<p>I seem to be one of the few people with a great disparity between Verbal/Writing scores and Math scores. I scored 750 and 730 on the verbal and writing sections respectively, but scored only a 560 on math. </p>
<p>What will an Admissions counselor make of this incongruence? Frankly, the great dissimillitude between my scores is an accurate representation of my skills in those areas. I have extraordinary oratorical skills, slightly less impressive writing skills, and barely any math skills. </p>
<p>In an interview I think I could give it a positive spin, but what will go through an admission counselor's mind when he or she first sees such an incongruence?</p>
<p>I totally know where you're coming from. I was the exact opposite, 800 on math, 600 on both verbal and writing. And yes, it's kind of hard to represent yourself well when you appear so unbalanced, but I would totally agree with you and recommend that you play up your achievements and disguise your faults.</p>
<p>What do you want to study? I am assuming not math/science/engineering. As long as you don't want to study in these areas, you will still be a good applicant.</p>
<p>Yea totally agree with misterme, I applied as a math major, it definitely would be kind of stupid if I was like I should be a journalism major, so yeah, that's definitely a good way of showing that what you're good at is also what you're interested in.</p>
<p>My gap is far greater than any of yours. I got 720M, 560W, and 380CR in May. As you can see my math and cr gap is 340. I think I will be able to bring the cr up in the low 400s. I want to major in aerospace engineering though. Will large state universities like PSU and VTech understand?</p>
<p>Many people have this issue. In fact most people have stronger skills in one area than the other. CC, with it's all around high achievers makes it seem like everyone does well on all SATs.</p>
<p>Not having strong skills in both areas will keep most out of the top colleges unless they are extraordinary in some area. A national debate champ or someone who won Intel for example.</p>
<p>For virtually all colleges, the verbal score is the most important score on your SAT. That's becasue all majors -- even science and math ones -- require good writing and reading comprehension skills.</p>
<p>If you want to go to a college commensurate with what your m score indicates you have the talent for, I suggest doing your best to raise your verbal score.</p>
<p>some people are just weaker on standardized tests on certain sections. for example, i've taken the test twice and scored
680V 670M
and then
770V 670M 780W</p>
<p>So it's clear where my strengths lie. However, I know I'm not good at timed math, so I've made up for it by studying my *** off in upper-end math courses. I also did better on the SAT IIs, so these help me balance my lower SAT I grade. Those in a similar situation might try the SAT II tests in similar subjects or remember that great grades in class can help.</p>
<p>ianeng, your scores look like mine, but I plan on majoring in science. I don't think its impossible to major in something kind of math related, I do well in math I just have to study forever each day.</p>
<p>I totally agree with Brand182. My SAT I verbal score was 100 points higher than my math score (I took the old test). In addition, my writing SAT II score was way higher than my scores on both the SAT II math I and math II tests. </p>
<p>Timed tests are tough for me, especially in math. I was always the last person to hand in my math tests in high school because it took me so long to do the problems and then to check over them again. However, I managed to get good grades in all my math courses and ended up taking AP Calc senior year. Even though your SAT math score might not be the greatest, you have more time to focus on doing well in your math classes.</p>
<p>Also, I recommend that you take rigorous courses and find some ECs that don't involve math and excel at them. If you are strong in all other aspects, I don't think adcoms will dock you terribly for having such a disparity in your SAT I scores.</p>
<p>I have been wondering about the exact opposite question of the OP's: will closely clustered SAT I's be looked on as favorably as someone who excels in one or two areas?</p>
<p>Is it really true that the top colleges do place more emphasis on verbal and writing sections than on math section in SAT? It does make sense for the reasons Northstarmom listed.</p>
<p>Which is better?
(My score) V 800 W 800 M 760
or
(Hypothetical) V 780 W 780 M 800</p>
<p>BigGreenJen:
Timed tests are tough for me, especially in math. I was always the last person to hand in my math tests in high school because it took me so long to do the problems and then to check over them again. However, I managed to get good grades in all my math courses and ended up taking AP Calc senior year...</p>
<p>I am totally with you on this. I can do the toughest math or physics problems, but I am not very fast. I love these subjects, but get intimidated when I am timed on the problems. I understand the concepts, figure the solution out and get the answers, but ask me to add a few numbers mentally and give the answer fast, I freeze. Like a deer in the headlights!</p>
<p>ok, my situation is a bit different:
reading - 620
writing - 770
math - 740
what does that say about me? would colleges be like "is there something wrong with this kid?"</p>
<p>Yeah, the reason schools tend to hold more weight with the critical reading section is because: a)doing well can often mean that you have been reading since you were young [though not always true] b)it is considered the hardest to improve on over a short period of time, and c) as nothstarmom said before, they verbal and writing skills will generally be the most used skills in college and much more than math skills [unless you fall into a math or science related major]</p>
<p>My dad who is an engineer tells me that even in his career, reasoning and writing skills are as important math skills. Many times when he analyzes the experimental or field data, he says he doesn't use heavy-duty mathematics, but he does have to be careful about how he reasons out, analyzes and how the report is written (most of his clients will only care for the report, anyway). So, yes, the CR and W skills are very important for all college majors.</p>
<p>The Math SAT I section is a lot of reasoning. And I think there's definitely a strong correlation with good math skills and being able to reason out the data. Of course, writing is incredibly important, and so is being able to skim effeciently. There's a lot of math that most people simply don't need in their life, compared to reading and writing (communication) at a very high level, but the SAT I is mostly algebra (geometry) and word problems. This is very aceable and useful stuff.</p>