Lackluster math ability a deal breaker for engineering?

[paperplaneenthusiast]

I have only taken the PSAT so far, and I ended up at 680 English (98th percentile), 550 math (82nd percentile), 1230 composite. I pretty much knew I bombed the math part as soon as I finished it since I didn't know or remember a lot of the material. Right now I'm trying to use the PSAT as a medium for improving my math, especially in preparation for the ACT and SAT. Studying hard for it before taking it next year will hopefully yield some improvement.
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Just my two cents...
I was never good at PSAT/SAT math either. Sure, I had always excelled in my math courses in school, but I would get to a standardized math test and everything I had ever learned would suddenly seem pointless. However, I now have a 740 on my PSAT math, 710 on my SAT math, and 33 on my ACT math. I found that the key to doing well on these tests is just to practice, practice, and practice some more. Over this past summer, I enrolled in a free PSAT prep course that my school offers, and to prepare for math, all we really did was review different math concepts over and over again. Very basic concepts too, but, ironically enough, it's the basic stuff that trips people up on the tests. It's also best to find practice tests and work those problems over and over again as well because all of the questions revolve around the same weird type of logic. It takes a lot of dedication to stick with this sort of studying because it feels as if you are getting no where, but I can assure you that come time to take the real test, you'll do leaps and bounds better than you could have ever predicted.
I wish you the best of luck.

 

[west coast dad]

For a sophomore on the PSAT, your score is fine don't over think this stuff. That's a great english score so congratulations there. Keep working to improve your skills in math and realize math is hard and takes hard work. Don't compare yourself to others, if you want to be an engineer, do it. To improve your chances for admissions, take lots of SAT math practice tests, study the problems you miss and do your best. My DS was able to increase his SAT score just by doing sample tests over and over. Good luck!!