Hello! My d is currently a sophomore and she attends a school that follows a block schedule. She took algebra 2/trig last semester and will not be able to take pre-calc until junior year. She is pretty sure she wants to attend a liberal arts college not majoring in math or science. We were thinking she should take a sat subject test in June for math level 1 but i have been reading that it looks “better” to take math level 2. Do you think that is the case for someone not interested in pursuing a math or science major. Thank you for your feedback!
Math level 1 is a joke. Just take a Lit SAT 2 instead of math.
If she did well in alg2/trig, the Math II test has a nicer curve. So, it may be that in addition to the Math Level II test “looking better”, she may get a higher score. Math Level I is not very forgiving of a couple careless mistakes.
But, really the best way to tell is to get the big book of sample SAT Subject Tests published by the CollegeBoard. Have her take the sample test for the ones she is considering taking and figure out the score. That will give a much better idea of how she would score on the real test.
I don’t think it has a “nice curve” at all. An 800 is like 80th percentile. I would not take Math II if she isn’t going to major in a STEM subject. Honestly… I’d skip the math & science subject tests altogether, especially if her grades in those subjects are solid. I agree that Lit might be a good choice (my kids got really high scores with a very limited amount of studying, they are big readers and had strong CR scores as well). One of my kids took World History because she really liked the subject. But you have to look carefully at the scheduling, all tests are not offered on every SAT date! World History was only offered on a couple of dates the year she took it.
Thanks very much for the input! I like the idea of taking the practice tests for both levels. She is strong in math so she may actually score higher on Level 2 as you pointed out. Thanks again!
That was my original thought about Math Level 2. My logic was that since she is good at math but doesn’t want to major in it, she should take the subject test as a sophomore and then not take any other math or science subject test. I did not know that all tests are not offered! Thanks for pointing that out to me.