<p>I took an SAT II sophmore year (unusual, I know, but I had just taken the related course.) This year I could potentially take 3 at once. Is it worth it to take 4 in total? Many colleges request 2 but I would like to know if they look at others in addition to the requirements.</p>
<p>Three colleges require three – Harvard, Princeton and Georgetown. All others that require SAT IIs require 2. Johns Hopkins, Duke and Northwestern do not require SAT IIs but recommend three. </p>
<p>Many that require them will consider only your top two for admission but some (like Princeton which requires threes) say they will consider all those submitted. </p>
<p>That creates somewhat of a dilemma. If you take two or three (if applying to one that wants three) and score high on those it is probably foolish to take more because you are risking getting a low score that could be considered against you. Consider that in determining how many to take.</p>
<p>I took 1 freshman yr, 2 sophomore year, and I’m taking another 1 junior year.
It is best to take 3 and score well on all of them. Make sure to take one math and one/two sciences.</p>
<p>When it comes to testing, higher is always better than lower (scores), AND more is always better than fewer (subject tests). Four 700’s looks better than two. But two 700s and two 500’s looks worse than two 700’s alone. And, wrt Subject Tests, different disciplines is better than the same discipline. Lit/hist + Science/math trumps two science/maths. (The outliers of course is Eng-tech schools where a high Math 2 score + high science score is required. But even then, a high Lit/hist score will help differentiate you from all the math-science only geeks.)</p>
<p>If you feel you can score highly on three this spring by all means take them. But note, taking thee on the same day can lead to fatigue and less than optimal performance on the third test.</p>
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<p>Princeton requires only two.</p>
<p>^ Correct, forgot that Princeton went from three to two beginning entry class of 2010.</p>
<p>Princeton’s prerogative to lower the Subject Test requirement was mostly attributed to its wish to attract more students since it lags behind the applications submitted to Harvard and Yale. As far as we can, its initiative may have contributed to a 19% increase in applications this year.</p>
<p>I’m taking math II, physics, bio, chem, and english lit or us hist</p>
<p>I applied to both colleges that take three, so I knew I needed that many. I also applied to MIT which requires two, one in science, and one in math. I don’t have the classes or knowledge to take bio and physics, so I had to take chem, even though I had been out of beginning chem AA (honors) for a year and had just started AP. Since I knew my chem scores weren’t going to be up to par, I took a different third test for Georgetown and Harvard.</p>
<p>So, I took four: Literature, World History, Chem, and Math II. With retakes (retook Math II and Chem), I sat six exams. I had plans to take the Latin test way back at the end of freshman year, and to take US Hist at the end of sophomore year, but I didn’t. I probably would have done badly on Latin since I never took AP.</p>
<p>I’ve taken 1 freshman, and plan on taking 1 sophomore, and 1 or 2 junior.
My freshman score (740 Bio M) is kinda low since I am aiming towards ivies, so I don’t want to “count” that as a score I have.</p>
<p>The safest bet is to take 3. I took one in my freshmen year but it was terrible and I don’t wanna use it. Just know that a decent score would be at least 770+.</p>
<p>I hate science and don’t plan to do anything related to science. Should I still take something like Physics after I take AP Physics B next year for the sake of taking a science subject test, and if I do bad then choose not to send it? I plan to take World History, US History, and Math II so that would be 3 but 2 are soc. studies</p>
<p>^Usual requirement is that the tests be in different subjects and the three you are contemplating are different subjects even though two are generally history. Science is not necessary except that many require a science if you are applying for engineering or a science. For a number of colleges you are required to submit all SAT IIs and cannot exercise score choice.</p>
<p>Seahawk:</p>
<p>If you are not applying to an engineering-tech program, you don’t need a science as long as you have Math 2. You don’t even need a math at all if just applying to a liberal arts program. BUT, demonstrating breadth across disciplines helps to differentiate you from the field of those that do not have such breadth. (Think of all the math-science geeks that can’t write, or the Lit-poets who “hate math”…)</p>
<p>I’d recommend you taking three subject tests, one from each subject group. A possible combination of subjects could be Mathematics Level 2, Chemistry and Spanish. Try taking subjects which you are the STRONGEST at. Most Colleges (excluding Harvard) look at the highest two scores so take three to be safe.</p>
<p>I personally wouldn’t opt for taking more than three tests (unless I’m pretty sure that I’d be scoring 800 on all of them :p) because it is a waste of time. Use that valuable time for focusing on other important areas of your application such as essays or improving your SAT Reasoning Test score (your prime application test).</p>
<p>I hope this answers your question. Best of luck! :)</p>
<p>2-3 is enough</p>
<p>Doesn’t it make some sense to take more than three (if you are taking the APs anyway), so you can choose the best two or three to send to colleges? If you are expending the time to prepare for the Ap, it is not much more time to prepare for the SAT II. (I would agree that sitting for 3 SAT IIs on the same day risks fatigue, but people do it al the time.)</p>
<p>@ iPacman: I’m doing the same thing as you. My freshman score isn’t that pretty, so I’m going to study well for the one I’m taking this year, and hope to get 770+!</p>
<p>Three, period. Make sure they’re different ones though! :)</p>
<p>You could take more than three if you want to see what scores are the highest, but instead of doing that I would just take three max and study very hard for them and just get a really good score!</p>