My son needs another good SAT subject test. He already has a very good score on a humanities SAT II subject tests. It would be good to get a second good SAT II on a quantitative subject.
My question–my kid got a 5 on AB calculus AP test and 36 ACT (with 35 on math subsection and 36 on STEM subsection). How much prep is he likely to need to get a top score on SAT II math subject test?
You may wonder, why not just have him take practice test instead of asking here? Fair question. Answer: family politics! He will probably be reluctant to give up time in summer, prep and sit for another test. I will probably have to make a persuasive case, so I want a rough idea of how much work we’re asking him to do.
I am hoping this won’t require much–maybe a couple practice tests, one hour test sitting and then DONE with SATs forever! Is this too optimistic? How much prep did you folks do to get a top score around 780-800?
I suspect it won’t take him a lot of time, and I don’t think it is too optimistic …but you never know… as MATH 2 covers precalculus and I assume it was more than a year ago, the actual test takes 1 hour, therefore why not just ask him to sit down for one hour just to take a practice test…
It depends on how good he is at math. If he is VERY good at math, then it probably won’t take much prep. A good tutor can give him a practice test and see how far away he is relatively quickly.
Well, math isn’t his strongest subject, to be honest. He’s done reasonably well in math, but he’s a bit stronger in humanities. After posting this question, I came across another current thread (link below) in which kids talked about spending many hours grinding through Barron’s and Dr. Chung SAT II books. If that’s any indication, this might require more prep than I anticipated.
I took Math II (got 800) right after taking algebra 2/pre-cal with minimal preparation beyond the regular class. Taking at least one practice test is reallllllly good to give y’all an idea of how much studying is needed. Also the curve is pretty lenient.
A 780 in Math II is only the 73% and an 800 is 81%. The test is just 1 hour long. Just have him look over a sample test. Neither of my children studied. For a student with top SAT scores and all 5’s on AP exams, I feel the SAT board is just making extra cash. Their academic record is apparent, and another 800 may be necessary to check a box but meaningless.
The Barron’s book covers all the necessary material. I highly recommend it. The practice tests in it are much harder than the actual test (I got 650 on the practice tests and 790 on the real thing), but it’s a good way to learn the content and test your understanding.
The kid you are describing sounds exactly like me, haha. I did put some time into it since I took it 5 months after I finished pre-calc. I studied for about 45 minutes a day for about 2 weeks leading up to the test to get an 800. This mostly consisted of taking practice exams and going over the answers. He probably doesn’t even need that much prep, depending on whether or not his calc teachers assign pre-calc heavy problems.
For a kid who is resistant to test prep and a 35 on ACT math, the Barrons book would be overkill. Get the College Board official book with sample tests. Have him spend just 1 hour taking the practice test. If he gets an 800 on the practice test, he doesn’t need to prep. (You can miss a few on the test and still get an 800; it’s a forgiving test.) Anyway, that’s what my son did after Alg2/Trig/Precalc and he was happy to not have to prep.