Parents, please help me decide whether to retake my SAT I or take SAT Subject Physis

Parents Forum
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<p>Hey parents, a high school senior here looking for some help among you wise ones in some last-minute college application hullabaloo.</p>

<p>I am stuck deciding whether or not to retake my SAT I, which I took only once long ago, and change my first-choice majors for schools like Princeton and Columbia, or to take an SAT Subject test in the subject that I need to. I have one testing date left, January, which all of these schools except USC and Stanford will accept. I was supposed to take the SAT Subject Physics today, but this past week I experienced personal troubles that deeply affected my ability to prepare and be in the right mindset (broke up with boyfriend, had mental breakdown from an argument with parents).</p>

<p>These are the test scores I currently have:
SAT I: 2240 (M: 730, CR: 710, W: 800) - took in October of 10th grade
SAT II: Math 2 - 780, World History - 760, US History - 740, Biology (M) - 660 (took in November, got a low score on this because I had an argument with my boyfriend the week of the test and had a near break-up, didn't get to study that well and was flustered :/)</p>

<p>I am a California native, and have already applied to CSUs and UCs. I listed and sent those aforementioned scores for CSUs and UCs already. I'm not worried about my test scores with those schools, though, because of the GPA and class rank I have. I did apply to the College of Engineering at Berkeley, though, for the Industrial Engineering/Operations Research major, but I know of a girl who was salutatorian for the graduating class last year at my school who was accepted into CoE as a Chem. Eng. major even with a 500-range SAT Physics score (I have better overall stats number-wise and extracurricular-wise than her, our socioeconomic and demographic situation is the same as well).</p>

<p>Anyway,
the remaining colleges I have left to apply to are on the Common App: </p>

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<p>I have already considered taking the ACT for December, but I decided I do not want to take it. I really dislike the format and concepts tested on the ACT. I prefer those of the SAT.</p>

<p>So the questions I have to resolve are:
1) Is my SAT I score good enough where the trade-off of opting out of retaking it and taking SAT Physics is significant? Will I be hurt more by my SAT I score, or my lack of an SAT Physics score?...
2) ... which brings me to my second question. If I am hurt more by my SAT I score and it is in my best interest to retake it again rather than take the SAT Physics exam, is it worth it to opt out of the majors that I have listed for those schools? I really would like to get into those programs -- I am <em>extremely</em> interested in pursuing a degree and profession in Industrial Engineering, Operations Research, and Finance.
3) If I am to take the SAT Physics test (or SAT I), I would of course list the score on the Common App and leave the score blank, indicating that it is to be taken in the future. How would I go about sending this score in a timely manner? When I register, prior to taking the test, should I list those schools to send the score to; what do I do?
4) If I send this January score to schools like Stanford and USC, where December is the last testing date, will they still look at the score, even though it is from January? I have heard cases of this happening, but would like some confirmation on this.</p>

<p>Princeton, UPenn, Columbia, and UCB are my top schools of preference by the way.
Lol, and if you ever want to tell your children to not have a significant other during the college admissions process, or high school in general, feel free to show them this thread. I wish I had listened to my parents during the summer when I got with my boyfriend. So much time wasted unnecessarily, arguing and whatnot. >_></p>

<p>Much thanks.</p>

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<p>*Physics</p>

<p>Lol dat title</p>

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<p>If you are applying to engineering schools you pretty clearly need physics. </p>

<p>That said, I think you need to figure out how to keep your love life from interfering with your school life.</p>

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<p>Would someone please answer questions #2 and #4?</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>Chemical engineering at Berkeley is in the College of Chemistry, not the College of Engineering.</p>

<p>If you need the physics subject test for some of the preferred schools you are applying to (Cornell, Princeton, Columbia), then wouldn’t it make sense to take it?</p>

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<p>Sounds to me like you answered your own question. You have schools that require an SAT II math and an SAT II science and if you don’t want to go into the application cycle with a 660 in science then take Physics SAT II. I would guess if it is a December testing day, the scores will get to the college for January deadlines, but read the websites or ask admissions.</p>

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<p>Stanford and USC don’t require SAT Subject Tests. Take SAT in December and SAT IIs in January. The SAT is more important and I bet if you send your subject tests to usc/stanford they’ll consider them anyway.</p>

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<p>See if College Board will let you do this. </p>

<p>Take the Physics SAT II in Melbourne Australia on Saturday Jan 26.
Take the 4:30pm Qantas Airlines flight to Honolulu that arrives at 6AM.
You’ve crossed the international date line, so it’s Jan 26 again.
Take the SAT in Honolulu at 8am. </p>

<p>If that’s too difficult, like everyone says, take Physics so that you meet the application requirements of Princeton and Cornell.</p>

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<p>Oh wait, the December test already happened. :stuck_out_tongue: I second ClassicRockerDad.</p>

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<p>OP I am sure you are a very talented person.</p>

<p>You will likely not get in anywhere where you do not meet the stated requirements. There are thousands of applicants for every seat at the colleges on your list; boat loads of kids get rejected who follow the instructions. Why would they give your application due consideration if they require chem or physics SAT 2 and you haven’t taken it?</p>

<p>Stop worrying about your SAT 1 scores- they are great; you could do better next time or you could do worse. Put the effort into what you haven’t done yet- i.e. produce a score on either chem or physics.</p>

<p>I don’t quite understand why you didn’t retake the SAT 1 last year given the number of times it’s offered if you are truly concerned about the score, but frankly it’s water under the bridge. If Princeton requires chem or physics and Princeton is your top choice, isn’t the answer obvious?</p>

<p>Question 2-- I don’t think you want to apply claiming you want to be a Classics major if you’ve never taken Latin or Greek. so either apply as Undecided- which is what most kids are-- or keep your interests where they are.</p>

<p>Question 4- the adcom’s are under no obligation to hunt around for your scores if they come in after their stated deadline. Clearly, not every application gets read on Days 1-4 of Application Reading season-- so yes, there is a possibility that your scores may make it into your file. But the school’s tell you which testing date is their last date for a reason-- if your application gets read before the final score gets to them, they will not double back and read the application again once it’s complete. You might get lucky- you may not.</p>

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<p>@blossom</p>

<p>No, I wasn’t planning on applying as a Classics major; more like an Economics major (currently doing research on how the transfer rate and stats are within those schools)</p>

<p>@ucbalumnus</p>

<p>lol omg she told me it was in CoE…i have been duped.</p>

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<p>Bump…</p>

<p>more input plz</p>