I’m an A-/B+ average student in an int’l school, but the SAT is just like an enemy to me… I got 530 for verbal and a disappointing 660 for math. I took SAT2s and to my dismay, I got 610 for writing, 630 for math2c and 640 for physics… I mean, seriously, with these scores, where am I going to go? I have excellent recommendations and good essays, and now it just confuses me because my SAT scores, compared with other applicants who apply to schools like NYU, Carnegie, etc., are just notches below… What am I to do? I have confidence in getting into schools like indiana, but what about NYU and carnegie, or even USC? This is horrible, i don’t feel like i’ve had enough preparation for the SATs…
<p>Mine was about right on target, I've gotten all A's in my English classes and a 5 on the AP US History test, and got a 730V.</p>
<p>I've gotten three B's out of the six math classes I've taken and got a 570M.</p>
<p>I don't know...I have a 3.7 and a 1340 SAT score. The ironic part is that I got close to 800 in Math, and I have had either B's or C's in all my math courses. It's not because I don't work hard, because I've studied really hard in math. I don't understand how it works...</p>
<p>And don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll get in somewhere. SATs are not the only thing schools look for. They consider your grades even more, and you seem to be doing well in that area.</p>
<p>Mine was on target - all A's (except for 1 B+) in history and english courses (5's on AP's), and ended up with a 740 V.</p>
<p>All A's in my math classes, but they definitely weren't the most challenging (probably about a tier below the calc people) - 670 M</p>
<p>i feel ur pain man. i have a 4.25 UC gpa (i have all A's except for PE and spanish from frshmen year) but i bombed my SATs and SAT iis horribly. i got a 1280 SAT (650M 630V) and 500 W, 620 2c, 540 Bio. I am not too surprised about my Bio score since i didnt take it since freshman year and i didnt study for it, well actually i never really studied for any of the SATs (only like 2-3 days ahead of time at most), but i still expected to do better. I got killed by the SAT ii writing, i jus couldnt answer enough questions, i skipped like half of them cuz i ran out of time so i dont think its my lack of knowledge jus a REAL lack of preparation. hopefully UCs will forgive me for those scores</p>
<p>I'm the opposite. 3.2 and a 1460</p>
<p>SAT scores aren't worse or better than grades.</p>
<p>Grades reflect long term academic performance and work ethic (along with things like weighting and class difficultly) SAT is a crude intelligence test that takes up to 3 hours of your life.</p>
<p>Don't compare them :-P</p>
<p>Yeah, I agree with frankenchris. Overall, grades are more important. I wouldn't say that they ALWAYS tell the admissions office how hard you work because there have been classes that I've studied lots for, but I never managed to do that well. Still, they do as frankenchris put it "reflect long term academic performance and work ethic." </p>
<p>If it makes you feel better, I'm not exactly the best test taker, either. I scored a 760M and 580V, which is a good thing and a bad thing. Good because it gives me a total score of 1340, but bad because one score is high and the other is low. I remember the week I took my SAT IIs, I had a lot of test anxiety. I did okay on two of them (650 in Math IC and 670 in Writing), but I only got a 510 on my U.S. History. </p>
<p>I think that colleges really ought to place less emphasis on standardized test scores. They don't reflect who you are as a person, and from what I can tell, you are a good student with great ambition.</p>
<p>my grades suck, I have about a 2.7gpa...I was fortunate to get a 1320 on the sat first time (670v and 650m), am too lazy to take sat2s, have not taken math in two years, have two study halls, and have only gotten into one school, and it's 3rd tier at best... meanwhile, my friend who has like a 4.2 gpa and is not even in pre-calc, got into Penn State for engineering with a 1040 SAT, after taking it 3 times, and no he's not a URM... he also applied to Georgia Tech, UVa and UNc and will probably get into atleast one of those... HIGH GPA's DO MAKE UP FOR LOW SAT's, but certainly not the other way around...that's the way it should be... my friend deserves to get into top schools regardless of his test scores and I'm lucky I got in anywhere considering how much of a slacker I've been thus far in my hs career... statistically, you are more likely to perform better on the sat's if you your grades are higher, but like all adcoms will tell you, no one criteria can predict success in college and test scores definetely are not indicitive of being a hard worker...</p>
<p>ha, I think they are different, but SATs are a better indicator of ability (though still innaccurate and there are so many exceptions to it).
In general, at my school, kids who are ranked higher score higher, but that could be because they just care more</p>
<p>My verbal was 40 points lower than math, and English classes are always rougher for me.</p>
<p>my grades (and therefore rank) are extremely better than my SAT scores. I rank in the top 0.5%, but I have an SAT below 1500, which is not even top 5% in my school. Fortunately, grades are much more important for college admission than SAT scores.</p>
<p>I wouldn't say 'much more' important. For state schools, grades are the main factor. For those very comeptetive colleges, they probably look at SAT's alot.</p>
<p>You can get into to HYPS with rather average SAT scores (as in below 1450) and stellar grades. However, you almost always will be rejected with a 3.0 and 1600, unless you go to an extremely competitive magnet type school, or you have very convincing personal circumstances.</p>
<p>SAT scores are important, but they're not the most important. They're probably behind grade, rank, and EC/achievements.</p>
<p>thanks people...</p>
<p>usually i always think of it as :</p>
<p>High grades = better work ethic
High SATs = better knowledge</p>
<p>Sometimes a high SAT cann save you from a low GPA, but a low SAT and a high GPA can also help you. Usuaully (no offense), people who's SAT's and GPA's are very far away from each other in terms of percentile, i usually consider them as suck-ups to the teacher/ guessed on the right questions :P</p>
<p>Mine were on target, 4.0 and 1600. LOL :D</p>
<p>mine are consistent 760m 540v with a 92 UW GPA.</p>
<p>I just wish my scores were consistent.
SAT v: 720
SATII writing: 620</p>
<p>I get good grades in school.
Writing scores: 610. bleh~
SAT - a little under 1500.</p>