Does 2 really mean 3?

Applying to College
1

<p>If a college's website says that "2 SAT IIs are required," do they really mean to say that "3 SAT IIs are required"? </p>

<p>This is a completely serious question. Like many others, I took three subject tests. My Math II was great, but my Lit was average (and I'm confident that I can do much better) and my Chem was horrendous. Ideally, I would only like to retake Lit, seeing as I have little to no interest in chemistry, but it seems as if it's the trend for every applicant to take three SAT IIs. </p>

<p>Could someone explain the purpose of submitting SAT IIs and, more importantly, how many are needed for a competitive application (or, in short, if they say 2 SAT IIs, do they really mean 3 SAT IIS)?</p>

2

<p>If they actually wanted to see 3 SAT II’s, why would they explicitly require just two? C’mon, you’re smart, use your head…</p>

3

<p>Princeton Harvard Georgetown and Johns Hopkins require 3 from the top colleges.</p>

4

<p>^I know for a fact that Princeton & Harvard only require 2 SAT Subject Tests. I’m sure you can find Georgetown’s and JHU’s Subject Test requirements on their respective websites.</p>

5

<p>People probably take 3 because they can conveniently do so in one sitting (and hope that colleges take the higher 2).</p>

6

<p>Georgetown strongly recommends- again though, if they wanted 3 they’d ask or suggest 3…</p>

7

<p>you can apply to Middlebury with 3 SAT II scores instead of the reasoning test or the ACT, not sure if many other colleges do this</p>

8

<p>Georgetown and Hopkins, which do not require SAT IIs, recommend three. No other college requires or recommends three. Those that require SAT IIs require two. Most of those use the highest two if you submit more than two. Harvard and Princeton both require two and say they will consider any sent. Both of those accept score choice and thus if you have two good ones you can withhold a bad one.</p>

9

<p>I’m pretty sure you can get away with 2. I know stanford only needs 2…</p>

10

<p>son accepted to georgetown, brown and cornell with 2.</p>

11

<p>If you only are going to have two scores, why even worrying about sending three</p>

12

<p>The general consensus I’ve heard is two. I just want to make sure that adcoms don’t look down on two or see it as the bare minimum, but legitimately mean that two SAT 2s are acceptable.</p>

13

<p>njersey -</p>

<p>I see what you mean. Two of absolutely fine, they will not look down at it for being the bare minimum. However, if you take 3 you can choose the best 2 to send rather than being limited.</p>