My D took a French subject test this month and got the score back today - a 710. This is only in the 67th percentile, I’m assuming because a lot of native speakers take the test. She is not a native speaker and may want to minor in French in college. She is applying to some top colleges that don’t require that she send every subject test, and she took the ACT rather than the SAT so subject tests are not typically required anyway. My question is: will it hurt her to send this score? She wants to show that she is good at French but would this actually hurt her because of the percentile? Thanks.
No
No. The score is more important than the percentile. Since the test takers for SAT Subject Tests are a self selected group, it is not surprising that percentiles for many subjects are on the low-ish side.
Having said that, I’m not convinced that her knowledge of French will enhance her application in any way. The score may be more useful for placement/exemption purposes if the college has a foreign language graduation requirement.
I have heard that the standards are different for foreign language subject tests, since so many native speakers take them. UVA will fulfill the language requirement for French with a 660+ on the SAT II Subject Test. I have heard that anything over 700 is considered very good for language tests. If she wants another shot, she could take French with listening in November. This test sometimes plays into strengths that a particular student might have.
College admissions officers don’t look at the percentile. They look at the score. In theory, a 700 (or any other score) in US History and French represent the same degree of mastery. if you look at the percentiles for the SAT II in math, a 700 is a 56th percentile. In Chinese with Listening, it’s the fourteenth percentile. In Ecological biology, it’s the 84th. http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr2005/16_subj_test_percentile_ranks_0506.pdf Nobody is going to be more impressed by a kid scoring a 700 in Ecological Biology than one scoring a 700 on math II.
Thank you!
Actually I just looked this up. The college board has a separate break out of percentiles for non-native speakers and her percentile is actually over 70%ile: https://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/sat-subject/scores/data
But yes, generally 700+ shows you are capable of the work. (And at Harvard a 700 will get you out of the language requirement.)