Will my child who is bad at math, be able to get into any highly rated colleges

[Anonymous]

My HS freshman daughter is great at reading, writing, history, and in honors classes. However, she's mediocre at math and in low level math classes, and even though she gets Bs and some A's (through tutoring and our help), her test scores never allow her to move up a level.

I'm worried this will preclude her from the top 100 schools.

Does she need to take 4 years of math in HS? If she gets decent grades, is it ok, that they are low level Algebra and Geometry classes (no honors or AP)?

[Anonymous]

She has a chance to get into the top 100. Top 20 would be unreasonable.

[Anonymous]

OP here- I guess I mean Top 50 or so.

Are any of these schools possible?

UVA, UNC, Vanderbilt, Carnegie Mellon, etc?

[Anonymous]

I’m terrible at math, like still do addition and subtraction on my fingers bad. My high school allowed you to enroll in honors classes if you really wanted to. My middle school teachers didn’t recommend me, but my parents asked the guidance office to give me a chance. My test scores didn’t automatically let me in either. I took 4 years of advanced math and calculus senior year. I honestly had very little idea what was going on, but high school is largerly about effort and with tutoring I was always able to keep an A- average in math. I had near perfect grades in everything else, played 4 sports, and had tons of extracurriculars, and great references.

I got into Yale. My math SAT was on the low end of what they accept, but everything else was on the high end. I did well there and never took another math class. I can still barely balance my check book, but I have a PhD in another field and a lot of professional success.

So, it’s not impossible, but if you have a deficit in one area you have to work harder than everyone else to minimize the impact and you still have to take the hardest level in that area.

[Anonymous]

what level of math is your dd in as a freshman?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:what level of math is your dd in as a freshman?

lowest Algebra, a step above Pre-Algebra

[Anonymous]

It's way too early to think of where she should go to college! She needs to do her best in high school first. Excel at what she has in front of her and revisit the question in 3 years. An outstanding humanities/social science student can be more attractive to elite colleges than another "average excellent" STEM applicant. Schools do want to see 4 years of math and sciences though, but AP calculus is not a requirement anywhere unless you say you want to be a science or engineering major.

FWIW, the math and science classes were a drudge for my DC. DC topped out with AP bio and AP stats. But, DC was in another league in the preferred subjects, had raves from teachers, and demonstrated serious leadership beyond school. The college counselor was extremely confident that DC would get admitted to any of the reaches on the list in the early round.

[Anonymous]

"UVA, UNC, Vanderbilt, Carnegie Mellon"

You don't need AP math to get into these schools for non-math intensive majors.

But exactly what math class is she taking as a freshman and what state are you in?

There are two types of tutoring. The first kind gets you through a class and the second goes looking for where the gaps are in your background.

Which has DD done?

It might also be useful to get her tested for learning disabilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's way too early to think of where she should go to college! She needs to do her best in high school first. Excel at what she has in front of her and revisit the question in 3 years. An outstanding humanities/social science student can be more attractive to elite colleges than another "average excellent" STEM applicant. Schools do want to see 4 years of math and sciences though, but AP calculus is not a requirement anywhere unless you say you want to be a science or engineering major.

FWIW, the math and science classes were a drudge for my DC. DC topped out with AP bio and AP stats. But, DC was in another league in the preferred subjects, had raves from teachers, and demonstrated serious leadership beyond school. The college counselor was extremely confident that DC would get admitted to any of the reaches on the list in the early round.

Math is really overrated, seriously. I got C in math in HS and college but now I am working in information security and I have people who majored math and engineering from Stanford and CMU report to me. The only math I need to know is binary math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what level of math is your dd in as a freshman?

lowest Algebra, a step above Pre-Algebra

So I assume her sequence will be
Algebra
Geometry
Algebra 2
Precalc
?

She should be able to get into some good schools as a humanities major. Expect to need extensive prep for the ACT or SAT math section, as she will need to learn some content that she is unlikely to have learned yet at that point.

[Anonymous]

All these posters saying “I was terrible at math but still got into Yale” are kidding themselves if they think things are the same now. They are definitely not and unless your kid is in the highest or AP math course at school they aren’t getting into Yale or Northwestern or even places like Williams or Bowdoin.

[Anonymous]

It really depends on her SAT scores, grades, and ECs OP. It is too early to be able to honestly answer your question. She just has to do as well as she can do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m terrible at math, like still do addition and subtraction on my fingers bad. My high school allowed you to enroll in honors classes if you really wanted to. My middle school teachers didn’t recommend me, but my parents asked the guidance office to give me a chance. My test scores didn’t automatically let me in either. I took 4 years of advanced math and calculus senior year. I honestly had very little idea what was going on, but high school is largerly about effort and with tutoring I was always able to keep an A- average in math. I had near perfect grades in everything else, played 4 sports, and had tons of extracurriculars, and great references.

I got into Yale. My math SAT was on the low end of what they accept, but everything else was on the high end. I did well there and never took another math class. I can still barely balance my check book, but I have a PhD in another field and a lot of professional success.

So, it’s not impossible, but if you have a deficit in one area you have to work harder than everyone else to minimize the impact and you still have to take the hardest level in that area.

You got into Yale a long, long time ago. You would not get in today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All these posters saying “I was terrible at math but still got into Yale” are kidding themselves if they think things are the same now. They are definitely not and unless your kid is in the highest or AP math course at school they aren’t getting into Yale or Northwestern or even places like Williams or Bowdoin.

Except I said I had an A- in AP Calc. I think I would still get into Yale today. It’s really hard if you are not naturally good at some subject, but you have to find a way to make yourself good enough until the end of high school. Then it’s possible.

[Anonymous]

In the info session for Pomona, the admission officer was asked this and said that they not admit students who didn't take AP Calc if their school offered it; furthermore, they wanted grades of A's and could make a case for the occasional B, but not a C. Students had to have 4 years of math and they preferred five years (BC or added stats). Kind of surprised us for a liberal arts college - we thought they'd care less about math.