<p>So my daughter just took 3 subject tests yesterday which she really didn’t do much preparation for. How much influence do these tests have on acceptance. She has a 27 ACT 1830 SAT and a UC GPA of 3.83. She is CSF Goldsealbearer (after this semester) NHS 2 years volleyball and over 300 hours community service. If she didn’t do that well on subject tests will that ruin her chances of acceptance to any of the UC’s?? Her first choice is Davis and she won’t consider Riverside or Merced. What do you all think?</p>
<p>Don’t worry. My GPA was similar and my SAT was 1830 and I was guaranteed acceptance into Davis. I don’t think the subject tests will change anything.</p>
<p>My D’s experience suggests that all else being equal, it matters at UCLA</p>
<p>unless she is ELC, Davis is a probably a reach. With her UC gpa, she is guaranteed acceptance into the system. SB & Irvine are more likely than Davis.</p>
<p>If you took three, it is very likely the admissions office at the UCs you are applying to will only care to consider the top two. So if she did alright on one or two of them, she’ll probably be just fine in that category. And even then, there is so much criticism over these exams that the schools probably aren’t going to weight them as much as you might imagine (they are eventually going to be eliminated as a requirement, actually). </p>
<p>And what is defined as a good score and a bad score? At UCLA, the average for the best subject test is somewhere in the low-mid 700s and the other is in the mid 600s. That’s pretty much the most competitive it gets in the UCs, though neither one is “spectacular” in the minds of most posters on this site. Bear in mind, too, those scores are misleading by students taking exams in a foreign language that they are native speakers of or exams with really heavy curves. </p>
<p>If the goal is to help your daughter improve her chances, tell her to work on the regular SAT first.</p>