What actually matters with GPAs and test scores

Do SAT and ACT scores still matter?

Yes. They do.

But how much they matter depends on where your teen is applying.

Let’s break it down:

The more competitive a school is, the less a single score tends to move the needle — because everyone in that pile already cleared the bar. At Chapel Hill, for example, your teen needs that high score just to be considered. But it won’t earn them a financial award once they’re in, because every other admitted student has the same score. At many top-tier schools, there’s no merit aid tied to test scores at all.
The less competitive a school is, though, the more a strong score can mean financially. So, when your teen’s numbers put them near the top of that school’s applicant pool, they become someone the admissions office wants to attract — and merit money is how schools do their attracting. That’s where the significant financial awards live. Sometimes very significant ones.

(A quick note on majors: Is your student aiming for a school or a major that’s super competitive? One school’s business program might be fairly open, even if it’s crowded. At another, your teen won’t get near it without high enough scores. And that’s a full newsletter on its own — coming soon.)

So when a parent asks me, “Should we push for a higher score?”, my answer is, “Not always.”

A bigger number is not always a better number, unless it is. Context matters every time.

For some students, hitting that magic number is worth every bit of effort. For others, the score they have is already the right score. Knowing which one you’re dealing with — that’s the whole game. And it starts with one question.

Should my teen retake the SAT or ACT?

Often — yes.

It’s worth finding out whether a higher score is even reachable before you decide “good enough” is good enough. Especially when there’s money on the line. (More on that next.)

But here’s the bigger thing I want your family to know: retaking works best if you start early.

Take that first test freshman year — sophomore at the latest. Yes, this is before most high schools give students a free SAT in their junior year. That school-sponsored test is a good thing. It just shouldn’t be your teen’s first.

What you need first is a baseline. And room for your teen to watch the number move.

Eighth grade. That’s when students outside the U.S. who want to attend American colleges often sit for their first SAT or ACT. Not because those scores count yet. Because their families already understand something most American families discover too late (or not at all): test-taking is a skill, not just a test of knowledge. Skills take time to build. And these families give themselves the runway.

The kid who finds testing hard is exactly the kid who needs that runway most.

A parent will say it almost apologetically: “My kid is just not great at test-taking.”

It may be true. But it doesn’t change what the test is worth.

GPA and test scores are the two primary factors in a college acceptance decision. Everything else hinges on these Big 2. The essay and activities can’t save what those numbers didn’t do.

Which means a student who struggles with standardized tests doesn’t need less attention here. They need more.

What I’ve seen — and what the research backs up — is that students who start with lower scores often show the greatest improvement from structured prep, from being given the tools. Programs exist specifically for this, built around the skills of test-taking, not just the content. (Want actual, affordable test-prep options? I let the teens in my workshop know where to start, or I can share that info on a call.)

When a parent accepts “not a great test taker” as a fixed truth, they’re making a permanent decision about what may be a very temporary situation.

Not every student is going to score higher with more prep. Some kids have a ceiling — and when we find it, we work with it. There is a school for every score.

But what I want to know first is whether your teen has actually hit their ceiling, whether they just haven’t had the runway yet, or if they’ve opted to taxi off the runway and park when they still could have taken flight.

Because sometimes a few more points open doors that matter. Not to more prestigious schools, but to better-fit schools. Schools that would have been a great match and maybe a real financial opportunity if the score had landed just a little higher.

The effort to get there is sometimes small. The cost of not trying can be significant.

Can a higher test score lead to more scholarship money?

Yes — for some students, at some schools.

Let’s talk about the “magic number.” There are schools in America — schools whose names you would recognize — where students attend for free so long as their test score clears a specific threshold. For many of these schools, that number is a 32 on the ACT or a 1460 on the SAT. Nearly a dozen schools operate this way.

And if your student has no hope of achieving those numbers, read on.

Look, a 32-to-36 is exceptional. There’s a reason it unlocks a free ride — very few students (we’re talking 3-4%) get there.

One quick clarification before we go further. The schools with the biggest names — Ivy League and the “new Ivies” — generally don’t tie merit aid to scores at all. At those schools, every admitted student already cleared the bar. A score that would unlock a hefty scholarship elsewhere might earn an acceptance here, but that’s where the reward ends. (A few small, elite liberal arts schools do offer merit awards, but only if you know where to look.)

But even if your teen isn’t at 32+, the score still matters financially. There’s a whole other category of schools where a strong — but not exceptional — score still decreases your tuition bill significantly.

A high enough test score might ensure a presidential scholarship. It might mean a few thousand dollars off every semester. Or it might mean paying full price because the score landed just short of where it needed to be.

State schools are worth thinking about here. I’ve had local students with a 29, 34, and 31 ACT get into Chapel Hill. I’ve also had a student with a 36 — a perfect score — who didn’t. Why? Because she was from out of state. The barrier for in-state students is often meaningfully lower. And the financial picture (i.e., in-state tuition) can bedelightfully compelling.

Some schools publish what amounts toa grid on their website.If you remember the sizing chart on the back of a pantyhose package — height and weight range — it works the same way. If your teen has this GPA and this test score, here’s exactly what you’ll pay. No guesswork. Sometimes even as an out-of-state student.

These aren’t secrets. But they may not be the schools that come up in the group chat. What key is to know they’re out there…

If this is your teen — a solid score but not a 32 — there are schools I’d point you toward, but to do it justice requires more context. (That word again, “context.” Clearly, it’s a big theme with this topic.)

How much does the GPA actually matter?

Before we answer that, let’s stay with test scores just a bit longer…

A 29 on the ACT is a 29 on the ACT. In rural North Carolina. In Beverly Hills. In Dubai. Admissions offices can compare scores directly becauseit’s the same test, everywhere.

But GPA doesn’t work that way.

Some high schools grade inflate — and college admissions offices typically know which ones. It isn’t malicious. The adults running those schools understand how expensive college is and what a stronger GPA can mean for a student’s future. But when it becomes institutional practice, a 3.9 at one school is no longer the same 3.9 as another. And private schools feel this pressure acutely. When a parent is writing the tuition check, the school knows they love being able to say: “My son has a 4.0.”

Meanwhile, admissions offices track what happens after students arrive on their campuses. When teens from a certain school consistently show up and struggle — despite boasting strong high school GPAs — they notice. They build their own internal database, school by school, year after year.

This is part of why what’s behind the GPA matters so much. A student carrying AP classes, advanced math, higher-level sciences — that tells a school what kind of student they’re actually looking at.

A 3.6 in a rigorous course load tells a very different story than a 3.6 in standard classes.And a 4 or 5 on an AP exam (which is a nationwide test, like the ACT or SAT) is a very strong gauge of the student’s academic abilities. It’s apples to apples, unlike just a GPA score.

The transcript is a picture, not just a number.

And the part of that picture that matters most when it comes to the GPA?

The trend.

A GPA that holds steady or climbs year by year tells the story you want the page to tell. A dip sets off warning signals in a way an average-but-steady GPA never does. The number itself can be forgiven. The downward arrow is much harder to explain away.

And please know that even though teens apply to college long before the end of senior year, they will be required to share their final transcripts with the college they plan to attend. And some colleges do withdraw acceptances if the trend takes a sharp downward turn.

So if you’re going to watch anything, watch the direction — not the decimal.

Which brings me to the other half of our conversation.

WHAT DOESN’T MATTER

► Submitting test scores every single time you test

This one came up in my last essay-writing workshop during the A.M.A. (Ask Me Anything).

You don’t want a school watching five scores bounce up and down. (Or twelve — that’s the maximum number of times a student can take the test. Yes, many students take it that many times. And now you know why.)

Your teen chooses which score goes to each school. Some schools allow superscoring and some don’t — but the choice of what to send, and when, is yours.

Be the editor of the highlight reel here.

Don’t hand over the raw footage. Send the data only when you’re ready.

► Comparing your teen’s GPA to anyone else’s

There are so many variables sitting outside the GPA — the course rigor, the school list, the major, a family’s financial situation. Comparing two kids by this one number tells you almost nothing.

The only thing that comparison reliably grows is your blood pressure. Let it go.

► Panicking over whether a GPA is “good” without considering the school list, course rigor, major, and context

A few readers asked some version of “Is a 3.6 GPA good for colleges?”

My answer: “Good” doesn’t mean anything without context.

Good for which school? With what course rigor behind it? For what major?

A 3.6 can be wildly impressive at schools where your teen lands in the top 10% of the student body. Or merely fine for a student applying to engineering programs — where a 3.6 might close more doors than it opens.

Zoom out, and the number tells you a lot more.

One Last Thing — the One I Can't Let You Leave Without

There’s a comment from a family I spoke with that I keep coming back to:

“I liked my son’s counselor as a person, but when my son got a 29 on his ACT, she told him he really didn’t need to take it again… but I wish he had retaken the test to see if he could have gotten a higher score.”

The counselor wasn’t a villain. She was kind, well-meaning, and probably very good at her job.

But her advice was generic. But generic advice is exactly what can cost familiesthe most.

Because “he doesn’t need to retake it” can be completely true for 67% of students — and an expensive mistake for yours. The whole difference has to do with what that 29 was actually worth at his schools, for his major. And whether a few more points would have unlocked financial awards or opened doors that are now closed.

A score or a GPA has no single, universal meaning. It means one thing for your teen, at their chosen schools, and something completely different for the family three doors down.

So the next time someone — even someone you like and trust — tells you “they’re fine, don’t bother,” I just want you to have the second question ready:

Fine... for what, exactly?

Ask it every time. That question is how you trade uncertainty for perspective — and perspective is what good decisions are built on.

With love, a steady eye on what actually matters, and real faith that your teen can do this,