SAT vs. GPA, which is more important?

Applying to College
21

<p>My 2 cents: they are both important because the measure different things. Both things are important to any college but each college may value one over the other.</p>

<p>What I think they measure:</p>

<p>GPA: hard work, organizational skills, people pleasing skill, intelligence (to some extent), ability to "work the system" (ie making sure you get better/easier teachers, meeting college requirements without putting your GPA in jeoprody)</p>

<p>SAT or other standardized tests: Intelligence (to a greater extent than GPA but I'm not saying it a 100% correlation) and test taking ability (to the extent that is different than IQ.)</p>

<p>Obviously the best thing is to have high scores in both. </p>

<p>If your scores are notably different it says something about you. Lowish grades and high test scores say "really smart but lazy, unorganized or obnoxious."</p>

<p>High grades and mediocre test scores say "hard worker, good system worker, not a genius."</p>

<p>I suspect different schools put a different value on these qualities.</p>

22

<p>alright, but which schools value which? does anyone have insight on this?</p>

23

<p>I think it is important to define "poor GPA" though.</p>

24

<p>Which value which? That's something I think you need to research for yourself and come to your own conclusion about. Obviously, if a school is "test optional" they don't value it as highly as a school that requires the test.</p>

<p>I think if you ask most admission people they will give you a straight answer. I think most people don't believe what they say, however.</p>

25

<p>Well, part of an on the road admissions officer's job is to market the school. Far more kids have high GPAs than high SATs. So, no, I would not expect a straight answer.</p>

<p>Also, schools that are "test optional" don't tend to see the highest scores as often. Thus, they're probably more impressed than you might think. ;)</p>

26

<p>GPA is more important than SAT, as it is a reflection of cumulative effort over the years. With that said, adcoms will also take into account your school's profile to gauge the relative strength of the GPA.</p>

27

<p>no...GPA is not always important..
GPA is still important but not as important if you go to the real top 10 school in the nation..aka andover exeter choate deerfield SPS Hotchkiss... while in a normal public school it really matters
just see for yourself</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins
GPA admit/applications
3.7+ 2/2
3.6 + 0/1
3.5+ 6/8
3.3+ 2/3
3.2+ 4/8
3.0+ 2/5
2.8+ 1/7</p>

<p>Georgetown
GPA admit/apps
3.7+ 2/2
3.6 + 3/3
3.5+ 8/10
3.3+ 5/10
3.2+ 6/12
3.0+ 1/6
2.8+ 1/4
2.6+ 0/2</p>

<p>Tufts
GPA admit/apps
3.7+ 3/3
3.6 + 0/1
3.5+ 4/7
3.3+ 8/11
3.2+ 5/9
3.0+ 1/7
2.8+ 1/5
2.6+ 0/1
2.4+ 1/1</p>

28

<p>i dont get that list at all... can you explain it plz...</p>

29

<p>I would venture to say that for the elite schools... to state the obvious.... SAT and GPA are both highly emphasized. </p>

<p>However colleges have a harder time comparing GPA from one school to another, since schools have different grading policies.
While the SAT allows a "standardized" way to look at how well college-bound people would perform in college.</p>

<p>Transcript matters a lot more than GPA at a lot of the top schools... they prefer the 3.8/ToughCourseload kid over the 4.0/ModerateCourseload kid..</p>

<p>Taking into account that the 4.0/ToughCourseload kid is considered tops of course, :p! </p>

<p>I got into Duke with a 3.7 UW... but with the toughest courseload of anyone in my grade (lol.. to make a case for rank, I am in the Top 10 when it comes to Weighted GPA... besides that, my school doesn't rank), I wanted to challenge myself and did so. I may have not gotten into Duke based on my high school record, if the school looked at GPA alone.. but Duke must have been satisfied with my transcript. </p>

<p>Numbers alone, I seem like a high SAT/mediocre GPA applicant... but since my transcript justifies my GPA, I still got into a school as great as Duke.</p>

<p>Top schools are looking for people who are prepared for college and perfect grades in a high-school environment isn't always the best way to look at it... SAT scores play a bigger factor.. I personally don't think that test prep plays as big of a role as people think it does.. it's just that first-time takers are often unfamiliar with the actual test.</p>

<p>I went from a 1440/2140 on the PSAT's to a 1550/2270 a year later... I didn't even have test prep! I just understood that the SAT's has some tricky questions with not-so-obvious answers...with no test prep in between! </p>

<p>Some schools such as Florida & UNC have average GPA's of 4.0+... even though they are both good schools may show a sign of grade inflation in high schools judging by the fact that their average SAT's are only around 1300.</p>

<p>Adcoms get so many applications that they often don't have the luxury to rank every person through a "modified GPA" system, but they can easily compare applicants by looking at their SAT/ACT scores... the SAT and ACT both test skills necessary to succeed in a college environment!</p>

<p>So the order of importance to colleges, in general, is probably...
Transcript/Weighted Class Rank
SAT Scores/EC's
UW GPA/ Essay/ Interviews</p>

<p>Both are important... but the SAT is more objective than GPA and thus when looking at numbers alone, is more important... when GPA is comapred with transcript & rank, GPA and SAT are then of equal importance..</p>

30

<p>I think the essay is the most important factor in admissions.</p>

<p>Call me crazy, but the difference between a 3.7 and a 4.0 doesn't make as much of an impact even as the difference between a really strong essay and a weaker one. Even at the top schools.</p>

31

<p>doctorsboy:
the list states for that GPA range, how many people got in out of how many people apply
for example
Johns Hopkins
3.2+ 4/8 meaning for kids with GPA 3.2-3.3, 4 out of 8 got in</p>