please help me :(( SAT / AP clash???

Test Preparation
1

I am a junior in high school, and haven’t started studying for the SATs at all, and my parents freaked out when I told them all my friends took it a few days ago for the March SATs (and even earlier–December/November of last year). They basically aren’t going to let me take the AP exams for my AP classes this year, because they feel like I should focus on the SATs instead for the June 3rd testing date. The thing is, the deadline for the form and money for the AP exams is this Friday, and I REALLY want to take these AP exams (4 of them), and I have A’s in them so I don’t think I’m going to get like all 2’s on them…

I feel like my parents are being excessive. 2 of my classes are only doing AP prep for basically all of April, which is useless for me if I don’t take the AP exams. My school has a policy where if you take the AP exam, you are exempt from finals, so obviously if I have to prep for the SATs by June 3, my finals would be literally one week and a half later–which doesn’t work out if I’m only prepping for SATs…

I usually get around 1460 on practice SAT tests. After AP testing, if I hardcore study for the June 3rd date, could I at least get a 1500-1560? Or would I have a lot of AP burnout / end of the year burnout? (I could always take it August??)

My parents are literally ignoring me now, and they’re not even bothering to help me anymore with planning for SATs or college or anything, and this is really demoralizing, considering earlier on in the year we fought a lot. This, along with a lot of my personal problems, has led to my parents thinking most of the time I just don’t care and am lazy and slack. Except I obviously do care a lot about my future…
All my parents care about is SATs and my GPA, and even tried to make me quit all my extracurriculars. We keep fighting over this stuff, and I wish if I took the SATs last year and got it over with, I wouldn’t be in this mess right now…

Someone please help with some advice, none of this sounds really severe but right now it’s been so bad that I skipped school today out of mental exhaustion.

PS: Also the English Language and Composition AP exam helps prep for the SATs, right, because there’s reading comprehension and then the essays, both of which the SATs have? So that would basically kill two birds with one stone…??

2

Take the AP exams. No joke, they will save you so much money in the future, since they can go towards becoming college credits, which will, in turn, help you graduate in 4 years, as opposed to 5. (And a semester at a university can cost anywhere between $15,000 (in state university) to $70,000 (private universities.) So, in the long run, the AP tests are definitely worth it. If you have As in your AP classes, I could see you getting definitely a 3 without studying too extensively, but you’ll need a 4 to get class credits at most universities.

You seem really motivated, so I would say keep pushing forward and take the June SAT and the August SAT if you need it. You won’t burn out if you don’t let yourself burn out! Keep pushing through and good luck!

3

I agree with @whenyoubelieve, the AP credits can definitely save tuition dollars. Also, preparing the the AP tests and sitting for the AP exams is good practice and preparation for the SAT. I’m sorry that you and your parents are not in agreement on this. Tthat must be stressful. It’s very possible they don’t understand, and with a nice conversation, maybe you can enlighten them about the tests and why you want to take them. Best of luck! You’ve done very well on your practice tests!

4

Yeah, basically what the two guys above me said. Take the AP exam. Sacrificing your four AP scores for a higher score on SAT is not worth it if your SAT is already decently high. Sure take some time to study for SAT when you can but don’t go all in for the loss of the other

5

Also, tell your parents that there is an August SAT date this year, which would give you the summer to study if you don’t get the score you want in June.