Yup. My HS grades nearly completely depended on whether the teacher was assessing my knowledge or my effort. While most everyone complained about tests and especially the final being equal weight to each quarter year's grade, I thought it was great to effectively get 10 week credit for focusing on a 2-hour exam... So, yes, it is one thing that is far more in the student's control, and my SAT scores definitely helped me get into top colleges (although I did have to also take some extra classes to demonstrate that I could get good grades from doing work).
