As a rising junior in high school who took precalculus last year, I took the math II subject test. I am normally very good at math (med-high A in precalc, took a summer AP calc course and got a med-A in that too). Anyways, I was met with a score of 710, which is at the 48th percentile.
Since I am considering majors that will include lots of math, should I retake the exam to make me more competitive (hopefully around a 750)? This would be after taking a year of AP calculus, which would hopefully prepare me better for the exam. Secondly, is this score worth anything? It seems so absolutely mediocre, but I’m unsure what I should do to better prepare myself.
Do not look at the percentiles on subject tests. The pool of students taking them is very self-selecting. Basically you are in the 48th percentile among a group who mostly scored in the top 10 percent on the regular SAT math section, not in the 48th percentile of the genreral college applicant pool.
If you decide to retake, prep for it outside of math class time to keep all the formulas fresh. You won’t review them all innschool.
I took the Math II test the same week I took the Calc AB exam, and it did not work out as expected. I thought that studying for calc would cover me for Math II, but I was wrong. The math II test isn’t on calculus. It’s mostly difficult pre-calc topics, which is why I didn’t do as well as I’d hoped. Basically, I’m trying to say that your calc class won’t help you prepare for Math II, so don’t make the same mistake I did.