<p>Am a US citizen living abroad with no prior knowledge of US history. I never took a class and decided to self study for the SAT Subject Test. I scored a 710 and am an incoming grade 10 student. Should I retake? Will the ivies and other top colleges look down on my score? Any advice please...</p>
<p>If you feel you could do better, I would suggest retaking.</p>
<p>Be sure to check out the AMSCO US History Book (it’s for APUSH but it the content is amamzing) if you plan on retaking it. Sparknotes also has a few useable tests. That said, if you have better things to do, you should do that instead :P</p>
<p>Wait… i got a 710 on my US History. I thought it was bad but apparently it wasn’t. My teacher asked the whole class (individually) what their score was and when i said mine he said that it was great score… So is it a bad score?</p>
<p>So I should retake? The thing is, I don’t know if I can improve by a great deal. Do you think another 30 points would help?</p>
<p>Bump 10char</p>
<p>It’s not a stand out, great score, but I don’t think it’s going to be seen as a negative necessarily either. If you don’t think you can actually raise it, then don’t retake it - but if you think you can raise it by studying more, then I would definitely try to aim for a higher score.</p>
<p>Do you think scoring another +20 points will substantially help my application? Should I invest my time studying for the PSAT/SAT I instead?</p>
<p>If I were you, I would spend my time studying for the PSAT/SATI. 710 is a pretty good score (especially since you’ll only be going into tenth grade!), and I’m sure you’ll be taking more subject tests in the future.</p>
<p>I would like to be a History major in college so I’m probably going to retake in the fall. I’m hoping to get a 750+ this time around… </p>
<p>What happens though if you get a score lower than your score in your first try? Will colleges frown upon that?</p>
<p>Yes getting a score lower than your first try usually isn’t a good sign. Whether it makes a huge deal isn’t something I know about. For top tier schools like the Ivies, I would say to be competitive (even if you’ve got other stuff going for you) you should aim for 750+. Many, many of the applicants get such scores and many even get perfect scores on all the ones they took.</p>
<p>Bigdream - I have a similar issue with my kids, who have US passports but were born and raised in the UK. I read in another post that World History is probably a better choice for someone living outside the USA. I think that you should first focus on your SAT I’s and then look for other SAT Subject tests where an international will not be too disadvantaged, such as World History, Math II and the sciences. Good luck, Jackuk</p>
<p>Bigdream: I’m in the same situation as you. US citizen living abroad. I’m planning to self-study US History this summer, what book(s) did you use? Would you recommend any particular books?</p>
<p>@jhkmyun - Thanks for the input. I’ll probably strongly consider retaking. For schools with Score Choice, I wont have to report the score, right? If I score lower.</p>
<p>@JackUK - I will be taking World History next June. I just wanted to separate myself from all the other internationals/US citizens living abroad by taking something other than World History/Math/Sciences. I figured that the possibility of scoring high would help me. I still have a long way to go and I’ll probably consider retaking.</p>
<p>@sleepdeficit - I suggest Direct Hits US History in a Flash, AMSCO and the Kaplan book. AMSCO is obviously the most complete as it’s the longest. If you read intensively, you could probably read and understand it in about 1-2 weeks, depending on the pace you go. Kaplan was good, although it often times added extra information that was not needed. DH was the best; it only contained information that would be vital to score a 700+. You should give yourself time to study for the SAT Subject Test; don’t take it lightly. Self studying for the AP Exam also really helped with the memorization. Good luck! PM me if you want for more questions/information.</p>
<p>Sorry, but I don’t quite understand why scoring higher in US History will in any way help your college application, as opposed to just having 2 or 3 other high SAT Subject scores. As long as your SAT Subject scores are high and the courses rigorous, I don’t think that the schools care whether your tests are math, English, French, etc. I would leave your 710 in USH alone and try for a 750+ in something else, as you probably are busy enough. I think that Whalewhale and Tennis5678 have given you some good advice.</p>
<p>I honestly don’t think the SAT Subject tests are that big of a deal… If you score above a 700 I think you’ll be fine for Ivy League schools. The SAT or ACT is much more important.</p>
<p>Lilshowstoppa - Well said!</p>
<p>I just want to retake it because I think that I can score higher. Also because I would like to major in History. What will colleges think when I have a subpar score in a History subject test? A lot of the Ivy league admitted students scored well above 700. I am strongly considering a retake at this moment.</p>