<p>Nope, my kids were not bored out of their minds, although the older kids both found calc easy. I will say that the teachers of honors classes are very aware of the subject content of the SAT subject tests and, for the most part, make an effort to make sure that they cover that material in class. The honors chem teacher goes as far as giving practice SAT subject tests to the class at a couple of points throughout the year so that students can see where they are at. The thing is, @dreadpirit, the way the curriculum at the HS in our town is set up, most students don’t have an opportunity to take many, if any, APs until senior year - at which point it’s too late for SAT2s at the end of the year. </p>
<p>Also, HS finally changed its rules for APUSH. They could not figure out why they never had enough seniors to run the class. They finally realized that requiring the kids to take a very rigorous honors US History class in preparation was a little redundant. APUSH is now offered instead of honors junior year. In this case, it would make perfect sense to take SAT2 after AP course.</p>
<p>Each HS is so different in terms of curriculum and the rigor of what they call honors, etc, I think it is impossible to make a blanket statement about the best time to take subject tests. One size does not fit all. It’s important to understand how your child’s school works and talk to the respective teachers about how many kids take subject tests at the end of the class and if they know how they tend to score. </p>
<p>My regular high school physics course got me a score in that range on the physics achievement test without additional preparation. Physics in college (the one for physics and engineering majors) was more difficult, of course.</p>
<p>The only subject in which S took both honors and AP was chem, and he certainly was not bored in AP chem. Same (very good) teacher for both, he got a 760 or something like that on the SATII and a 5 on the AP exam. This came about because the HS revamped their sequence while he was there. Now the better students just go straight into the APs. (Also, the hon class was soph yr and the AP sr year, so at least there was a gap.)</p>
<p>“The honors chem teacher goes as far as giving practice SAT subject tests to the class at a couple of points throughout the year so that students can see where they are at.” Not in our honors courses. I’m pretty sure the teachers don’t even mention the SAT2 to the class. They certainly aren’t doing test prep with the kids.</p>
<p>^^ I realize that this is one area where our HS does an excellent job. On the other hand, APs are a little scarce compared to other schools and those that are offered are not always well taught. For some reason, the best teachers teach the honors classes and AP classes are often (not always) taught by teachers that have no business teaching them. Like any school, you take the good with the bad and work within the system the best you can.</p>
<p>My son took AP Physics B junior year (getting an 800 on the SAT subject test with no additional study) then is taking AP Physics C this year. His school offers Mechanics and E&M in two separate classes, and he is taking both. He is bored in Mechanics but challenged in E&M.</p>
<p>“Question for anyone who thinks their honors science classes are that good that they are ready to get 750s on the subject test, are your kids bored out of their minds when they take the AP class?”</p>
<p>Not with respect to science but math. My son kind-of struggled in honors pre-calc junior year. I don’t know if it was the teacher or what, but it was probably the hardest class he took in high school and the class he did the worst in (B- ish) However, he got I think 750 or 760 on the Math 2 Sat II. So to answer the question, no definitely was not bored, but thankfully not turned off of math either. He went on to take both AP calculus and statistics senior year and did well in those and is contemplating a math major now as a college sophomore.</p>
<p>Same at our school. Counselors don’t even mention the subject tests to students as they plan their schedules or even as a prep for applying to schools. I have sent numerous emails to the administration and they are unresponsive. It’s a shame really. I had to start an email chain to parents to inform them that subject tests even existed. </p>
<p>My regular high school physics course did not include any achievement test specific preparation, unless you could learning high school level physics as such preparation.</p>
<p>While it might be nice to see the test format and kinds of questions on the test, it is not essential to do well.</p>
<p>Our school has APUSH as the first high school American History course for the juniors who take it. They all have had two years of American history in middle school so it’s really not unreasonable. I think it’s hard to make blanket statements about SATs vs APs. My older son is a terrific test taker. He got 5’s on all his APs and racked up 3 800’s on the subject tests in one sitting. (He didn’t do quite so well on the regular SAT!) Younger son got a 5 in AP Bio, took the Bio SAT E and got a 720, took the Bio M the next month and got another 720. Meanwhile he got 790’s both times in US History which he was also taking as an AP. </p>