<p>Hi, everybody. Since it's late in December and my colleges' deadlines are approaching, I'm done with my SAT's and have to settle for the scores I already have. My critical reading and math scores are both 710; my math score is a lot lower(mainly because I wasn't well-prepared, but math isn't my best subject anyway). What I'm wondering is, how much will my math score hurt my chances of admission? I know colleges look at a lot of other factors(I'm pretty satisfied with the rest of my application), but is it possible that my bad math score by itself could get me rejected? Does it matter that my intended major(journalism) doesn't necessarily require you to be good at math? If this helps, most of the colleges I'm planning on applying to aren't ultra-selective(I'll probably apply to George Mason, Appalachian State, and UNC-Chapel Hill, among others). Do you think I might be able to get into a decent school with a bad math score? If any of you could give me any advice about my situation I'd really appreciate it. Thanks for reading.</p>
<p>Yes, depending on the colleges you apply to your math grade could keep you out. But have no fear - you’ll be able to get into a “decent” school.</p>
<p>^ that was possibly the most patronizing response I have ever seen</p>
<p>well, if your math score’s a 200-300, I can see a lot of schools saying hold on a second. I think it depends on how bad it is. it also depends upon where you apply. unless you’re an NC resident, I can see it being a big problem at UNC.</p>
<p>my concern, and that of admissions officers, is that when you get to college will you struggle mightily in the math courses required of all students and will that prohibit you from advancing or mess up your gpa so that you get put on probation? will you avoid taking those math courses until you’re a senior, and will that decision mean that you don’t do as well in your science or stats-based courses as you might have had you mastered College Algebra or Pre-calc in your first year? That is, your sat math score isn’t just a number. it is one predictor of how well you will do your first year in college and beyond because it’s a set of skills important to many other courses you will take, even journalism.</p>
<p>Many journalism students are majoring in a second field? Have you considered doing that?</p>
<p>hello everybody a 710 is not considered a “bad” math score! Missing an extra question on some random saturday morning (literally the difference between a 710 and a 750 sometimes) does NOT mean OP will “struggle mightily” in math courses!</p>
<p>I assumed OP meant critical reading and writing scores were 710 since OP goes on to say the math score tanked. Otherwise the post makes little sense: “I got 710 on each but my math score is a lot lower.”</p>
<p>not knowing what the math score was I cannot tell if OP will struggle at all and was not suggesting he or she will. Some students are exaggerated in their responses to scores, GPAs, etc., and OP might have a perfectly serviceable math score.</p>
<p>wimmiett, do you now understand my response in post 2?</p>
<p>Hahah yeah my b!</p>
<p>
The score was way above 300, but it was still pretty awful. I am an NC resident, which is the only reason I’m even thinking about applying to a long shot like UNC-Chapel Hill. In addition to UNC-Chapel Hill and Appalachian State, I’ll probably also apply to a few other local schools like East Carolina and NC State.
I have considered that and probably will do it, but I’m not entirely sure yet.</p>
<p>Thanks to everybody for all the helpful replies and for the advice, and I hope you all have a merry Christmas.</p>