I agree that even though reading ability is much more prominent and attention-getting when you're very young, it's the math skills that attract attention as you get older. I think it's easier to immediately spot a gifted math kid in high school than to pick up on a gifted kid in writing or English. In the end, everyone takes English, but not everyone takes Calculus, so it develops a bit of a mystique. I have two dds in college. One wants to get her PhD in neuroscience, and one wants to get her PhD in English. I think they're both brilliant, but guess who gets immediately "pegged" as brilliant? Science major or math major just "says" smart to people, even though my science major has just as much awe and respect for her sister's English/writing ability as her sister has for her science and math ability!
