My kid is taking Math 2 on the June 2 test date. He’s finishing up regular chemistry this year (10th grade). Next year he’s taking AP physics 1. Should he try the chem test as well on June 2? Or wait and take physics next year? He probably doesn’t have much time to study before June 2 since school finals are happening. Thx.
Should he try the chem test as well on June 2?
no
Or wait and take physics next year?
yes
enough for what? 800? your title sounds like after AP Chem but you meant AP physics. if he needs more time, he can take Chem in Aug, but cost little more than taking 2 subjects in June. !0 grade Math chem or honor Chem should be sufficient for SAT Subject . Chem. other 10th grade general or survey chem may not be.
If he feels prepared for the Subject Test, he should take it in June or August. It’s seems only on College Confidential where users seem to think that one needs AP Chem to do well on the Subject Test. AP Chem is a college-level class which covers the material in more depth and less breadth than a HS chemistry class. Subject Tests cover HS material. Now an individual might prefer to wait until they take AP, but that’s a personal preference. They just need to know that they will need to review the gap in material.
AP Physics 1 does not even come close to covering the material on the physics Subject Test. There are many, many additional topics on the Subject Test not covered in AP Physics 1 including waves & optics, thermodynamics, and modern physics.
Sorry, let me rephrase… the basic question is does a normal intro high school chem course cover all of the topics on the Chem subject test. Sorry it got confusing adding physics in… if the chem subject test requires knowledge not taught until AP chem, my kid won’t get that until 12th grade, but he’ll have AP physics 1 next year.
I’m going to get the Barron’s guide and have him take a practice test and figure out if he feels ready to take it next week, and if not, he can study a bit over the summer and take it in early fall.
(My oldest kid took AP bio and precalc in 10th grade, so just took the subject tests in June of that year without really studying extra for either of them).
@skieurope, you seem to be saying its OK to take the Chem subject test WITHOUT taking AP Chem, yet warn that AP Physics 1 does NOT prepare a student for the Physics subject test???
“Subject Tests cover HS material”
HUH??? it there THAT much of a difference in the intensity and breadth of those 2 subject tests that a student needs to take a MORE advanced class than AP Physics 1 in order to do well on the subject test, but HS Chem prepares a student for the Chem subject test??
Agree with #3. SAT subject tests cover what is in a good high school level course. So a student who did well in a good high school chemistry course should be ready for the SAT subject test in chemistry.
The SAT subject test in physics is based on high school physics courses that cover all of the topics at a high school level. Students taking only AP physics courses need to take both 1 and 2 to cover all of the topics (or both parts of C and self-study some additional topics).
Also, I somehow lost a week and thought he had a week between school ending and taking the SAT subject tests, but it’s only 1 day off. Oops.
It should
Again, assuming the instructor covers all the topics on a normal HS chem syllabus, there should be no topics to which the student has not been exposed.
If he has a chem final which covers the entire year, then there really should not be that much additional prep needed for the Subject Test,
Good idea. It should also help pinpoint the specific topics (if any) that he needs to focus on. Good luck.
@menloparkmom That’s exactly what I’m saying. I’ve said many many times on this site that the College Board did students a disservice when they eliminated AP Physics B and replaced it with AP Physics 1 and 2. A regular or honors HS physics course (i.e. not AP) would cover all the topics on the Subject Test, but sadly, many schools have eliminated that class in favor of AP Physics 1 being an honors student’s first exposure to physics.
Yes. AP Physics 1 covers about half the topics on the Subject Test. Now if the student were taking both AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2, then he would be better prepared.
Check a SAT Chem subject exam review book from the library and have your kid look through it. My daughter is planning to take it on June 2. She is finishing up AP Chem now, having taken Honors Chem last year and doing very well. When looking through the review book, she was glad she waited until after taking AP Chem.
She does wish she had taken Math 2 last year (after finishing preCalc) instead of waiting until this year.
@washugrad ,
how did it turn out on the Chem SAT subject test?
@lemonlulu Kid ended up taking just Math 2 in May after looking at one Chem practice test. Over the summer some time was spent on studying chemistry with the Barrons practice tests and a couple of the other old tests and kid took the test in August with great results.
@washugrad ,
happy for you. another testimony AP is not needed.
@washugrad Thanks for the update, and congrats to your son.
Thanks. There ended up being a little material that wasn’t covered in his class last year but it wasn’t that hard for him to pick up on his own, and then his teacher last year didn’t emphasis memorization at all so there was a bit of that needed (I’m not sure how much… I didn’t look at the tests myself so I don’t know to what extent formulas are given vs expected to be known).
Thank you for the update @washugrad. So helpful! My daughter is in the same boat, and probably will study over the summer and take Chem subject test in August after taking Honors Chem this year.