Composite vs. Subtests Importance

[MacFarlane]

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Hi all,

Glad to be a member of the forum finally, long-time lurker.

I am really worried and concerned about the impact of Subtests, even if Composite is good.

Here's my scores:
Verbal 439/94
Bio 425/84
R Comp 450/99
Quant 407/61
Chem 415/72
Composite 427/92

Does anyone know if schools look hard at the breakdown, and if the 72 Chem or 61 Quant will hurt, or is it mostly based on the composite? (I'm actually tons better than that in math, but ran out of time and had a 'technical difficulty'.)

Which does everyone think is more important, overall?

Have you ever heard of schools saying something about low subtests/rejections because of?

 

[AKitty]

It may be school-based, but I had folks over at the UF thread tell me not to retake, I got a 98 composite but my Bio and QA were in the 50s. It's probably just as likely that my composite would drop on a retake, and they'd focus on this set of scores anyway.

 

[MacFarlane]

Thanks for the feedback, AK -- I think you're right, it's prob not worth the risk for it to drop, I guess, but I'm still freaking out about it, thinking it's a low (subtest) grade!

 

[linh89]

im worrying about that right now; even though my bio is 91, my math and chem is 96 & 97, but my over all is just 78 cuz verbal is just 22 and reading is 6....

 

[MacFarlane]

im worrying about that right now; even though my bio is 91, my math and chem is 96 & 97, but my over all is just 78 cuz verbal is just 22 and reading is 6....

wow, that's tough. great math/sci but the reading might get noticed.

 

[linh89]

wow, that's tough. great math/sci but the reading might get noticed.

yeah; but this is the second time i take it;
the first time science score is really bad; and VA is just 4 but reading is 56...and i can't believe it can go down 50%...that's why i really dont want to retake it since the score for bio/chem/math could change in bad way too.

 

[MacFarlane]

yeah; but this is the second time i take it;
the first time science score is really bad; and VA is just 4 but reading is 56...and i can't believe it can go down 50%...that's why i really dont want to retake it since the score for bio/chem/math could change in bad way too.

I know what you mean. I have the opposite problem, I'm worried about my quant and chemistry scores (in my earlier post at the top of the page) but not enough to retake it, I suppose. I never believed I could get a 92 and now i'm scared to death to take a chance to lower it. Did you have to take toefl as well? sorry if that's a weird question.

 

[linh89]

my school didnt requie but i did take it long ago and got 80 in toefl ibt....i guess my reading got worse through time

 

[MacFarlane]

my school didnt requie but i did take it long ago and got 80 in toefl ibt....i guess my reading got worse through time

gotcha. If you're that good in sci/math, then all you would probably have to do is read through a bunch of those reading/verbal practice tests and do them. it seems silly, but they help a lot. you start to get a feel of exactly what they're asking and what they're not, which is not always intuitive.

also, I'd be interested to know from others if a couple bad 60s/70s subtests can hurt you in admissions, even if the composite score is good.

 

[linh89]

gotcha. If you're that good in sci/math, then all you would probably have to do is read through a bunch of those reading/verbal practice tests and do them. it seems silly, but they help a lot. you start to get a feel of exactly what they're asking and what they're not, which is not always intuitive.

also, I'd be interested to know from others if a couple bad 60s/70s subtests can hurt you in admissions, even if the composite score is good.

in my opinion it doesnt matter since your final percentile is still above 90 right...and i really dont know, i may just go with this score since i know above 70 could get me one of the school just maybe not the school i want