<p>At my S's high school, an extra course was offered to Honors Chem students to prepare for the SAT II in Chem. It was recommended that students NOT take the Chem SAT II without the extra prep class (which met on a series of Saturdays and cost something like $100, for which, knowing the high school, I expect anyone who needed financial assistance probably received it). My son took the test as a Sophomore (after doing Honors Chem and the extra prep class) and got a grade between 750 and 800. So if you're contemplating the Chem SAT II after taking Honors Chem, it might be a good idea to look for extra prep, hopefully provided by your high school, which should know the limitations of its honors chem class.</p>
<p>With regard to schools requiring 3 SAT II's: in the past, many of these colleges wanted one of the 3 required SAT II's to be the English writing SAT II. I'm wondering whether anyone knows if some of these schools might scale back their SAT II requirements from 3 to 2 (a la MIT), now that the SAT I includes a writing test. I have noticed in the process of checking out the websites for such colleges that most of these schools list SAT II requirements only for '05/'06. Does anyone on CC have inside knowledge about the likely trends for '06/'07 SAT II requirements?</p>
<p>In fact, many colleges already made this adjustment for the HS Class of 2006 (college class of 2010), which had the option to take the old or the new SAT I. Most of the links in post #19 to the schools that now require two SAT IIs are in fact to schools that previously required three (one of which was Writing) and have now scaled back to two because of the WR on the new SAT I; this is explained in the linked-to websites. </p>
<pre><code> So I don't know how many schools that still require three -- and there are not that many -- will decide to reevaluate and scale back now. Maybe Georgetown, when it inevitably decides to count the WR on the new SAT I.
</code></pre>
<p>Many of the 3 SAT schools are now 2 SAT schools, precisely because of the Writing portion of the SAT I. There are only a handful of schools that still require 3. Best check the websites.</p>
<p>Again, it is important to draw a distinction between requiring them if the SAT I is submitted and requiring them if the ACT is submitted. My daughter is at Brown now and never submitted her SAT II scores.</p>
<p>Yes, after my daughter took the chemistry test, we heard about the difficulty is knowing what precisely would be on it. After she took the math 1C, we heard about the difficult curve it has. I found it very distressing that the prep books we looked at didn't completely agree with one another for either subject. Her third try was Latin, where there is no source for specific vocabulary that is expected to be known -- and the test had quite a bit of vocab not in the textbook she used. So thank goodness for the ACT option!</p>
<p>I'm not saying don't take the tests. If you do well, it can be a plus and for certain schools, you will need them. Just don't panic if the scores aren't what you might have hoped (or expected). There are plenty of good schools that will admit without them.</p>
<p>This is what I would suggest -
have your D take the practice SAT II's for the subjects of interest about 3 weeks before the June administration - under test-like conditions. If the result is good (say, mid to upper 600's), a bit of work will likely bump it up to really good (over 700). If the result is not so good, the tests could be taken in the fall if needed.</p>
<p>Just a word of warning. It looks like there are enough test administrations in the fall to manage - but things start getting really busy senior year, and having a couple of these tests in the bank junior year. That way, if a test must be retaken, or a different one added, there is time to do so. </p>
<p>The advantage of the SAT II's is that you can, to some extend, pick and choose - and go with your strengths. How well you will do (in large part) depends on how well a particular classes or classes prepared you. My son did very well on the dread chemistry exam from an honors class - very good teacher. On the other hand, Math IIC required additional work on his part. Taking the a practice test in advance of the real deal at least gives you a benchmarch and some information on what areas (if any) need review.</p>
<p>It is however dated and probably incorrect. </p>
<p>From memory the schools that require three Subjects tests are Georgetown, Harvard, and Princeton. Yale requires 3 SAT but accept the ACT as substitute. I also believe that Franklin Olin College of Engineering does require three SAT Subject Tests.</p>
<p>Schools that recommend three are Northwestern, John Hopkins, and Oberlin. Claremont McKenna -as well as other schools- is requiring homeschoolers to present 3 Subject Tests.</p>
<p>The schools I know of that have special SAT II requirements for homeschoolers are Notre Dame, Columbia, and Georgia Tech -- all least these are the three infamous examples that homeschoolers tend to mention. The U Cal system can also require them (and particularly high scores), unless you choose to go in with a portfolio instead. I don't know of anyone who has successfully taken the latter course yet. (Not that I've studied the matter; this is all word of mouth on assorted listserves.)</p>
<p>Sometimes schools say they want SAT IIs from homeschoolers, but don't end up requiring them. For instance, one homeschooler had one less SAT II than Columbia said it needed but was admitted anyway. I was told at an informational meeting for UNC-CH that they "want to see" five SAT II exams from homeschoolers, and even told me which ones. My daughter was accepted to that school with none. So the "requirements" in this area can be a little soft.</p>
<p>Most of the people on this forum will tell you how easy the curve is on Math II and that you should take that instead of Math I. BEWARE. My niece AND my son, both strong math students (she had taken a college calc course at Ursinus as a hs junior and he had finished a strong pre-calc course) thought the Math II test was extremely hard. In fact, my niece got a 560 on it! S got a 740 on Math IC. The IIC requires quite a bit of prep, OR a pre-calc course that really teaches to the test.<br>
The science SAT IIs are very difficult.</p>
<p>I absolutely echo what MoWC said. And if you're not in a strong high school program, the Math 2C can be very rough. My S, who got a 760 on the SAT 1 Math, got a 640 on the 2C. He then took the 1C and got a 720. </p>
<p>He definitely has the ability, but the subject tests seem from my perspective to test your preparation more than ability. For kids coming from middling schools, that can be a problem.</p>