<p>Re: the SATII w/or/wout listening: do colleges have a preference as to which one students take or does that depend on each individual college? Most of the schools D is looking at seem to indicate the SATII and/or AP and/or placement exam are used for placement purposes but there's not much further definition. She's already taken 3 subject tests so she'd really just be doing this for placement, not admissions. I would hate for her to miss the November test if the listening is preferred. </p>
<p>Yikes! Hope that made sense.</p>
<p>Strangely Harvard's language requirement reads "Earning a minimum score of 600 on a College Entrance Examination Board SAT II Test that includes a reading component". Are there language subject tests that don't include a reading component? But clearly they don't care about the listening.</p>
<p>bleh. I just got my scores back from the subject tests. I did well in physics, but I (relatively) bombed French. I got 620, and my practice tests were in the 750+ range. I guess the practice tests were just easy =( I should definitely retake this right? (aiming for Ivies...)</p>
<p>Sabaray: I asked ad officers the same question: they all said take the test which plays to your strengths. With listening, without listening, it doesn't really matter: it is the score that counts and frankly, SAT IIs are not terribly high up on the admissions totem poll. Have your daughter take whichever feels most comfortable for her and whichever date fits her schedule.</p>
<p>Zephyr: I wouldn't call 620 a "bombed test"... The score could be improved upon but its context depends upon how much French has been available to you... If your school has a relatively strong Fr dep't and you have done well in French grade-wise, it might be worth a retake. Remember too that lang SAT IIs are regarded as some of the more difficult (also, there is always a contingent of native speakers who take the test which unfairly skews the percentiles). I had a good review book from one of the smaller publishing houses :Amazon.com:</a> SAT French Subject Test, The Best Test Prep (Test Preps): L. Cregg, P. Cuvillier, Miriam Ellis: Books
It is MUCH better, IMO, than Barron's, Pton Review or Kaplan.</p>
<p>Yeah, I started french in 9th grade, though I live in Canada. I've done quite well in french, so I'd want to retake it if I could be better prepared. I'll look into that book, the Princeton Review was too easy frankly (compared to the actual test).</p>
<p>Princeton Review's strategy is to give you [what they think] is the least amount of material to learn in order to be prepared. From what I've seen, it's never enough. Barron's takes the opposite approach which can also be very problematic especially in subjects like bio which have such a wide scope. The book I recommended is, in my opinion, far superior to most of the mainstream prep books. Because I was studying for the test without much formal guidance, I needed a book that would show me exactly what would be on the test and what I needed to revisit.</p>