Lets say the student gets top grades in all classes, except struggles with math, getting consistent Bs and C’s, the only reason why the student’s GPA is low.
However, if the rest of the student’s application is strong, and has clear experience and ambition to major in Psychology (not math related), would top private colleges overlook this?
No a school won’t overlook this. That isn’t to say that the student won’t gain admission to a good college but they consider all the major topics. Math is essential to many majors. Math is important in psychology since it is a science in most schools. Psych students must take at least one course in statistics. Having Bs and Cs in math won’t keep a student from being a strong candidate for a good school but top competitive colleges will be looking for compensatory skills or achievements if there is a consistent weakness in one area.
As a social studies subject, psychology will make use of statistics, so the student does need some strength in quantitative thinking.