Hey, @a.cork this is a great question.

I realise that this perhaps is not the answer you are looking for, but it depends on your personal situation. For instance, there are many factors which impact the answer here, such as which schools you are applying to, the rest of your scores, and also whether you are applying as an international student etc.

But regarding answering your question without knowing too much about your personal situation. I would recommend obviously trying to remedy your math situation so that your SAT is not too lopsided. But because you are applying for a humanities program your GPA across your other chosen specialities should be high to compensate for a low Math result. If the case is that your other scores are high/elite then, your Math score shouldn’t weigh you down too heavily unless applying to an ultra competitive school.

Agreed, @a.cork, this is a really good question!

It is a definite possibility that poor math scores could be noted on your application, however, remember that in the U.S., test scores are just one piece of your application. Most schools here use a “holistic application process,” meaning that they take into account many different things such as teacher recommendations, extracurricular involvement, special talents/skills, etc. Some areas are weighed more heavily than others (depending on the school), but I would not say a bad SAT/ACT math score would be a make-or-break factor for your application, especially since you are a Humanities major. That being said, if you have the time and resources, it wouldn’t hurt to try retaking either of the two tests to see if you can up your composite score in time for applications!