=( my mom's making me retake

<p>bio (720) and math 2 (750). Well rather just bio since I’ll be applying to Ivies and she thinks it’s not good enough. But the rest of my test scores are decent enough (to me at least). Plus I haven’t had bio in two years. And I’m deathly afraid I’ll get a lower score in October. </p>

<li>Convince me I should retake
-or-</li>
<li>Think of a good argument so I can tell mother dearest I’m sick of standardized tests.</li>
</ol>

<p>1) A 750 on Math II is good but somewhat low since the curve makes approximately 12% of test takers get a perfect score. A 720 Bio is decent but it is slightly low for top schools.</p>

<p>tell your mom it's your life and not her's, and if you don't get into an ivy with a 720 then who the hell cares?</p>

<p>about 4% of test takers get an 800 on level 2 and less than 1% get 800 on bio.
Where do you find 12%? 4% is right from college board.</p>

<p>i got an 800 on Math Level 2 and it said it was only in the 90th percentile</p>

<p>I got 790 and it was somewhere in the 80s percentile. If you are serious about the ivies and other top schools, I would recommend retaking.</p>

<p>My d got a 640 on the Math Level II that she took June 2. She's a rising
junior. Took geometry freshman year and algebra II this past year.
Pre-calc coming up.</p>

<p>Should she retake it next year? Is 640 decent for a sophomore? She's
aiming for top liberal arts non-Ivy.</p>

<p>Thanks, all.</p>

<p>she should take it again after completing pre-calc (or in May or June while she is still taking it) because most of wut is on the Math Level 2 is covered in pre-calc</p>

<p>Math Level II has a lot of Pre-Calc topics on it. My Pre-calc teacher told us to take Math Level II at the end of our class because it will cover a lot of the things that we have learned throughout the year. I'd say a 640 is pretty good considering she didn't take the class yet.</p>

<p>Thanks chipmunk and lindsay! She will retake it then. I didn't realize it had a lot of pre-calc on it. I was concerned that she's forget the geometry
but maybe that's more Level I. She's not real talkative about all this.
Too busy working on her tan now! LOL!!</p>

<p>My advice: Take Math 2 over, and tackle some other SAT subject test. The Bio subject test messed me up too, and I've had 2 years of it! I suggest doing some other science instead. Maybe chem?</p>

<p>I would embrace the opportunity, since I have to convince my parents that I should take the SAT I to begin with. I don't know how I'm going to explain SAT II's...</p>

<p>So you reallly can retake SAT II's ?! I am sooo thrilled .. I got a 700 on the US History and a 680 on Biology & Math I, which really sucks since I am aiming for Ivies. I didnt study and I was sick, so I want to study more this summer & retake, but I wasnt sure if I could.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the replies. Yeah I'll be taking Bio and Math 2 again. There's no way I'm going to take the chem test (I loathe chemistry) and haven't had physics yet.</p>

<p>Does anyone recommend taking a language test? Penn recommends one, and I'm thinking about Spanish or the one with listening? They both look pretty easy. Do colleges prefer one over the other?</p>

<p>I don't know specifically about language subject tests, but I do know that the AP languages are killer. You have to really be fluent in whatever you're taking. </p>

<p>I'm not totally sure about the subject tests though. Wait for more responses.</p>

<p>I would say, take a language subject test if you are truly proficient in both grammar and reading comprehension. I have taken 3 years of German at my regular high school. The German courses were not advanced, but they were decent and taught all of the basic grammar by the end of 302. I decided to take the subject test because I loved German so much and have always been the top student. My score was a 560, 34th percentile. Now, it could always be worse, but where my flaw was was the reading portion. I understood grammar fine, and if you do as well, you'll do fine: that part is straight-forward. However, the reading passages are, essentially, random. On the German test, there were passages about animals, a trip, history, Mozart, etc, etc. The voacb is, in other words, not predictable. So if the passages you're reading are filled with familiar vocab, you'd do fine, since the questions aren't tricky. Basically, make sure you have a wide, wide range of vocab and a solid foundation of grammar and you're fine.</p>

<p>your scores aren't good, retake both exams</p>

<p>if you're applying to really good schools, you'll be competing against people who have 800s on all tests...scores aren't everything but they still are important</p>

<p>If you want to go to Ivies, take them again. If not, tell mom no.</p>

<p>I completely sympathize with you. My mother is making me take an entire online course in biology, which I hate. But hey, she's paying my tuition, so whatever.</p>

<p>I think that it really depends on what your academic strong points are. If you consider yourself a science/math student, you should take the math 2 again. If you don't like bio but are a science-oriented student, take a different subject test like chem or physics. (I suggest chem; physics is a meat grinder)</p>

<p>otherwise, find subject tests in areas that are your strengths, like maybe history, or, as other people have pointed out, a language. One warning about language exams, however - some of the more obscure ones are dominated by native speakers, so check out the percentiles before taking any language test.</p>

<p>good luck!</p>

<p>Problem is, I'm definitely not a math or science student, so to me the scores are decent (adcoms will differ otherwise). But really, besides physics, chem, and world history there really aren't any other tests left I can take. I'm taking AP World in the fall so it'll be too late, and I heard the the lit test is a killer. So all that's left is a language (Spanish) or retaking bio and math.</p>

<p>Damn Ivy expectations. This summer was supposed to be relaxing.</p>