Good literature score for a potential English major?

Test Preparation
1

I found the SAT 2 Literature test to be a lot harder than the reading/writing portions on both the SAT and ACT, but I’m thinking of majoring in English. What would be a decent score for top colleges? Thanks.

2

I’ve found that there’s very little information here on CC about the Literature test scoring results and opinions, especially considering it’s allegedly one of the more popular subject tests. Most students post about Math, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and History. The Literature subject test has the lowest mean score (599 or 618, depending on source) and the highest standard of deviation (107) of the non-language subject tests.

So, I’ll venture a guess and say anything 700+, which in the case of the Literature subject test is roughly the 73 +/- percentile or above would be very good score. A 750+ or 90th percentile is always nice too. Literature is a diffcult subject test, analyzing poetry and such. Remember the students taking these subject tests are the best of the best in their respective subject areas.

3

@sushiritto thank you! Yeah, I couldn’t find much discussion about the test either :confused: I ended up getting a 700… which is a lot lower than I expected.

4

Honestly, I don’t know how an AO looks at these things, but logically, an English major should have a higher score in Literature than a STEM major, but then a STEM major probably wouldn’t take the Literature test. A long way of saying I wish I had a good answer for you.

My D took the Literature test and scored well, but she’s more STEM-ish. Her area of strength is Math, but she wanted to show an AO that she’s “ambidextrous.” :))

From what I can tell, Literature is a path less traveled or at least less talked about. On Reddit too.

Bottom line: a 700 is a solid score, 80-100 points above the mean. As I said earlier, analyzing poetry is brutal. I can’t do it. Take it again and try to improve your score. It’s “only” an hour test plus prep.

5

@sushiritto haha, thanks! Yeah, the poetry sections trip me up. I’ve signed up for the SAT 1 next month at the insistence of my mom, so I suppose I can retake Lit in November.