<ol>
<li>I got a 690 on the Math IIc. </li>
<li>I have a 2300+ SAT score (single-sitting) with an 800 on the math section. </li>
<li>I don't feel like wasting the precious free time I have this summer with miniscule things like studying for SATs. </li>
<li>I don't see what difference 10 points (the difference between the score I would be okay with and my actual score) will make.</li>
<li>I'm not going into engineering or math. </li>
</ol>
<p>I don't want to retake this exam. I need reasons to explain to my anal Asian parents ** WHY. ** I guess I'm just looking for some validation to back up my assertion that 10 points shouldn't make the difference between a great summer and one filled with annoying practice tests and review sessions. Granted, I probably should have studied harder for IIc but I felt that I was ready (and was too cocky after receiving an 800 on the math section of my SATs).</p>
<p>God knows that my parents are most likely going to make me retake the exam. However, if you guys could come up with reasons to convince them that it's okay to fail every once in a while, that would be great. </p>
<p>I had a 100 in Pre Calculus this past year and got a 570 on the exam. That’s why you shouldn’t retake it, because they’re are kids out there that would love to have your score. Seriously, I would have thrown a party if I got a 690!</p>
<p>Well you’ve already proved yourself in the Math department, more so than a person that is NOT going into engineering or math would need to. What other SAT ii’s have you taken and what do you plan to study? If you want to major in History, for example, a 750+ in World or US would be more useful than a 700 (which you practically have, come on) on a Math SAT ii. I also think those SAT summer prep programs are a waste. If you have the money, take a lovely family trip instead; or, spend some time helping your community. The latter would certainly be more productive college wise than re-taking an SAT ii.</p>
<p>You know, it’s quite possible that this all resulted from my near perfect SAT 1 scores. I’m ranting here, but ever since I got my scores back people have been building me up. Nobody more so than my parents. My parents have been putting so much pressure on me to be perfect. For instance, my dad constantly researches schools like Dartmouth or Columbia and my mom always brags about my SATs to her pals. I just can’t take it anymore.</p>
<p>I believe that I subconsciously tried to do poorly because I couldn’t take the pressure. I have a habit of doing this to myself… I make poor decisions that end up doing a lot more damage to me than good. I just can’t take the competition or the game anymore. I have never seen academics as anything more than a game. For a long time, I was a beast at that game. Now I just want to retire.</p>
<p>I guess I simply want people to know that I am more than a few numbers on a piece of paper. By not retaking this exam I want to show my parents that I’m okay with losing the game every once in a while and that small setbacks, while inconvenient, are a part of life.</p>
<p>The worst part about this is that in a weird way I’m really happy that I got the score that I did because it forces my parents to acknowledge that I’m not some all-perfect robot. This goes against what every person in academics has told me I should feel about doing poorly on a test.</p>
<p>I’m just very conflicted and tired of it all. I don’t want to do this anymore.</p>
<p>^ Is it partly also because it feels like a never ending game? College today, grad school tomorrow? I think I understand part of it. Have you expressed those sentiments to your parents?</p>
<p>If you hate it so much, then why should you trouble yourself to make yourself unhappier? It’s not a big deal in the end. Few people, when they go to college, spend time crying over a 690 on their Math II.
Otherwise, if you actually don’t mind that much, then just take it again. You might feel happier by getting a higher score.</p>
<p>That Math II C is tricky, isn’t it. Many think it focuses on later more advanced math, but in reality if keeps the focus on the early subjects: algebra, geometry etc. So, it throws a bit of a curve ball and demands a student’s attention to this fact as well as what separates it from SAT Special Math I in it’s difficulty. 690 is not a bad score.</p>
<p>You did well on your SAT math. Colleges will recognize this, as well as your grades in high school math (which I bet are good).</p>
<p>Do what YOU wish on this matter. You have to learn to chart your own course in life as it’s you who answers to you. :)</p>
<p>I completely understand you! Hearing all the 800’s on here and me with a 770, I’m like, does it really make that big of a difference? Especially with other ways we can show our math skills, like AMC, AP Calc and taking college level classes. I’m pretty ashamed of the way I stressed out about it, kinda ruined my week. (And I haven’t taken the SAT’s yet!) </p>
<p>I completely understand about the asian parents thing. If someone else’s kid did better than me at something, they’ll doubtlessly mention it. For them, the answer to that kind of crisis is not to talk to me about how life won’t always be perfect but by working me harder. Great, mom. D:</p>
<p>A 690 on the SAT Math 2 is pretty bad…Thats almost 50th%, which is a 680. If you have to send subject tests you should retake it or take a different subject and don’t send it. The Math 2 is curved extremely well, to get a 680 you would have to get close to half the questions wrong or omitted. A ton of Ivy applicants have 800 on the Math 2, even a 790 is only 85th percentile. While an 800 on the SAT 1 math is harder to get than an 800 on the Math 2, they will look at this as though you didn’t try at all on this test and if you have to send subject tests, that isn’t a good sign at schools that are so competitive.
You’re right, a 700 isn’t much diff than a 690, but you need to have your standards way higher for the Math 2. It is the most weighted non-language test. One can get more than 5 questions wrong/omitted and still get an 800 and there are only 50 questions.</p>
(And I haven’t taken the SAT’s yet!) </p>