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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]DC's SAT scores were crazy lopsided, 97% Critical Reading, 95% Writing and, drum roll, 50% Math. The overall score is 90%. Yes DC is doing prep and hopes to raise the Math score.

Does anyone have stories of acceptance into schools like Wesleyan with such scores? Grades and EC's are strong.[/quote]

Long-time SAT tutor here. Prep and take it again.  This is NOT unusual, even for very smart kids.  SAT tests a limited segment of 3-8th grade math concepts.  If your child is taking pre-calc at this point, he/she has probably forgotten a lot of very simple math concepts and just needs to practice.  If you came to me as a tutor with these scores, I would say that it is probably worth it to just do private tutoring on the math side since the critical reading is high.   A prep course (as opposed to private tutoring) would also be a good way to go, but your DC doesn't really need to do much on the verbal side. But, a good course could ensure a consistently high verbal score and probably eke out a few more points.  I would be very optimistic about getting your child up to the 90+%ile, considering his/her scores.  Which to do (tutor or course) is really a choice based on available time and cost.  If you can't afford a course or tutor, then get a book (like Princeton Review) and work thru the math sections.  You may need to go thru the math after DC to check answers and look for patterns in mistakes.

Is your DC a good student otherwise?  If so, this is very doable.  Caveat is that I sometimes see smart kids who are scoring low in math, because their computation speed/math fluency sucks (don't know math times tables, how to quickly do long division, etc.).  This can lower scores even though calculator is available.  (Pros and cons of calculator use is another thread.)  This can be overcome, but may take extra practice and working with a tutor who can tailor approaches for the student who has difficulty with math fluency (as opposed to simply not remembering/knowing the substantive math concepts).

With math scores at this percentile, I don't think taking the ACT instead would make a radical difference.  [/quote]

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