<p>Hi CC, I have a few questions about Literature. I intend to take it as my third subject test in either December or January.</p>
<p>Firstly, would you recommend any significant preparation beyond a study guide? I have Barron's, but the tests seem really hard. I've heard the same thing elsewhere, but I'm worried that my scores won't be that great (aiming for the 700s). Right now, I've basically only taken the first diagnostic test and a practice test, just to test the waters, and I got scores of 37 and 36. (Unfortunately, the book doesn't indicate a rough scaled score for that. Does anyone happen to know?) Should I be worried?</p>
<p>Secondly, would I be well-advised to ditch Literature altogether? I did very well in English last semester, and got 740 on CR, but this study guide makes the test seem awful. Would it be a good idea to, say, switch my test to US History instead? </p>
<p>I’m gonna take the Lit subject test too and ordered the Barron’s book… ummm if I were you I’d read through the book? Lol you haven’t even studied yet…all you did was take the diagnostic… You have to learn buddy don’t just rely on a single test to determine what you’re going to do about it. Read Barron’s then take some of the practice tests at the end. You’ll be fine, don’t back out.</p>
<p>For the record, Lit is often harder than people expect it to be. I got an 800 on CR in SATI and just took the test in November- it was pretty tough. It’s like… AP English IV, without the essays, as far as I can tell. You either have to be very well-read or extremely good at just throwing yourself into a passage. A lot of it is poetry from Renaissance era, or relatively ancient prose- nothing particularly modern, so basically you have to decipher the language the author is using in addition to understanding the point he or she is making.</p>
<p>And although I wouldn’t say you should ditch Lit for US History, US History is in my opinion the more predictable (and therefore easier?) test. You actually have solid facts to study and prepare with. Also, I find it’s a lot less time consuming. I easily finished the test with a little under ten minutes to spare, whereas the lit test I had to rush through the last passage and even then didn’t answer one question. With literature, you really don’t know until test day even if you practice a lot. I was a lot more confident with my USH score (got a 780) than I am with my lit score. If you’re taking SAT II’s in January, you’ll still have ample time to review for USH. </p>
<p>Uh, that’s my two cents, I suppose. Best of luck~</p>