Help me decide which SAT IIs to take (Junior)

Test Preparation SAT Subject Test Preparation
1

<p>I'm a little concerned about which SAT subjects to take cause I'm not really that great in any of them. I bombed a year of math in Middle School and as a result I'm still in Alg II in my junior year.</p>

<p>I heard Math II has a pretty generous curve so I'm considering that. I can take precalc during this upcoming summer and I'm pretty good at geometry, but really bad in Algebra (I screwed up freshmen year and got Ds/Fs, not really cause I'm bad at it but I was still stuck in juvenile teenage punk mood at the time). Overall I'm pretty weak at math due to my history but I think I can catch up, if I do this I'll take it next fall after finishing summer school. Also, do the SAT II math tests require logic, like some of the SAT I math questions aren't that straightforward and require you to see some sort of connection instead of just plugging in formulas, are SAT II math questions like this also? Or are they more straight forward.</p>

<p>I'm also okay in Biology, I aced photosynthesis/cell. respiration tests in Sophomore Honors Bio where most people got pretty low scores, and genetics seemed really easy but I'm not sure what other kinds of materials are covered.</p>

<p>I'm pretty decent at writing (AP english is the only AP I'm taking this year), and I ace my PSAT grammar/writing/reading tests, but I haven't taken AP Lit & Comp yet. What kind of questions are in the SAT Lit? Is it more like analyzing rhetorical strategies, writing structures, etc, or is it more "abstract", such as analyzing meaning? I'm better at the former.</p>

<p>I'm taking honors physics atm, but my teacher is horrible and I doubt I will be able to do well in the SAT physics. Also, my math is not really up to par.</p>

<p>I'm in Spanish II but my teacher told me the test was extremely hard and I'm not really too enthusiastic about spanish.</p>

<p>I haven't taken AP US History or any AP histories, but I have some background in both World and US, I also used to watch the history channel ALOT when I was younger, so I still retained a bit of knowledge here and there.</p>

<p>No experience whatsoever in Chemistry.</p>

<p>I'm applying to UCs (top choice UCSD). I want to be a Mechanical Engineer/Aeronautical Engineer or Computer Science major (I dunno if it matters to colleges if I take a Lit test when I'm going into math-oriented majors).</p>

<p>Which two subject tests should I take?</p>

2

<p>Bio M (Molecular) would probably be a good option for you, but you DO need to know a lot of details and more-obscure regions of the subject (the Princeton Review has a review book for the Bio SAT II, and most people here find it to be the best of the Bio reviews. I thought it was thorough but didn't cram you with information that the test doesn't cover like the Barrons book does). If you'd be willing to study for a month or so before you take the test, Bio could be a good option (especially if you find it an interesting subject). Warning, though: A lot of people take the Bio test, so the curve's pretty bad (whereas with Physics, you can get about 12-15 wrong and still get an 800). </p>

<p>Math I is a relatively easy test, but the curve is even worse than Bio (since you can take it after just 1 or 2 years of high school math).</p>

3

<p>Thanks, I looked at some of the sample questions for SAT II Bio and I got about half of them right with just the knowledge I had from my previous class. I have to self-study it which isn't a problem for me (I was planning to self-study an AP this year anyway) as I have a lot of time. grabbed the Cliffsnotes AP Bio book, do you know how well the SAT II Bio and AP BIO overlap? </p>

<p>Can't take Math I, since the UCs require math II if you're taking a math course. </p>

<p>So I think i'm gonna take Bio and Math II I guess.</p>

4

<p>My school doesn't have AP courses, so I wouldn't know about that. I just know that I took Honors Bio as a sophomore, studied the PR book on-and-off during August and September, and I hope I did d*** well on the October Bio E (I think I did, but nobody knows until our magic numbers show up on College Board).</p>