<p>I'm a student who has over a 4.0 W and a 4.0 UW. My SAT's, however, were fine (2050/1360). Which matters more to colleges. I know my SAT's could have been higher since I want to go to some of the top schools like Princeton and UVA. </p>
<p>Do you think that the SAT matters more or all the years of work in high school?</p>
<p>obviously GPA… how well you’ve been doing for 3 years is more important than your score on a 3 hour test…</p>
<p>To me, I truly think that the SATs matter much more than GPA sadly.</p>
<p>Don’t listen to guidance counselors and college officials. Most of them are deflating the value of the SATs and inflating the value of the GPA.
A guy in my class has a 99 average. He ranks in the top 10 in the school. He’s part of Arista. He won 1st place in some math competition (Not a prestigious competition. Lots of 1st places). His SAT? 1900.
Me: 96 Average. 2180 SAT. Mediocre accomplishments and activities.
We both got into Syracuse and St. John’s. Guess who’s getting more grants from both institutions?
I’m not sure about more higher colleges. So far, only **** colleges have given out acceptances for regular decision. We have to see late March when the more prestigious institutions are handing out acceptance letters.</p>
<p>If you ask me, GPA, SAT and activities all count evenly for acceptance. For scholarships and grants, I think SAT scores account for 90% of the decisions.</p>
<p>I think they look at your classes and how you have been challenging yourself. Your 4.0 and another students 4.0 can be very different.</p>
<p>Well, to clarify, I’m in the top 5 in my class and have taken every honors class at my school save two.</p>
<p>ECs 10char</p>
<p>@DidIMakeAMistake, SAT matters more for grant money because they often use scores to qualify merit stuff. Keep in mind merit money is AFTER you get in. However, when applying colleges find GPA just as important if not more because it shows your dedication to learning. You’re not getting into any decent school with a 2400 SAT if you are only in like the top 50% of your class with an 80 average (granted under normal circumstances…) because that shows you’re smart but lazy. There was actually an article about it today in Newsday on Long Island with the dean from Stony Brook explaining :)</p>
<p>EDIT: @Writer7, I’m in the same boat as you (sad owner of a 2080) and unfortunately EVERYONE who is being considered will have a very high GPA. You need that SAT score to bump you up to the next level. If you have great ECs, essays, and recs it can quite possibly make up for it, but most of us haven’t founded a major charity :P.</p>
<p>EDIT 2: @DidIMakeAMistake I didn’t read that ending about scholarships and stuff. Yea, I pretty much agree with that.</p>
<p>@rainbowrose</p>
<p>May I have a link to the article please?</p>
<p>For college admissions, then GPA by far.
For scholarships, then SAT by far.</p>
<p>@DidIMakeAMistake, sorry, it was in the PAPER newspaper lol.</p>
<p>SAT’s are all measured on the same scale so they give a better view of people who take them because schools calculate GPA differently and have a different selection of classes. But GPA is more important because, like someone else said, it is a measure of how well you do over time, not a three hour test on a day when you could have been sick or had family troubles.</p>
<p>I would say they are equally weighted.
No, a 3-hour test does not determine your worth or overall quality as a student, but yes, it does allow a convenient and thorough comparison to other students that transcends both grade inflation and teacher favoritism (just to name a few).
My GPA matches my ACT score. (3.9 and 29)</p>
<p>Well look at it this way, when looking at applications, colleges are looking for the students who they believe they will best represent their school while the student is attending and once the student has graduated and is representing the school in the real world. GPA tells more about the student’s work ethic in addition to his/her intelligence which, frankly, is often more important than raw thinking ability. An extremely lazy student can do well on the SAT based on natural ability, but that is less of a guarantee that they will be successful in the future and represent the college the way the college needs them to than a student who has showed his/her desire to work to achieve a certain goal through their GPA</p>
<p>@jgraider</p>
<p>I thought “raw thinking ability” is intelligence.</p>
<p>yeah I worded that kind of poorly</p>
<p>I meant that work ethic is often more important that intelligence/raw thinking ability</p>
<p>SATs are way more indicative of one’s intelligence than one’s GPA. Schools inflate grades often and deflate the intensity of courses even more often. </p>
<p>Standardized (Applicable to Everyone). Aptitude (Thinking ability/Intelligence). Test.</p>
<p>^ Why have a lot of studies said that one’s SAT score doesn’t necessarily = success/failure in college? What about kids who are low-income/first generation? It’s really hard for me to believe that some kid who can afford prep courses has more intelligence than a low-income student who has a lower score due that might be attributed to SES. </p>
<p>IMO, the SAT isn’t very legit. IQ tests, sure. But any standardized test that you can study for/pay to have tutoring sessions sounds like BS to me. Then again, I’m biased as a low-income, firstgen, minority. Whatever.</p>
<p>^ And GPA isn’t very legit either. Any measure of one’s accomplishments in school that are not standardized for every single high school in America is basically worthless. Some of the 2.0 kids at my school could be Vale’s at ****ty high schools.</p>
<p>And OP, I think GPA and SAT are weighted pretty much equally. Your GPA compared to your SAT score indicates that either your school is very weak, you took a relatively easy curriculum, or your school heavily grade inflates. Either way, the SAT score is one of the main ways which schools like Princeton separate the myriad of 4.0 applicants.</p>
<p>^ I think regional reps at most colleges do a good job of learning about the schools in their states. While GPA isn’t standardized, I’m sure a regional rep would be well aware of the rigor of the different schools.</p>
<p>^ kiterunner is correct.</p>