Why are Cal SAT scores low?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>Ok not really</p>

<p>just wanted some responses on the intelligence of people there</p>

<p>reading how competitive it is there is scaring me a bit</p>

<p>I got a 1600/1600 (just using cr and math)
on the SAT</p>

<p>not that the SAT is a great measure of at all, but Cal students no doubt would have been decently prepared for that test, and seeing the avg scores of admitted students makes me doubt the intelligence of the people who go there</p>

<p>idk every single smart person at my school has been able to get a 1550+</p>

<p>Im not trying to be cocky with this post, just really wondering</p>

2

<p>With such a post, I would actually argue that most people at Cal are smarter than you.</p>

3

<p>hehe I knew this was coming</p>

<p>lol</p>

<p>can we please not get mad
I made the title to attract responses</p>

<p>I’m just curious about the sat thing</p>

4

<p>berkeley has like an avg sat of what 2000-2100?</p>

<p>it’s safe to say a 300-400 pt difference indicates a large gap in intelligence, right?</p>

5

<p>Ummmmmm No.</p>

6

<p>hahaha
my post was kind of incoherent</p>

<p>but just address the sat thing</p>

7

<p>Let’s put it this way: if you spend four years at Cal and you constantly think you’re the smartest person in the room, it’s a pretty good bet you’re wrong. And everybody but you realizes it.</p>

8

<p>no obviously there will be some very smart people there</p>

<p>But I’m talking about maybe 75% of them</p>

9

<p>As you can see, from any elite school admissions site, the SAT is simply a tag-up. It’s a cut off. It’s not indicative of much else. GPA is actually considered a much better indicator of academic aptitude and then there are the SAT IIs, also important, the AP or IB. The extraordinary ECs… etc.</p>

<p>You will not be smarter than “most” people at Cal. Though you may be a better SAT taker than some of them. </p>

<p>However, you will find that there are no classes offered and no major offered in the SAT… ;)</p>

10

<p>SAT is not relevant for most competitive public schools which have policies to admit most instate students based on merit. </p>

<p>If you choose computer science/engineering, they may average 2200+ while some other not so competitive major may have a lower average.</p>

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<p>It’s just that it’s kind of hard for me to believe someone is smart if they can’t get at least a 1500/1600.</p>

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<p>ya computer science and engineering majors I’m sure will be mostly smart</p>

<p>I have taken 8 APs and gotten 6 5s 2 4s
My SAT 2s were decent - 800 math 2,760 lit
I only had a 3.7 w uc gpa
I don’t know if I can succeed at cal
How competitive is it?
I think I’m going to major in Econ and maybe minor in English</p>

13

<p>Your classmates are just going to love you…</p>

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<p>Based on UCB’s rank in economics, I suspect you will have reasonably good peers who will try to make sure you work hard for your grades.</p>

15

<p>You will be challenged, and you will have to work, and you will do fine, as will your 4.0 GPA classmates whose SAT scores might have been minimally lower.</p>

<p>Admissions are over. No need to keep comparing.</p>

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<p>john - I don’t mean this in bad way but, really… your others stats are not that impressive. Combine that with your misplaced attitude/confidence, I’d say you don’t have to worry about being the smartest person at Cal.</p>

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<p>Ok I took the wrong approach wih this thread </p>

<p>I know that work ethic trumps intelligence past a certain threshold
So how many hours a week do u think ill have to study to do well</p>

<p>I don’t deal with stress well
was traumatized by my family/home situation and wasn’t able to study a lot in high school due to lots of stress</p>

<p>But i hope I’ll learn to cope at Berkeley
I’m also a spring admit, so obviously I was a borderline admit</p>

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<p>no - really - no</p>

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<p>It depends on your SAT practice. If you studied hour after hour, more memorizing than understanding, practicing on test after test, month after month then your score is more reflective of diligence than intelligence. However, if you sat down and took the test with little preparation, then yes, I imgaine that you will stack up quite nicely against other UCB frosh, GL.</p>

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<p>I know MD
I was a B+ student in high school</p>