What is the value of a top SAT at Brown?

[Newjack88]

<p>anotherNJmom:

arachnop, a good hs GPA could also mean (not excludedely) the student took all easy courses. The same adcom said, if your took only one AP while your school offer 12, they will have a ? on how you chalange yourself enough. If they admit you, will you effeciently use the resource JHU provideded to you. ^-^.

that’s pretty much what i was saying, “colleges assess your achievement in relation to the opportunities presented to you.”</p>

<p>

Newjack88, I actually repeat what I heard in JHU’s open house admission session. The adcom was a very nice black man, he said what he presented were mostly true in top ranked colleges. He also mentioned sometimes the val from some schools mean nothing to them, he said it was a joke that some HS at middle west have 80 val. how can you take this seriousely?..SAT and AP are the only things they can OBJECTIVELY measure up students academic achivement across from different schools…one thing you are right though, the GPA from different schools has different quality. That’s why college adcom need to look at SAT, AP scores.

not sure why the fact he’s black is relevant… anyways, what you are telling me is almost irrelevant to what i was saying. i was saying that “once you reach a certain score you will no longer be rejected solely because of test scores.” i never said that we should get rid of standardized testing. </p>

<p>lastly, keep in mind that many admissions officers complain that the current standardized tests aren’t the best way to compare students or predict how students will do in college.</p>

<p>

Anyway you can’t just look at the GPAs from different school. The courses are taught in different level, the teacher’s score standards are different, student body are different, etc.. In our local public HS, there is no A+, some teachers don’t give out A easily, some just don’t give A…I think adcom knows how to read your GPAs against your school’s profile, read your SAT against the kids from other schools.

i’m pretty sure though that the transcript/GPA are the most important parts of the application. pretty hard to argue against that…</p>

<p>

I’m sick of ppl saying how SAT score could be ‘bought’ by well of parents…most case a very convinient ‘excuse’ for those who can’t make the cut. And if you kept making excusing, you will never make the cut.

yea, but keep in mind that the SAT doesn’t test high school level curriculum. it’s not like the national exams that you see in Britain, China, etc. also, it’s sort of ridiculous that you can study for an “aptitude” test… i think that’s the issue that most people have with current standardized testing. i did it, but i think it’s dumb that in order for any relatively bright kid to score well he or she just has to take a few practice tests.</p>

<p>krazykool:

From my experience this isn’t true. If it’s a really good prep school then the 3.7 means a lot more than a 4.0 from a crummy public. I’ve seen a lot more 2300 3.7 prep schoolers get in than people like your hypothetical val.

your reasoning is flawed. couldn’t it just be that there are way more prep schoolers applying than my hypothetical student? answer is yes. there are WAY more 3.7+ GPA kids with good test scores from good schools who apply to top colleges. if this isn’t true then why is it that so many qualified applicants with these stats get rejected? also, it’s highly unlikely that the kid from the poor urban Midwestern school would have schools like Harvard, etc. on his or her list due to financial reasons.</p>

<p>jcrew:
jcrew i’d say you’re a little biased but i’d agree with you if there were better standardized exams. one’s that tested over a rigorous national curriculum that everyone had the means to prepare for.</p>

<p>everyone:
you guys are picking HORRIBLE applicants to compare. please be more reasonable and quit working yourselves up over things that will almost never happen. lastly, colleges could careless who’s the most “intelligent;” it’s all about the corporate buzz words and finding kids who are bright nowadays. it’s not about bookworm types.</p>

<p>EDIT:
anotherNJmom part of your post seemed a little hostile towards the midwest, are you against colleges considering geographic diversity? if so, please keep in mind that a school in Kansas has no where near the same resources that a school in NJ has.</p>

<p>EDIT DOS:

Boston, MA: The new SATs are causing much confusion. How much emphasis are you placing on them?
Margit Dahl: SATs are one factor among many in the admissions process, but by no means the most important one. As I said in reply to another question, grades are always more important that test scores. SATs don’t measure motivation at all, nor do they tell us anything about your peer relationships, your curiosity or love of learning, your sensitivity to others. All of those things are important, but we must look elsewhere to find them.

</p>