<p>Intelligence/prep are the two biggest factors, with an edge to intelligence. </p>
<p>Some people, no matter how many practice tests they do, will not break 2300 (or come remotely close to 2400, for that matter). Others don’t need prep at all to score highly. </p>
<p>You can’t discount luck entirely because there are so many things that can go wrong during a 3 hr 45 minute period. </p>
<p>In regards to the argument over the degree to which the SAT is weighted: SAT scores are easily more important than anything but the transcript. Remember that those admissions officers are looking to get more applications because more applications –> greater selectivity –> higher rankings for the college. They’re not going to discourage the hordes of lower-scoring kids by emphasizing how important SAT scores are. </p>
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