So, I’m a current sophomore at a small public HS in Wisconsin. My school offers regular biology, which I took freshman year, and advanced biology, which is a one semester course basically just labs. I plan on taking adv. biology second semester of my senior year (I don’t have room to take it junior year, and it is only offered second sem). My intended major at the moment is mechanical/aerospace/biomedical engineering; I’m aiming for Top 50 schools. My question is, do I need to take the SAT II for Biology and if so, when should I do so? I should’ve taken it at the end of last year, but I wasn’t even aware these tests existed at that time. Should I do prep and take it as soon as possible? I think I retained a fair amount of information from that course.
I can’t speak to admissions, as I am a current senior applying to schools this year, but-- I am a 4.0 student, 33 ACT, I do research at multiple universities, I’ve spent way too much time focused on getting into top colleges, and I have never nor will ever take an SAT Subject Test. Very few schools require subject tests, although many recommend them. However, I believe that if you have no intention of applying to schools where it has been proven they really matter, you are better off spending time doing a really unique niche extracurricular. Since you are only a sophomore, it could be in your benefit to take the test, but only if you are confident you will do well. I can’t curse on here, but I can tell you I did a couple practices and I was just THAT bad, I struggle with being limited in the fact you cannot make any guesses on the test. That being said, most schools are looking for more than one subject test. If you plan on taking it, I suggest signing up for another subject as well. However, I am a hugee believer in test scores being a smaller factor in admissions anyway. Only the top 15 schools probably expect applicants to have 3 perfect subject tests. Outside of that, some schools do not even look at them. Many would disagree with me though.
I think it’s necessary to take at least two science subject tests, as I’m aiming for some schools with amazing engineering programs such as Georgia Tech and MIT. I plan on taking the chemistry and physics subject tests as well as the math II one. If I do decide on biomedical engineering, is it quite helpful to take the Bio test?
No, it’s not. One science plus one math is fine.
Not unless the particular program suggests a bio test vs.chem or physics. Look to see what your target colleges say. As an example, for MIT:
https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/tests-scores/
If you want to send math + 2 sciences, it’s fine, although they may only look at the highest score. If you send math + 3 sciences, you risk becoming the poster child for overtesting.
You should plan on taking two subject tests: Math 2 and one of the three science tests. This will allow you to meet the recommendations of any college in the U.S., with the exception of Georgetown, which requires three subject tests.