Valedictorian with low sat scores

Z.Exodus2008
Mon, 20 Dec 2010 21:19:39 +0000

Sometimes (although I doubt it’s the case here), someone can become valedictorian by being incredible in one particular academic area, but “just okay” in others. For instance, last year’s valedictorian at my school (approximate class size of 800) achieved the highest GPA in the history of the district by being several years ahead in math. This allowed him to take extra 5.0 AP math courses (that no one else qualified for), as well as skip a few 4.0 pre-reqs for 5.0 AP science classes. Thus, although in the humanities he often barely kept an A, in the end, his GPA was higher.

However, his “tilted” talents, so to speak, were pretty obvious in his standardized test results: hands down full scores in math and science on both the SAT and the ACT, but not very high composite scores. He actually wasn’t even a National Merit Semifinalist (and my school produces several every year).

Having said that, the guy was brilliant. He won state championships in math and science every year, and I really don’t think the fact that he’s lackluster in history and English makes him any less of an asset to the college he’s at now.