<p>I've already taken 4 SAT IIs. One freshman year and three last june. So far however I've only got one over 700 (770 on Math IC). Anyhow, I'm applying to stanford SCEA and they "strongly recommend" Math IIC, so I plan to take this even though I'm somewhat unsure about my ability to score over 700 (i got a 700 on SAT I math section and have been scoring in the 680-720 range on Math IIC practice tests). Also, I was thinking about taking literature again as I believe I can do much better than the 650 I got on it in june. That would bring my grand total to 6. Is that too much? Should I take one or two tests in october? Thanks for the advice. (Also, I've been taking Chinese for 6 years at school and was thinking about taking that test in november, it's just that this score wouldn't be in time for SCEA stanford, and I'm not very good at the listening part)</p>
<p>Any more than three SAT Subject Tests is too many. No school requires more than three Subject Tests, so taking any more is a waste of your time and money. Plus, although most schools say that they will only look at your top score(s), the College Board automatically sends every one of your SAT and SAT Subject Test scores. So if you take six Subject Tests and do well on three of them, the colleges you apply to will still see the other three scores and take it into account that you had to take so many tests to produce acceptable scores.</p>
<p>In light of what the above poster said, I may just take the Math IIC instead of both that and the lit test. Does it really look so bad having 5 subject test scores that I shouldn't take the IIC even if its strongly recommended by the college?</p>
<p>If a particular test is "strongly recommended" by any college, you ought to take it.</p>
<p>I've seen at most 6 sat2s taken by a single student in my years at hs. I do think it's too much, but if you need to do it (ex. 3 of your sat2's suck, and you want to still be competitive in a school that requires 3 sat2's, then that's alright of a reason to take 6). However, in normal situations 6 is unnatural. </p>
<p>I think in your case, you should take the IIC at the very least and maybe one more. Getting 700+ makes you competitive (not to say that your sat2 scores suck, they just aren't the most competitive numbers in the spectrum of things.) So, if I were you, I would do it.</p>
<p>I disagree with the point that taking more than 3 SAT IIs will be detrimental -- provided you score well (700+ or even 750+) on all of them.</p>
<p>I've personally taken six SAT II's with 750+ on every one of them, including three 800's. No admission officer or counselor had said I had "taken too many" SAT IIs. However, it does look bad if you take a giant amount of SAT IIs with mediocre scores on all of them. I think colleges, especially highly selective colleges, like to see academic excellence. If you are gifted in different fields, you should stretch yourself and demonstrate your versatility. Most online apps now allow the self-reporting of any number of SAT II scores even though the school may only require 2 or 3. Five 800's definately look better (at least in impression, if not in actual stats) than just the bare minimum of two 800's. </p>
<p>Heck, I know someone who has nine 800's on his SAT II's. Anyhow, if you think you can score well on a lot of them, definately go for it (but remember, two 800's will look better than six 650's).</p>
<p>Oasis, yours is a very unique case...not many people can score that well on that many SAT IIs. Scores like that can only help you, even on 6 SAT IIs...unless you give the admissions folks other reasons to believe that you're a bit obsessive (in which case, they might look at 6 SAT IIs and say "oh, hey, look, more freaky obsessive stuff" before referring you to a therapist :) )</p>
<p>Vissanik's case is different. Still, since Stanford highly recommends the Math IIc, I'd suggest taking it. But really prep for it. Try to get your score into the 700 range. The scoring curve is pretty generous, so you can miss a lot of questions and still score 700+...you just need around 33 out of 50 points.</p>
<p>What you DON'T want to do is reinforce the idea that you're a < 650 student. Since you've been scoring close to 700, keep working to improve and go for it. If you REALLY STRONGLY believe you can get your Lit score up into the 700s, go for that, too.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice so far. Last night I registered for only the Math IIc; I figure if I want to take the lit SAT II i can choose to do so on test day. Also, Do most colleges count Math Ic and Math IIc as your two "high scores" if those are the only 2 you did really well in or do they have to be in different subject areas?</p>
<p>Most schools want two different subject areas, so Math Ic and IIc don't count as two.</p>
<p>how do you register for a new test on test day? do you just pay the administrator and say "in addition i would like to take ______ please"?</p>
<p>If you have 3 scores over 700, taking another is redundant.</p>