[throwaway23236]

I mean that seeing someone's grades over the course of several years is more useful then test scores.

[tester756]

Test score is almost 100% under someone's control meanwhile grades are subject to bias, heavily.

Grades only hint that you gave a fuck about school.

[sokoloff]

Isn’t “gave a fuck about school” relevant to scoring a college applicant?

[mindslight]

It's more like "gave a fuck about high school", so not really. The people that won that game weren't the smartest but rather the best at conforming to expectations. Although perhaps this has changed now that the dreaded Permanent Record has become our reality.

[tester756]

If somebody manages to don't give a fuck (maybe s/he's doing something cool on the side), and yet still manages to top on the exams, then why would it be relevant?