I am a very solid studeny with only 1 B in some 24 courses, and it was in an extremely difficult honors class. I recently took my first SAT II Subject Test for Chemistry, really the only one Sophomores can take at my school. Now, I went to school in Switzerland for the first 1/2 of the year, so I missed the first 1/2 year of Chemistry. However, I decided on still taking the Chem Subject Test just for practice. I did terrible and got a 640. I have a few questions:
Is this going to hurt me at all?
What if I do well on my next two/three tests, in the mid to high 700s, will this 640 look bad, or will colleges not care if I have other goods scores?
Do colleges only take your top two or three scores, or do they look at everything?
<p>Colleges tend to at least focus on your top two to three scores, if not completely ignore any others. I know that, for example, the admissions officer at the Amherst info session I went to insisted vehemently that any SAT IIs other than your top two would not factor into admissions AT ALL. I don't know if I quite believe that, but still, if you score highly on your other tests (or even retake Chemistry for a higher score), I don't think this will hurt you at all.</p>
<p>Thank you so much. I am a great history, french, and math student, and missing half the year screwed me. So it won't make too big off an impact?</p>
<p>I wouldn't feel that bad about the 640 either. You did about average on the test, but the people taking the test are self-selected. You did not do average among the general population. You did average among people who think that chemistry is their best subject and perhaps plan on majoring in chemistry. It isn't impressive, but it is not a bad thing either. It just shows solid work in your chemistry coursework.</p>