I crammed hard for the June U.S. subject test, but when I attempted to print the ticket the night before, there was no record I’d signed up. I called the college board and a representative said it’d been deleted just a couple hours earlier because a piece of registration info was missing and I wouldn’t be allowed to take the test. I can take it in October, but I’ll be so busy with other classes and admissions that my original goal (780+) seems impossible. My other options are math 2 and literature, but I’m not a math specialist and I’m starting AP Lit senior year, so I don’t know how well I’ll perform on the subject test without completing the course. I’m expecting around 700-750 on each, which I realize isn’t a high percentile. How much would mediocre subject tests hurt my application to top schools like Northwestern, Vandy, UCs, USC and Stanford? Would it be better to just not send any subject tests? If it’s worth anything, I’ve got 2330 SAT, 3.95 uw gpa, and top 5% ranking.
Take the tests and if you don’t do well, don’t submit scores. I don’t know what kind of student you are, but my D did the SAT lit test in her junior year and got a great score. She didn’t do AP Lit until senior year. If you have read a lot of poetry and classics, you will be fine if you are naturally good in that area. Re math, my kid did Math 1 and also did well. So perhaps you could try that, instead of math 2 which might have math you haven’t done much of. My understanding of the difference between math 1 and math 2 is that the first goes more in depth and the second has more breadth, so it isn’t that math 1 is easy.
FWIW, the history test is supposed to be very difficult. D has friends who were doing APUSH at the same time and they did poorly on the SAT 2. I believe you will need to study intensely for it.
Very few colleges request/require Subject Tests.
No Subject Tests require a background of an AP course. AP exams tests college level material; Subject Tests test HS level material. Almost all students who take AP Lit take in in 12th grade. Additionally, the Lit Subject Tests is a bit of a misnomer; it more like CR on steroids.
Don’r focus on percentiles; colleges aren’t. As I said above, few colleges require Subject Tests, so few students take them. The ones that do are generally all high performing, so the percentiles ill naturally be deflated.
Callling a 700+ score “mediocre” is both disingenuous and off-putting.
Are they required? No - unless the University in question says so. Do good scores help? Yes, especially if it is super selective school and/or subject tests are recommended.
Also, you should not need to cram for them; if you did well in the high school course related to the test, you should do well on the test, unless your high school course was of poor quality.
@skieurope Didn’t mean to be disingenuous or off-putting, that’s just the consensus I’ve gotten from this site. I’ve heard a few posters on this site say even a 790 math isn’t up to par. My scores could be lower than 700, I guess I was just asking how much subject tests will affect me. How much weight would you say they hold compared to sat/gpa for colleges that recommend subject tests?
@Lindagaf Somehow I score about 50 points higher on math 2 than math 1. I’m hoping I do alright on lit since CR was my best subject on the SAT and I like poetry. Thanks for telling me about them.
Try the act as some universities count it as sat reasoning + subjects (it includes social science and art reading, and has a science section.)
@MYOS1634 Good idea, but wouldn’t score as high on ACT since I’m bad with timing (and science). Besides, I’ve heard that colleges that recommend subject tests still expect them from ACT test takers (even if they don’t require them), feel free to correct me on that.
Most frequently, colleges don’t require subject tests from ACT takers, you can just send one subject test score if you wish. This varies depending on college, so check the admissions page, as a minority Do require both.
That’s the danger with asking for advice from 17 y/o students. They don’t know how much they don’t know. There is no meaningful difference between a 790 and an 800, and I guarantee you that an app that was rejected with a 790 would not have been accepted with an 800.
As others have mentioned you can try the ACT, or you can try a couple of Subject Tests. Until you get scores, guessing what might happen is pretty meaningless.
I was under the impression for Math level 2 you could make several mistakes and STILL get an 800. Not saying that a 790 Math Level 2 scorer would be auto-rejected by any means though.
You really don’t need to study explicitly for the SAT Lit test if you have done well in CR on the SAT I.
@londondad I got an 800 CR, but Lit seems like it’s on a much tougher level.
@yikesyikesyikes Yes, the curve for math level 2 is pretty lenient. Maybe that’s why many on these forums that would consider anything below 750 to be subpar.
My daughter got a 740 in SAT lit without studying which is higher than she got on CR.
Math level 2 has many high scores due to the self-selection of the students taking it. It is only suitable for those who have completed precalculus and trigonometry in 11th grade or earlier (in order to know the material in time for the test). So math level 2 takers are those at least a year ahead of the normal math progression in the US, meaning that they are the better students at math compared to most other college-bound high school students.
I posted this back in June on another thread - but I think it applies here too:
My son applied to Northwestern, where SAT 2s are “recommended not required”, but he called the Admissions Dept about them (he didn’t want to take any more tests!) and was told that the SAT 2s are for students that would like to show strength in an area that is not reflected in their grades and/or AP Tests…he did not take any SAT 2s and was admitted ED.
I agree with nugraddad in the idea of showing adcoms a strength where other info does not. My S was admitted last spring to Brown and Cornell. He was an IB student with no AP scores to show. His SAT and ACT were not great but a 780 SAT 2 in Biology helped show his knowledge and passion for his Evolutionary Biology major.
@nugraddad @BUalum93 Very interesting, thanks to both for your input. Since subject tests are used to a show a “strength that other info does not”, would it be meaningless to take the us history subject test (since I’ve already shown my ability with a 5 and high grade)? Glad to hear someone got into an amazing school like northwestern without needing to go through subject tests.
My “mom” advice- if you are the type of person to later second guess yourself if you don’t get into your top choice, then take it and only send it if you like your score. If you are the type who hates those tests and won’t be devastated if you don’t get into your first choice and won’t have regrets that you could have showed them more then spend your Saturday doing something else.
It is true that the pool is veyr self-selective. This is also why having a high SAT II Math Level 2 Score (as close to 800 as possible) is pretty important to those applying to selective engineering/computer science/math programs.