's. Coincidentally, he was the only person I knew of that graduated Tech in 4 years without switching out of engineering.</p>

<p>GAcollege411</a> - Freshman Index Requirements</p>

<p>That's the formula that all state schools in GA use for admissions. GT is a research institution, so you need an FI of 2500. Those are for the "college prep core curriculum" grades only (no electives except foreign language... only Math, Science, SS, and English).</p>

<p>Just plug and chug to see where you stand compared to the average, and evaluate your ECs and your essay. You can get a pretty good idea of where you stand.</p>

<p>Wow that's really useful. Only question I have is whether that index is made with the GT weighted GPA or the unweighted GPA. If its weighted then I'll definitely make it but if its unweighted then it will be around 100 of the average give or take.</p>

<p>edit: Also this is a question that arose after our annual junior college meeting recently. Does GT look at the GPA or the actual grades in classes? We had a speaker from UNC who said that they don't actually look at the GPA but look at the grades in each class. I thought if a big state school like UNCCH does that then maybe GT does to. Hopefully they do because my transcript looks a lot better if read that way.</p>

<p>That formula doesn't seem very believable. First of it, it makes the assumption that it's the same requirement for admission to GSU as GT. Second, if you plug in a GPA of 3.0 (very low, by Tech standards), you'd only need a 1000 SAT (again, very low by Tech standards) to get in. </p>

<p>What's more likely the case is that to even consider a student, that student must have a score above 2500 (or else it's an automatic rejection). Students above that score are then reviewed on a more stringent criteria.</p>

<p>I don't think you read close enough. The index score on that list that is linked is the minimum score necessary to even get looked at by the admissions people. If you had looked at the side you would have seen a link to the average index score of the university's in Georgia. GT is about around a 3150. That was the score I was alluding to in my post.</p>

<p>Opps. Missed that.</p>

<p>I'm a little surprised at the SAT scores, though. I would have thought that Tech would have a higher math score and lower verbal score. It's interesting to see how balanced it is. </p>

<p>It's also interesting to know that many schools in GA do not require an SAT or ACT score.</p>

<p>Yeah, they're weening a lot of schools off the SAT to raise the average SAT score for the state. Right now, it's in the bottom 10, but ~70% of the state's juniors/seniors takes it. So, the logic behind it is get those who just want a two-year degree or a technical diploma, etc. who don't want to be thrown in the "college life" per se to not be required to take the SAT.</p>

<p>Regarding Tech's verbal scores, it has been that way for as long as I can remember (more than 25 years). I never worked with a Tech graduate who could not write (and some of them go back more than 40 years).</p>

<p>My thought was that Tech has a pretty large international student population that (for obvious reasons) tends to do poorly on the Verbal. Maybe that group isn't as large in the undergraduate population as I thought.</p>

<p>well i disagree......georgia tech doesnt focus on SAT's that much, UNLESS u have a low gpa.....then SAT's give u a chance to redeem urself.....but if ur gpa is good and u took lots of challenging courses, a bad sat score doesnt hurt you that much.......i mean my SAT score was 1880, 600 in math and 640 in reading, and i got into biomedical engineering (ranked #2 in the whole country) ................GPA is number 1......number 2 are the classes u took...and SAT 2nd to last on the list.....</p>

<p>Well I'm kind of hoping that the SAT will reedeem my GPA a little bit. My Gpa will be be about a 3.4 unweighted (with big upward trend) so a good SAT score would help a lot.</p>

<p>gtech has an avg. index of about 3230.</p>