He’s very happy with the 750 since his SAT scores were so-so. He doesn’t want to take the subject test in his foreign language (Chinese) which he absolutely hates and doesn’t think the class would prepare him well for it. I guess he’ll just have to find a practice subject test to take in English Lit and see how he does. He says the one area he’s weak in for English is poetry.
My kids didn’t love math and are not STEM majors, but they both took the Math II subject test because some of the schools they were applying to recommended it (recommended usually means they want to see those scores). One scored 750 and the other scored a 760. These aren’t MIT-worthy, but they were fine. Any kid who has done up to pre-calc can take the Math II and get a decent score. Just get the study book and practice for a couple of weeks.
Last night, he took the english lit practice test from the College Board blue book. Considering that he wasn’t even taking it seriously (goofing off while he took it but adhered to the time), he didn’t do as bad as he thought. He scored a 650, but didn’t realize that there was a penalty for answering incorrectly. He answered every question. Without the penalty, he would have scored 700. Hoping he’ll score at least a 700+ if he studies over the next few months.
UC’s don’t look at SAT Subject test except a few special cases like Engineering programs. But It’s not part of the standard application to get into UC at all. USC might want them though.
Looks like it’s mostly for majoring in Engineering or Chemistry. See their website.
@curiositycat333 - I could be totally wrong and it might have changed in the last couple of years, but we were told by various UC admissions’ people that if subject tests were submitted, they did review them. Though they may not be mandatory or recommended for most majors, the tests were another level of analyzing a student’s qualifications. My kids and many of their friends, both STEM and non-STEM, took the tests because they wanted to up their chances at the top tiered UCs. They all got into one of the top two. I don’t know if the subject tests helped, but as is posted on the page you linked to, “Even if subject tests are not recommended, they may add merit to a student’s application.”
My understanding is UC changed their general policy about Sat Subject tests about 5-6 years ago. Up to then they were asking for Subject tests. If you have taken them and they are good I certainly would send them. But I wouldn’t recommend the OP goes out of their way to add a humanities Subject test just for University of California.
@Fish125. Thinking about this some more. Except for the impacted majors that are listed on the link I posted above. I believe UC uses SAT Subject test mostly for helping to satisfy minimum requirements.
Subject tests in Foreign Language can satisfy the E requirement. One can satisfy a year of a subject in Chemistry, Biology with a ~540 or higher on the SAT Subject test. Basically the subject tests can help homeschoolers, or those with extenuating curcumstances meet minimum requirements.
Where I see it might help a student is one who is borderline for admission rather than an already strong student. More of a tie breaker, or something to help boost the application. I would really look to see if the Subject test strengthens the application. If it’s not going to add much, the student already gets an A in the class for example. I don’t think it will make much of a difference.
@curiositycat333 - Very good points. My kids were all ELC/high stats kids who were going after institutional scholarships, too. With so many extremely high stats kids being denied by UCLA/Cal/UCSD each year, they wanted every extra point available to stand out, especially for Regents consideration. They only took Subject tests that were in some way related to their major. Maybe they went overboard, but they tend to go all out in everything they do. It all worked out for them, but there are loads of kids who are accepted without those extra tests, too.
OP here. I think he would be a borderline applicant to the top UCs (Cal and UCLA). I believe his weighted GPA is 4.17 and unweighted around 3.7-3.8 which is probably on the low side. He will not apply as a STEM major, but most likely undeclared or something business related.
And, to the OP, your son’s score on the Subject test was great, and he should be very pleased with it! I think with his AP Lang score, Subject test score, and CR score that another Subject test wouldn’t be necessary unless it was recommended for his major.
@sleeplessmom1 - What UCs is he interested in applying to? This shows the 2016 freshman profiles for the UC system - http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/freshman/profiles/index.html But remember when looking at it, “Please be cautious in drawing conclusions from this information. The numbers are useful only as a general guide to selectivity and not as a predictor of a student’s chances for admission to a particular campus.”
He’s a worrywart and has heard of several horror stories where kids don’t get into any schools. He’s planning on applying to all of them!
I do want to add that UCLA is his first choice.
@sleeplessmom1 Have you calculated his UC GPA. This is not the same as a standard weighted.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Yes. His high school counselor told him that was his UC GPA.