Wondering whether top schools only look at composite scores on standardized tests. Trying to figure out how top schools will look at a student who has perfect scores on the english/reading sections but does not do very well on the math/science sections…so the overall score is not as high as what the school probably wants but the student excels in what she will study.
Any thoughts? Anyone have kids who were like this and can share their admissions experiences?
My D20 is in pretty much the same boat. I will also be interested in responses to this question.
“Any thoughts ?” Yes, MIT & Caltech are not realistic options for you. I think that many selective colleges & universities will understand so long as your desired major does not require substantial math skills. But, you should point out the imbalance in your scores on your application.
Depends on the schools, the area of study, and how lopsided the score.
@Publisher thanks…certainly not looking at MIT etc…,but wondering if others have had similar scores and how their admissions process went for selective schools.
Although lopsided ACT/SAT section scores are not uncommon, it might be comforting to look into test optional schools or schools which allow applicants to substitute SAT subject test scores for the ACT or SAT.
If you want to be an engineer, that probably won’t go over well. If you want to study history, I am sure it will be fine.
Well, I am going to go against the grain here a bit as I think it will matter for “top schools.” I’m not sure what your definition of that is, but your child will be competing for very limited spots against students who have high scores across the board. Has she tried both tests?
Depends on what you mean by top schools and how low the math score is. One thing to be in mid 600’s, another to be low 500’s. Take a look at target school CDS’s and see how wide of a range they have for the 25-75% percentiles, e.g., for Harvard’s latest CDS, the 25th percentile for math is 730 (75th is 800), with 11.5% of freshmen matriculates in the 600’s and 0.8% in 500’s. https://oir.harvard.edu/files/huoir/files/harvard_cds_2017-18.pdf Many of the low scores will belong to kids with strong hooks. Contrast that with Univ of Mich where the 25th percentile in math is at 670, 29% of matriculates have scores in the 600’s and 9% in the 500’s. http://obp.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/pubdata/cds/cds_2017-2018_umaa.pdf It will also matter if your kid’s interests as demonstrated by LoR’s, EC’s, awards and essays line up with a non-STEM bent.
It depends on the school and it depends on what you mean when you say “top schools.” It also depends on how low the math score is and what sorts of distinctions s/he has earned in the intended area of study. Do your research carefully on what the schools offer and what they seek. Find the ones that will mesh with what your child offers them.
I had one child who fit this description somewhat. Her math score was good, just not as high as her perfect verbal scores, and at the lowest end for a school like Harvard (based on what @BKSquared posted above). This was quite a long time ago and the admissions process has become even more competitive since she applied. At that time, based on her grades, perfect verbal scores, LORs, national recognition in writing, and her essays (one school made a point of telling her that her essay was what made them take a closer look at her application), she was accepted to the schools where she applied-several highly ranked LACs and two top 10 universities. She did not try for the Ivies where she knew her chances were marginal at best. As I said, things have changed quite a lot since that time so I don’t know that she’d get in to the same places today. That said, the process would be the same. She applied where the schools had strong writing programs and where she knew she filled a need.
How selective are you talking about? My daughter got into NYU this year with a 30 ACT (which is currently at their 25th percentile, and she’s unhooked), she got 33-34 on the English parts and 26-27 on maths and science. Obviously, she’s not doing STEM, and we have no idea if they looked at the breakdown or not, or how important it would have been in a holistic admissions process.
it’s really hard to advise unless we know the imbalance and what is meant by top schools, as others have opined, a 800/600 will raise eyebrows at selective schools, in that case, you may want to take it again since you can hopefully superscore the new, better math score with verbal. 800/700 is a totally different situation, you wouldn’t need to retake.
My D’s example.
ACT composite 32, but math was 23!! I was very worried.
She got into Barnard College.
Yes, a top school will look at subscores. Your child wants a humanities major, right? But yes, we need to know the numbers and possible targets.
This is for a junior? I would definitely plan to retake the test in the summer/fall after more prep - the score need not be set in stone just yet. Also, have the student try a practice SAT (there are official tests free online) as many kids will perform significantly better on one type of test than the other. For most schools, the latest SAT for early deadlines is October and for ACT maybe Sept.
Most colleges superscore the SAT and many more also superscore the ACT than in the past, but it varies, so check the standardized test requirements on the admission websites of the colleges of interest. If you can superscore and prep time is limited, focus on the sections that need improvement.
thanks all-- for ACT, looking at 36’s for english/reading and hoping to be able to hit 28 for math/science. Not looking at Ivies, but just want to get a sense of whether colleges will just look at the composite (which will be low for some of the schools). Will try the SAT, but practices put her in about the same place for that test.
@theloniusmonk thanks-- will not get a 700 on math. could be looking at 650 tops…perfect English most likely but yes a split more in line with 800/600 than 800/700.
That’s a big disparity that could definitely raise red flags for admission. I would be looking at practice tests/problems to get that math score up.
There is time to bring that score up and practice will help a lot. From what I understand the math section is more coachable than the verbal sections. Do you know what’s getting in the way? Is it a confidence issue? Time pressure? Missing concepts? If one of the first two, it’s worth giving the SAT a try. Otherwise, keep plugging away at the practice tests.
If that doesn’t make sense to you or it’s been tried and it hasn’t worked, I echo the earlier suggestion to look at the test optional schools. There are some excellent schools that don’t require the SAT/ACT and will accept instead AP scores or subject test scores.
interesting to see folks recommend test optional schools-- was hoping that the perfect scores on the english/reading would be interesting to some schools…