<p>How do the subject tests compare in difficulty to IB and AP tests? I'm taking Math 2, Literature, and Physics...will I be prepared for these if I study for my AP and IB tests? I know that questions are sometimes worded differently etc., but I don't want to waste time and money preparing if I don't really need to. One last thing - are they very knowledge based, or do they require only a little specific background?</p>
<p>I don't know about Literature and Physics, but Math 2 is basically a lot of pre-calculus and plugging numbers into calculators. So know your trigonometry! There's no calculus at all.</p>
<p>Difficulty is relative...</p>
<p>It depends on how "into" the subject you are. Take a practice subject test in your favorite subject, and see how you do. Then take one in your least favorite subject that you have studied before, and see if you do as well.</p>
<p>Well, of course difficulty is relative, that's why I asked how hard they were relative to IB and AP tests. I did a couple of practice problems I printed off collegboard.com, and they all seemed pretty easy, or at least easy to prepare for. I didn't miss any lit questions, and got about 70% of the physics ones (without brushing up on stuff from earlier this year). I got bored with the math questions, so I didn't do all of them but it seemed like it was just like the math on the SAT, maybe a little harder. Do you think that's a pretty reasonable assessment of how I would do on the real tests (if I took them without prep), or should I be wary of how the difficulty of these questions compares with the real tests?</p>
<p>Study for SAT II's like you would study for AP tests. The US History subject test was basically identical to the AP test, and the Chemistry subject test, while a little easier than the AP test, definitely required some thought. The Math II test is the most straightforward and make sure you work quickly on that one (50 precalc probs in an hour). Ideally, you want to get 750+ (preferably 800) on all of them, and that is not an easy feat. A lot of smart, lazy students don't put in the study hours and get low 700's or 600's, so if you study hard for your subject tests it will definitely pay off with college admissions. Don't blow them off.</p>
<p>I hope that helps.</p>
<p>Cool, thanks. That does really help actually, 'cause otherwise I might have blown them off..</p>
<p>I took the World History subject test after having just taken AP world history and I found that it was relatively easy- the mc is a bit pickier, but the lack of grueling essays made it a piece of cake compared to the child abuse that is an AP :P</p>
<p>Ha ha... child abuse indeed. I'll take harder MC over an essay any day.</p>
<p>I did the world history sat II last spring after taking the AP world history exam. I would agree with tinuviel that the lack of an essay portion made it easier in that regard. But I felt that the multiple choice questions were harder and more in depth on the sat than the ap test. Also, there's 95 questions in 60 minutes so the pace is a little faster than the ap test. If you just study the barrons sat world history book you'll be fine.</p>
<p>Anyways, just my two cents.</p>
<p>Subject Tests are supposed to be rigorous tests. Not as hard as AP exams, but they still require you to manage your time and have powerful test-taking strategies.</p>
<p>Make sure you know your stuff before you take one. If you don’t use the Subject Test book to study for a Subject Test, don’t expect to get higher than a 600 on the test.</p>
<p>The math is relatively easy if you are strong with math and score >750 on your regular SAT math questions. I wouldn’t know a lot about the literature. However, the physics tests is just like the multiple choice questions on the AP physics test. There is a few easier ones on the subject test, but the overall difficulty I found comparable.</p>
<p>Lol @ the math level 2 problems being a “little” harder than the normal SAT math problems. The normal problems are a joke in comparison. Granted it’s easier to get an 800 on the level 2 because there’s room for a few careless errors / missed problems. </p>
<p>Also, studying for the ap calc test will not help your level 2 score at all. Pick up a practice book and take a few tests.</p>
<p>I took Math2, World History, and Spanish…</p>
<p>i thought it would of been easy, but it wasnt as i thought !! lol
although I did get 800 on my spanish muhaha…yay for my mexicanness haha…
but the world history it ws like really in depth questions… i think i got like 450 lol…</p>
<p>what kind of colleges you applying to? top schools?</p>
<p>I took lit and math II and scored a 740 and 780 respectively. I didn’t do any preparation for math II; I would say this is the most straightforward on the subject tests. I spent a good amount of time studying for lit by taking 10-12 practice tests. I’d say math II is easy and lit is moderate overall.</p>
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