Hello. I am a junior. I got a 670 on my U.S. History SAT Subject Test, which I suppose I was surprised by; I got a 4 on the APUSH exam last year and my scores from the practice books were at least 700+…should I retake, or should I not bother? I know that I chose U.S. History because I thought I would do well on it, but I’m pretty disappointed now. I was interested in top tier colleges such as Columbia, Cornell, maybe Boston College, UChicago (I’m aware that UChicago doesn’t require SAT IIs), but now I feel as if my chances have slimmed down considerably. I’m in Honors and AP classes and am getting As on all of those (4.0 GPA unweighted, but that isn’t a big deal considering the competition); haven’t gotten ACT scores back yet, though. Eh. I feel very lacking now. Would retaking the test be worth it? I know I could have done better, but I’m not sure if it’s worth the effort. Otherwise, I might take Chemistry and Math II instead.
Yeah you have time. Don’t feel compelled to take US History though. If you think you’d do better on Chem or Math II, take those and get high scores. They only consider your two highest subject test scores.
Thank you; would it be better to retake U.S. History and just take Chem, then, or take Math II and Chem without retaking? I heard colleges like well-roundedness when it comes to subject tests?
If you think you can improve the score to the level of 700, I would retake history. You have done it once, which should give you a good idea of how you can improve.
IMO, when a college says SAT 2 tests are optional, assume they are not optional if you are a typical ORM.