<p>My son will take Subject SATs in English Literature, Math Level I, and US History next weekend, even though he is applying to theater programs that don’t require them. We figure they can’t hurt. He has finals this week, and will not have much prep time. If he does moderately well, but not spectacularly, on the Literature test, he will probably re-take it next fall (and prep a little). He is not taking math next year, and will not re-take that. Even though he is not in the AP US History section, he has a lifelong interest in the subject, and an excellent knowledge base, so we thought he should give it a try. If he does well, he might try the World History test next fall (especially if other scores are a little disappointing). If all his scores are disappointing, then he’ll simply attempt one more round of SATs, and take the ACTs. My theory is that good scores can only help, while disappointing (I don’t foresee anything truly disastrous) ones can’t really be used against him. I think he should try to turn in a good performance on the Literature, because that would look good on a theater application. Good history tests would show some dimension. He will probably ask his history teacher to write an additional recommendation, where certain schools want someone in addition to adviser and theater arts teacher. The recommendation’s credibility would be enhanced by a good standardized test score.</p>