<p>I am planning to take 5 SAT IIs, 4 of em which I've taken and scored above 700.
How much of a plus will it be to score above 700 in 5 SATIIs (2 of em 800), even if colleges ask for 2-3?</p>
<p>They only look at the highest scores on 2-3 of your exams.</p>
<p>It looks good/very good. I know that for Columbia kids who are home schooled or come from a school with a non standard grading system need to take 4, so the fact that you are going over that, and doing very well on them, looks very good.</p>
<p>atrophicwishper, that is totally false</p>
<p>they will look at all of your scores and take them into consideration but for comparison with other applicants they will reference your 2/3 highest scores
they will definitely notice all of your scores though</p>
<p>^ Some, not all. From what I've heard, though, they usually just take the highest SAT II's. </p>
<p>Example: Dartmouth </p>
<p>
[quote]
For the SAT Subject Tests, we will take your two highest scores regardless of what subjects they are (unless they are the same subject).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>If you take more, it's a very slight added bonus. Test scores can only say so much about a person.</p>
<p>I think it's great to show you're well-rounded...i've heard of someone taking 8 and scoring over 750 on all. maybe it's a myth</p>
<p>what if someone took every available subject test and got 800 on all? Wouldnt that be something.</p>
<p>I think that would be near impossible because of the number of language tests. It's difficult to be fluent in that many languages.</p>
<p>i know someone who took 8 or more(don't remember..) to show she was well rounded and got all 800's (freak) and she got in to Caltech...go figure</p>
<p>So I guess, after all, taking 5 SAT IIs and getting 700+ in all of em is a plus(minor or significant?)?
PS: I'm not homeschooled. I'm taking Math II + 2 language tests + 1 history + literature.</p>
<p>What are planning on majoring in?</p>
<p>So long as you receive decent scores on all the tests that you take, taking more than 2-3 tests can certainly not hurt your application.</p>
<p>swoop, atrophicwhisper is correct. Most schools say they only look at the top 2 or 3.
Kowloon, I think it'll help you that you have 700+ scores, but mainly because your top 2/3 scores are above 700, not because you have 5 scores. Although I'm sure it can't hurt to have five, admissions-wise.</p>
<p>@ari102791
I'm planning to major in the humanities, preferably economics, which is why I took Math II in addition to 4 subject tests in the humanities</p>
<p>It actually can hurt, assuming an admissions officer even looks to see that you have 5. It can call into question your judgment, to bother to study for and take additional tests instead of doing something worthwhile with your time, money and effort.</p>
<p>For many schools, the admissions counselor will not even see that you've taken 5 tests. Your application is summarized on a separate sheet or computer screen listing your GPA, your highest SAT I score (either single sitting or composite, depending on the school), your two or three highest SAT II scores, and/or your highest ACT score (depending on which tests you've taken). The admissions officers are not going to dig into your file to see if you took "other" tests.</p>
<p>Any "boost" these may give you will be minimal at best.</p>
<p>it helps. college officers specifically said it was a benefit, and proves mastery...
i heard that from Columbia, NYU, etc, etc.</p>
<p>besides, if you are good at a lot of things, you might be surprised at what you do well on. Also, I took a lot of SAT II's (1 frosh, 2 soph, 3 junior), but honestly, the underclass SAT IIs helped me not be as nervous</p>
<p>it helps. i know a girl who took 8 and got all 800's and did no ECs or other stuff. her other test scores were perfect. she got into harvard.</p>
<p>And Chevda, isn't that kinda extreme. Besides, why not? If you like American History and enjoy studying about it, why not take the test? Besides, that assumes that you studied for those tests extensively enough to affect your ECs and stuff. i doubt colleges will call your judgement into question for wasting a few extra hours to take 2 more tests than you need.</p>
<p>On the common app you can list 6 SATIIs so colleges that use it will see them.</p>
<p>I'm not saying that it will be a negative; someone said that they didn't see how it could be a negative. This is one way that it could be, similar to taking the SAT I five or more times. All I know is that, as a jaded adult (similar to many admissions counselor), I would look askance if you took 5 SAT IIs when 3 at most were required. I find it difficult to believe that anyone enjoys studying 5 subjects intrinsically enough to take the tests without additional specific information.</p>
<p>And grade inflati0n, you know that this girl got into Harvard. You know that she took 8 SAT IIs. You don't know that the SAT IIs helped her; you're simply making that assumption. You don't know that they even looked beyond the required 3.</p>
<p>^Chedva. From my perspective, I dont see how taking 5 SAT IIs in 4 different subjects is like taking the SAT I 5 times...</p>
<p>In addition taking more SAT IIs makes the person eligible for Advanced Placement in certain universities, so it wouldn't make sense to penalise. </p>
<p>Chedva, I understand what you're trying to do - come up with plausible reasons, but I think it's stretching it too far.</p>