<p>Hi, so I'm sort of in a tough situation and advice would be greatly appreciated. </p>
<p>So, for the schools I applied (UCs, USC, UIUC, purdue), to the SAT IIs are optional. However, UCLA and UCB in particular point out that for engineering majors (which I am), SAT II in math 2 and a science is recommended.</p>
<p>Now, most are saying that recommended = do it, esp for a impacted major. Math is no problem but I'm having bad feelings about physics, which I will take in December; I have potential I think, but my teacher is really, really bad and I feel like despite all my independent studying, I have a bad foundation in physics due to my terrible instruction. I'm anticipating a 550-625. </p>
<p>Now, my top schools are UCLA and UCB; I'm actually a decently competitive applicant, in state with a 2280 SAT, 4.24 UC GPA, very good essay (from what I've heard) and above average extracurriculars – I'm very passionate about engineering. However, I do have a 550 on my japanese SAT IIs; maybe this gives a bad vibe to officers. </p>
<p>tl;dr: assuming that I get a 550-625 on my Physics SAT II, will submitting it to UCs HURT my chances? In other words, will I be better off not sending it despite it being highly recommended b/c it reveals a big weakness? or are the SAT IIs something that can only help, not hurt? What would you do?</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for your time!</p>
<p>Well, I’m no credible voice on the matter of sending it or not in your situation, and this probably won’t provide you with much relief, but IMO if they say that it’s “recommended”, then it definitely holds less weight than other major parts of your application, but it’s there more to sort of affirm things more than anything. If they see something completely awry in comparison with the rest, then it’ll stick out, like a bad interview or a bad “optional” essay, even if it technically wasn’t mandatory to begin with. But this is just how I interpret things whenever I see something is “recommended” or “optional”. I could be very wrong.</p>
<p>bump, looking for more opinions (thanks constantius!) ~</p>
<p>@YuiHirasawa Dont worry about subject tests. Some get in without them</p>
<p>I think they only look at subject tests if they help you</p>
<p>Ultimately, if you think that the rest of your application is strong enough to make up for your potentially low SAT scores, then go ahead and send them. Otherwise, I’d personally be too afraid to send them because I’m just one of those paranoid, overly meticulous types, but of course, I’m no authority on the matter. </p>
<p>Also, I’m not sure just how bad you claim you are at physics, but my friend didn’t answer around 10-11 problems on the SAT (not factoring in any potentially missed problems he DID answer) and still scored in the high 600s I think.</p>
<p>Sorry, this is off-topic, but I just wanted to mention that I love your name and am also a big fan of K-ON.</p>