<p>I want to get all of my standardized exams done this year (soph year) because I'm going to a harder school in junior year. My three SAT IIs are scheduled for June, and my SAT, which I will prep for over the summer, will be taken in October. Dedicating time to test prep, however, is cutting into the time I have for my EC's. For my SAT II Chem prep, I'm reading Zumdahl's Chemistry, which is a textbook. I'm also taking AP Bio and AP Calc this May (self studying both). As you can see, the academic side of my schedule is quite full; do you guys have any tips for balancing my academics with my EC's? Do you guys suggest splitting chapters from Zumdahl and my AP Calc book and doing 1-2 chapters over a course of a week, or should I do 1-2 chapters in a day or two and spend the rest of the week on EC's? (AP Bio won't be too much of a problem; I'll read through Barron's AP Bio and just take the exam. I'm pretty good at bio)</p>
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<li><p>Though you say now that you want to get all your tests over with sophomore year, that is pretty unlikely, based on my experience. Nearly everyone is not wholly satisfied with their scores on tests, and would gladly seize the opportunity to take it again. Taking your tests this year may ease the pressure, but don’t automatically assume that your junior year will be SATless.</p></li>
<li><p>A lot of the time management issues depend on the type of ECs. There are certain ECs, generally things like sports and band, that require a certain time commitment. Other ECs, like clubs, require action and achievement rather than time/practice; you can cut some of them out of your schedule temporarily as long as you keep yourself updated. It really depends on what kinds of ECs you’re doing, and how valuable they are to you.</p></li>
<li><p>Academics>Extra-curriculars in college admissions. Don’t sacrifice grades or scores for a club, though do try to balance the two if possible.</p></li>
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<p>My EC’s right now are debate, mock trial, and research. Research is my primary EC and, as a result, my primary source of time investment. </p>
<p>I’m fairly confident that I will get my desired scores; it’s just that I’m having a hard time figuring out how to balance my two time commitments without sacrificing one.</p>
<p>Do not sacrifice research for scores right now, purely because you are a sophomore. You don’t have the threat of imminent college apps hanging over your head. Research is an admirable extra-curricular that can really add dimension to your app.</p>
<p>Participate in mock trial and debate when you need to, but feel free to take time off to study. Both of these are more skill-based than time-based. </p>
<p>I caution you when it comes to self-studying AP Bio and Calc. Those are really core classes and getting a 5 on the tests without taking a course will be challenging and pretty unlikely. And anything less than a 5 means that you won’t get college credit at many top colleges, and hence all your time/effort will be for naught.</p>
<p>Is there a reason you plan to take all three subject tests at once in June? Would you consider taking perhaps the Bio subject test in May since you will be studying for Bio AP test in early May also? The reason I suggest this is that it might be easier for you to break the studying down if you are not trying for all three at once. </p>
<p>Also, the timing of this year’s May and June exams will allow you two + weeks’ notice between May score release and June exam date, so if you decided you wanted to retake a test, you could squeeze in more studying. </p>
<p>No advice on balancing ECs with studying. Consider taking Dec SAT next fall also. Oct SAT, then PSAT two weeks later, then a week or two off while you await Oct SAT score with time to gear up for Dec exam, especially with Thanksgiving long weekend prior to exam.</p>
<p>I don’t find biology that challenging, and calculus is rather intuitive for me, from what I’ve done so far. I have a private tutor for calculus, and he’s excellent, so I’m not necessarily self-studying for it. I’m not taking it through school, though. </p>
<p>Where do you think I should take my research so that it can have the maximum impact possible on my application?</p>
<p>I actually have to take two SAT II’s in June. I’ve already taken bio (770), and I don’t plan on retaking it. I’ll be taking math 2 and chem; I took math 2 this past Saturday, and I’m fairly confident I got 750+; however, for math 2, an 800 is the only score considered good, so I’ll be retaking for that purpose. Do you think I should retake the bio test anyway?</p>
<p>I like your SAT idea. I’m probably going to end up doing that.</p>
<p>If you are far enough along/doing well in your classes the SAT2’s should not be something you need significant prep for. Except for math, which gets too old, you should plan to take them in May or June along with the AP test, that’s a no brainer. Why would you have taken bio <em>before</em> self-studying AP bio this year–I think you need better organization and planning in your testing strategy, not a ton of studying. I am guessing that my daughter spent about 10 hours total preparing for the math SAT2. It really was not a big deal. I think she did a few practice tests and a little review over xmas her sophomore year then took the test in January or something. She did no more than a few hours prep total, mostly just taking the college board released exams for the other two tests which she took in May or June following the same AP tests. If you have a good solid AP prep, you really shouldn’t need a lot more. For the math, if you’re good enough at math to be in calculus as a sophomore, again, it should not be a huge deal.</p>
<p>Also, if you’re going to a harder school, then maybe you will take a good chemistry class there? Or why are you focusing on chemistry if you aren’t planning to take chem AP? Just take the SAT2’s for the subjects you are taking AP in. This is really not something they intended kids to spend a whole year struggling through a tough text on their own to prepare for.</p>
<p>I decided to take AP Bio after taking my SAT II Bio. It was stupid of me, yes, but what’s done is done.</p>
<p>I’m rectifying my mistake with bio with chem by doing prep that is equivalent to AP Chem prep. This will allow me a higher chance to qualify for USNCO 2015, give me a good shot at a perfect SAT II Chem score, and make AP Chem (which I will officially take junior year) much easier. To place into AP Chem at the harder school, I will have to take a placement exam; seeing as how I haven’t had a chem course yet (even if I had, I doubt it’d do much good; the teachers at my current school are HORRIBLE), doing no chemistry will almost certainly disqualify me from the AP Chem course and, if I’m going to do chemistry, it may as well be for the purposes of the SAT II so I can kill two birds with one stone.
I find calculus much easier than math II (pre-calculus) because calculus is, as I said, much more intuitive for me. Quite a bit of math II ends up being memorization or some variant of it, which I hate.</p>
<p>OK but you are still planning to take the chem SAT2 before you take AP chem. If I understand correctly, you are shooting for an 800 on the chem SAT2 exam. That may be hard to accomplish self-studying in your spare time without any prior chem class. That should be very do-able with very little additional study time once you’ve taken an AP chem class at a top high school and prepped for the AP exam. And surely you don’t need to know chemistry to the point of an 800 SAT2 just to sign up for AP chem–that would be ridiculous. You really are making this way harder than it has to be. Just like with bio, you are planning to take the SAT2 before you are done studying the subject. You’re not rectifying anything. You’re making the same mistake twice.</p>
<p>For SAT bio, I under prepared. For SAT chemistry, I’m over preparing. THAT is what I’m rectifying. I am using this chem textbook, again, not just for SAT, but also for USNCO.</p>
<p>Let’s say that I plan to take the AP chem exam this year. Any tips on how to balance my EC/ academic schedule?</p>