Steady good perfect grades or ACT test score?

Question

Which is more important?

I haven't taken my ACT yet, BUT I've had a solid 3.9 - 4.1 for a few years now. Which will be more important in applying for colleges?

Answer 1

Both are very important, but which is above the other depends on the college. Some rank grades as 'very important', some only 'moderately important', and the same goes for scores.

The rigor of your academic courses, as in whether or not they are challenging, seems to be a common factor in what colleges value.

Answer 2

Definitely your grades. Colleges understand that some kids are just bad test takers. They'd rather see a solid performance grade wise than see you do well on a test that took four hours. In fact, some colleges even give you the option of not submitting ACT scores. One example is Knox College in Illinois.

Answer 3

Both are important but your GPA is even more important.

Answer 4

Your grades-they demonstrate your ability through school. You only have to take one standardized test which is really important-SAT subject tests!

Answer 5

i would say your ACT b/c the colleges have certain act scores in order to get into the college. but i would still keep up the good grades.

Answer 6

both are VERY important.

if u score well on the act and get perfect grades ur get scholarships and possibly be at the top of ur graduating class.

Answer 7

both will be important, grades show your ability to do homework and study, tests show your ability to actually retain the information you've learned.

Answer 8

ACT

Answer 9

Colleges look at both. But I think they rely more on the individual and their grades. Make sure you have some extracaricular stuff, inside and outside of school.

Answer 10

both are, but GPA is more important

Answer 11

Both are important but grades are more important. However, falling flat on either will s***w you over. My grades were nothing special, I did alright on my ACT's though (31 or 32 I forget... It was 98th or 99th percentile so it was pretty good) and it really didn't help me much because my grades were so mediocre... But I also know people who had better grades than me who only got like 27's and they were worse off than I was, so they both do matter.

Falling below a certain level in either will eliminate you from most of the top tier schools. If you don't get at least a 30 or something I think a lot of the top schools (ivy league, MIT, Duke, etc.) will not even look at you... But if you don't have like a 4.0 they probably won't either... And having both is no guarantee... It's just dumb haha