<p>There is a disproportionately large gap between my GPA and SAT score. My cumulative GPA is 3.8 unweighted and my SAT superscore is a 1570 (CR:620 M:440 W:510). My report card came last week stating that my first quarter GPA was a 89.7 (Somewhere between a 3.5 and 3.6), so there's proof that I work hard in my courses. I'm just worried about what they will think about the large gap between my GPA and SAT score. I have good hooks, such as being an URM (African American) and being a first generation student, and an excellent list of EC's. What do you think an adcom would think of this?</p>
<p>Are you a senior? If not, I suspect you could improve your SAT scores… invest in a good test prep book (like Princeton Review) and some tutoring sessions. If you are a senior, there’s no sense in worrying about it. Yeah, it’s a bit odd, and could raise some red flags about the rigor of your high school curriculum, but there’s no sense in worrying about things you can’t control. You gave it your best shot and rest assured that adcoms will review your application holistically (at least for most schools).</p>
<p>Have you consistently had low standardized exam scores relative to your classroom grades? If so, got talk with your guidance counselor about this. You need to find out what is going on.</p>
<p>I personally don’t believe it’s a problem because my sat is really bad compared to my GPA. I do think u will get in</p>
<p>This totally depends on what schools you’re applying to. Most likely if it’s Ivy level schools, even with the URM hook, 1570 is too low, no matter what. If you’re applying to a public flagship, you’re fine.</p>
<p>Where are you trying to get in. At a lot of decent public schools that SAT score should be fine</p>
<p>^^^ Exactly. That should be fine for most public schools, especially in state (If you have a good flagship, that’d be a prime choice).</p>
<p>Thanks for your replies everyone! All of my colleges are flagship publics with the exception of Howard University. University of Maryland-College Park is the one I’m worrying about the most. I’m pretty sure I’m in at Penn State-University Park (Especially since I’m a PA resident :D). The others I’m applying to are Temple, UDel, Ohio State, UGA, and Howard</p>
<p>@happymomof1 I always score extremely high on exams. When I took my junior year finals last year, I had all 90+'s with the exception of math, which I scored a 70 on (The Archdiocese of Philadelphia tried out a computerized final, and the average final grade on those finals was a 55, so I actually scored higher than most). And freshman year, when I took the Terra Nova test, I scored in the 96th percentile</p>
<p>If I were an adcom, I’d look at kids with high GPAs and low SAT scores as the ones who cheated their way through school. A good example is the kid who sits next to me in one of my APs. Hes got a 4.83 and got a 1200 on his SAT. He’s a HUGE cheater. He’s actually famous for doing stuff like stealing math tests.
Not that I’m trying to insinuate that you’re a cheater. That’s just my experience.</p>
<p>Some good students don’t do well on standardized tests so some colleges are test-optional in their admissions policies:
[SAT/ACT</a> Optional 4-Year Universities | FairTest](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional]SAT/ACT”>ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest)</p>