<p>First, I am guessing that Erin is a junior (94?). It is best to take the tests as close to when you took the class associated with it – but you could take more than once, I think. I think stand-by is difficult psychologically – you have to prepare for the test (at least become familiar with the test format) and then you may or may not get in. Another important thing to check: application deadlines in the fall. If you are a junior, and want to apply to some schools early action, deadline can be as early as November 1 If you can’t find the info on the website, call the admissions office. They will be happy to tell you when you can send in scores. October SAT II will probably be fine for most of your applications. But I really recommend taking them, considering the schools you are considering require them. Some schools, like NYU, offer varying options for standardized testing – ACT with writing and no SAT IIs, three SAT IIs, a few APs, etc. You’ll really have to explore each school’s admissions requirements – and go on their website – don’t trust the college board – they may not be the most up to date!</p>
<p>Don’t panic. If you are a junior, you really should try to register for the SAT, preferably for June, even if you have to travel to a distant/unattractive test center. Broaden your search of test centers–outside of your school or county–and make sure someone can get you to the test center. You could take it in the fall but that is less than ideal. Ours filled up in June also so we ended up driving to a distant place to get a spot. </p>
<p>The SATIIs can be taken in the fall but can’t be taken the same day as the SAT so put a priority on registering for the SAT. My son took them in October or November of his senior year…perhaps both because he did Math II twice.</p>
<p>Read the requirements carefully for each school (it sounds like you are way ahead on this)…the whole SAT II thing caught us by surprise and S discovered that while CMU did not require them for art students, they did for the other programs. Also, almost all the Ivy league and top schools require SATIIs if you dont take the ACT. This is sensible since the SAT by itself doesn’t give an inkling of your command of any subject. It is particularly important for kids who don’t take a lot of AP classes sophomore and junior year so the school can see those scores.</p>
<p>Some people recommend that you take the SAT II right after finishing an AP or honors class in 10th grade or 11th grade so the material is fresh in your mind. For math, generally it is best to take Math II after your precalc class but my son took it after calc and had to do a little studying to remind himself of some of the earlier material in trig.</p>
<p>If you speak a foreign language, go for an easy 800 and take the listening portion of the SAT II that I think is offered only in october or November (check). Korean kids take Korean, Chinese-Chinese, etc. My son did Spanish. </p>
<p>I understand the English SAT II is pretty straight forward and if you have taken honors English you should be fine. You can buy a prep book from the College Board online and just practice. </p>
<p>Like I said…don’t panic but put a priority on getting that SAT or ACT out of the way even if it means driving a long way to test.</p>
<p>Fall for SAT II will be fine especially if it gives you time to do a little test prep. The downside is that you won’t know your scores until you are applying to schools, frankly, you are unlikely to do poorly in a test of a subject you like and if you do some prep.</p>
<p>there are whole threads devoted to this critical topic (only slight sarcasm here…). Math II covers up through pre-calc and has, supposedly, a much better curve so most kids do this one. My son went in to take it in October …surely over confident thinking it would be like the math SAT with a few more trig questions…WRONG…much trickier questions and more math knowledge–680–good but not very good for CMU. So he practiced a little but felt he did worse (left 7 questions blank) but the curve was clearly friendly in November and he pulled a 740? Make sure to get some advice about Math I vs Math II.</p>
<p>Good old fammom
while you are at, can you give OP good art, might be free in-state (TX) out-state safeties?</p>
<p>I think OP did SAT this past Saturday, as said in the opening post. and it seems it’s the first try. I would thought OP might want to retake in the senior fall like most kids would.</p>
<p>I never knew how hard it is for other part of the country folks.
- there are way fewer centers
- someone have to drive kids if they can’t (means drive them back, not dumping them with metro card)
- there are fewer stand-by possibilities
- more willing able being in business kids/parents of suburbia to compete against</p>
<p>confession
I have been mourning for having to go crosstown or ride subway more than 15 min, or once had to go outer borough to take ACT. (still only 45 min subway ride away)
and of course if my kid was like this OP, he’d gotten up, left home and gotten there on time without getting lost.
us moms sharpen number 2 pencils, moms printed out ticket, moms packed cookies bananas vitamin waters, moms searched calculator the night before (or in the morning), all guilty…</p>
<p>What are SAT II scores that I would need for Vassar, Williams, and NYU? Are there recommended subjects to test in? I know they require two but they don’t say if one is better than the other. I’m currently in Algebra II and won’t be in Pre-Cal until next year, so I don’t think Math II is for me. As for foreign languages, I am currently in Spanish, but I am not confident when it comes to grammar. Is the test with listening harder than the one without? I took the National Spanish Exam this year and made a 71% precent overall and 79% in the listening section, putting me in the silver medal category. I don’t think I need SAT II for SAIC.</p>
<p>I need to specify some thing with my NSE scores.
I took the National Spanish Exam this year and made a 71% percent overall in the preliminary scores. That gives me about a 284/400 for the raw scores and a national percentile score of 82%, putting me in the silver medal category. Would I do well on the SAT Spanish based on that?</p>
<p>artschools don’t need SAT IIs (some don’t ask for ANYTHING tests)
kids/parents are less aware here</p>
<p>go to SAT or Admissions forum and ask.
you might get better responses there.
my guess is above 700.
rule of the thumb is, good art EC/ supplements helps but top LACs want to see the numbers first.
I have been told by Vassar faculty when visited, there is nothing he can do unless the kid is in the numbers ballpark.</p>
<p>Do you think doing well on the NSE looks good to colleges? I’m sure it looks good, but is it highly regarded? Last year I got an honorable mention and this year I think I got silver. I’m not absolutely sure yet so it may be bronze.</p>
<p>again, ask in other forum where specialize in such things.
I just peeked at STA forum and man, they are nuts!!!
don’t worry, they ARE nuts. life should not be about 750 curve or one missed question.
then again, those are the ones more likely get into top schools comes next spring with “result” thread parading their stats. so the evil cycle continues…
keep it up, love art, change the world!!</p>
<p>Actually, I found a school with open seats for June 4, but I have to drive an hour to get there. I’m taking US History, Math 1,and Literature. I’m in APUSH and APEng this year, so they should be fairly easy.</p>
<p>Good for you! You have a lot of initiative and I’m impressed!! That’s a nice balance of exams and appropriate for your classes. Just spend some time familiarizing yourself with each of the exams and then just go for it. Between those and the SAT, you will have a good selection for just about all schools. Have you considered taking the ACT? It is more subject related than the SAT – but with finals coming and all, don’t stress it. Most art schools require the SAT or ACT, but your portfolio usually counts for 50% of your admissions process (not factual, just known). Keep us posted – you sound great – good luck!! (But I think you would be better served going to a strong small LAC with a great art department.)</p>
<p>I don’t know how it works but you can change your mind after scanning the test packet on the test day.
my kid did APUSH so that was supposedly he was registered on, then started on questions, thought nah, switched to world history on the spot.
I was appalled when I heard about it. but score came just the same and was OK.
just some option, in case you’d change your mind.
to be sure, read up and prepare just in case. since you are really good about these thing.
I will send you virtual cookies, banana and vitamin water in brown paperbag.</p>
<p>SLH is right, if you chose art-art school, more likely you’d encounter kids like mine. you’d have to chip in to organize group assignment and activities all the time.</p>
<p>erin - I’m a little late to this thread and just scanned it, so apologize if I missed important details. Are you in a public HS? Since you are in top 10% in TX, you should be able to get into UT unless they changed their admissions criteria already. That would be a cheap backup school at a top notch university. Keep it on your list - will make mom and grandfather happy. </p>
<p>WUSTL was mentioned earlier and if you can get in, it has a good art program - not sure about art history. No portfolio required unless you want a scholarship (which you will need with their tuition). BUT, they had 29,000 applicants for 1,500 spots this year. Those are tough odds.</p>
<p>I saw Bears comment earlier asking how you know you want Art History if you haven’t taken a class. That is a little like saying you want to major in physics because you have a gift for math and like chemistry. If possible, it would be good for you to take an intro Art History class. My D was sure she wanted to do Comic Art until she took a class last summer and now says it is a nice thing to do on the side, but doesn’t want to major in it.</p>
<p>While you are exploring all of the options, some things you might consider:
- Build a portfolio. If your art class is not demanding enough, find an outside instructor.
- Plan to visit the National Portfolio Day in Dallas with your portfolio. It is usually in early October.
- Make appointments to talk to the curators at the local art museums and ask them about how they got to this point (can I assume this is a job you would want?). What did you major in and where? What was that program like? What kind of degree program would best prepare someone like me for a career in XXXXX? What advice do you have for me to prepare myself for a degree in art history? Volunteer? Internships? Local teachers or programs?<br>
- Talk to instructors at local universities like SMU, to get their advice and opinions on Art History as a major. Call the Art History Depts or admissions (sometimes they don’t know) of some schools you are interested in and ask what are the driving passions of students who pursue that degree.</p>
<p>I have no idea the comparison to National Spanish Exam and the SAT II spanish. I will warn you that Math I tends to have a pretty tough curve so if you find that you are skipping or guessing on the questions, you may choose not to have it scored. This is a choice you can make at the test time like Bears said. I believe my son did this with the Physics…he had done IB physics but said the physics SAT II was very different …he just wasn’t prepared for a multiple choice exam like that since IB was more problem oriented. You still pay for sitting the test and three SAT II is a very long morning so consider doing your two strongest first. It sounds like USH and English are your best bets since you are doing the AP course this year…remember SAT II tests are made up by the same people who make up the AP tests so there is a definite high overlap. …too bad about the drive. TAKE YOUR LICENSE OR SCHOOL ID…you don’t have the option to go home to get it or anything else you forget…every time I took my son I saw kids weeping/stressed outside waiting for Mom to bring their IDs or ticket or calculator. Put the license and the SAT ticket, in ziploc bag with your #2 pencils and calculator and granola bar and put it on top of the car keys the night before…</p>
<p>Good luck</p>
<p>Well, I’m applying to the Teen Docent program at the DMA for this summer, so that should give me a pretty good idea of what it is like to work in a museum. Also, I absolutely don’t want to go to a school in Texas. There are art museums and galleries here, but they become sparse as you move away from the DFW area. The few galleries in Denton are occupied by amateur artists, and that is how it is with many other smaller cities in Texas. The ones in the DFW area are fantastic, but cannot compare to the huge number in New York.</p>
<p>but UT Austin is not part of TX.
it is a commonwealth turf of Manhattan intellectual.
give TX a chance, keep Austin weird</p>
<p>Hedging. Risk mitigation. That is your back up school… Everyone needs one of those. Unless you plan to take a gap year and try again if you don’t get your top choices. We are from TX as well. D1 did not apply to UT because she was dead set on Illustration or Animation and she was prepared to take a gap year if she did not get her choice. AND we had a plan to provide for the tuition at a stand alone art school. UT is a fantastic school in a great city. If you need to go there, you could use it to launch and transfer if you perform well. </p>
<p>As I understand it, you are interested in a major that you are still exploring and have not actually experienced. For that reason, a back up school with alternative majors is wise. </p>
<p>Being a teen docent is a good experience! It will offer you a limited perspective of museum management because frankly, you are a volunteer. How much of the inner workings and business decisions are they going to share with you? You might also consider networking with professionals outlined earlier. Yes, Dallas is not New York, but you are looking for people who can give you advice on a college major and colleges, correct? Are New Yorkers the only ones who can offer this advice? Of course not. And who says you can’t call people at the Gugenheim, for example? You sound like you have moxie.</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=47311]Meadows”>http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=47311]Meadows</a> Museum Acquires Rare Masterwork by Spanish Court Painter Vicente L</p>
<p>and onto alternate career path. like mom4 saz</p>
<p>OP - NPD Schedule is out. Austin 10/8, Dallas 10/9 [National</a> Portfolio Day - 2011-12 NPDA Event Schedule](<a href=“http://www.portfolioday.net/content/view/104/53/]National”>http://www.portfolioday.net/content/view/104/53/)</p>
<p>By then you will have done alot of research into Art History/Painting programs, cost, selectivity, location, etc. Please note that only NASAD members who are part of this association go to these reviews - so you won’t see Williams and many others there. But it is worth the trip. Also, you might check on SAIC’s website for their travel days. We went to an SAIC day in Austin which was much more intimate (50 people or so) and which included a portfolio review.</p>