<p>Someone from this competitive LAC that I know has told me of how SATs and GPAs are compared…</p>
<p>They add up best combined SAT I scores, 3 SAT IIs and then divide by 1000. So the best one can get is a 1600 + 800 X 3 = 4000–> 4000/1000 = 4.000. This will then be the “score index” from which they compare to the GPA from schools. </p>
<p>He said that students from competitive schools generally have comparable GPAs and SAT indexes.</p>
<p>Is this also the case for Harvard? I asked my interviewer and the admissions officer for my region, but both were like… can’t tell ya. So what do you think? Spread the rumor around!!</p>
<p>I don’t think that makes sense, especially since most public school kids have weighted GPAs for AP classes. In other words, though my SAT scale index would be 3.83, my GPA is 4.67. Those #s don’t really compare, and I’ve done well in both SATs and school.</p>
<p>But aside from that, does it really matter what scale they use? The more qualified you are, the more likely your chances of admission.</p>
<p>Exactly. Unweighted GPA v. SAT index shows how easy/difficult the school is… and if there is a great discrepancy between them, then the adcoms will be a bit suspiscious… hmm</p>
<p>It’s only a rumor, and there is no reason why Harvard can’t set its own methodology for evaluating applications. Harvard doesn’t have to do the same thing as that LAC any more than your town’s best restaurant has to serve McDonald’s hamburgers. Each school can set its own policies to evaluate applicants.</p>