SAT II: 800 vs. AP: 5

<p>Actually, I should have said 750-790 vs. 5</p>

<p>Should I still take the SAT II Subject test if I've had A's and A+'s for the whole year and got a 5 on the AP Physics B exam? What are my chances of getting an 800 on my 1st try? Are Subject Tests usually harder or easier than AP exams? Are there curves more lenient? (Is it harder to get an 800 on the Subject test or a 5 on the AP exam?) Is it worth it??</p>

<p>What if I get, lets say, a 750-790 on the test? How much will it affect the positive impression of my A's, A+'s and the 5? I'm guessing it will really hurt if I get below a 750 right? I'm aiming for UCB, UCLA, Stanford.</p>

<p>I haven't been studying at all since the AP exam and I know I forgot a lot of what I had crammed in before. Do you think it is worth reviewing and brush up in to prepare for the SAT II Subject test? </p>

<p>If I'm taking the Physics SAT II, it will have to be Oct; is this enough time to prepare and mabye re-learn the material?</p>

<p>Subject tests tend to be harder than AP tests; getting a 5 on an AP test is a LOT easier than getting an 800 on a subject test.</p>

<p>subject tests usually test material covered in a normal high school course, so the material on the subject tests is a lot easier than the ap tests. if you buy 1-2 prep books and read through them, do some practice tests, etc., you will definitely be able to get between a 750-800. I got a 5 on the chem ap test and a 790 on the SAT II...</p>

<p>It seems to me that whether you take the SAT Physics test or not should be determined at least partly by what you plan to study in college. Your schools require two subject tests, I believe - usually in subjects that relate to your intended major. If math/science/engineering, you will definitely need to take the math subject test & some science-related one. If you're going to study something completely different, then it would be better to take a subject test that is more closely related to your field of interest. (Sorry, if this is just stating the obvious.)</p>

<p>Most likely, it would not be difficult for you to do some study & brush-up on the physics & do quite well on the SAT, especially if you enjoy & "get" physics (which seems to be the case, based on your post). Too bad you didn't take it in May or June, when it would have been really fresh in your mind. Are there other science classes you've taken that you would prefer to take as a subject test?</p>

<p>My son got a 5 on the AP Physics B as a junior & got an 800 on the SAT Physics test last June. I don't remember whether he thought one of the tests was harder than the other, but remember that he thought the actual SAT test was easier than the practice tests he studied on his own & came out of both tests feeling like he'd done pretty well. He took Physics C this past year & felt he did well, but we don't yet know the scores. </p>

<p>I don't believe a score of less than 750 will make that much of a difference, although if it's less than 700, it might. But just remember that it's a lot more than just the scores that count.
Good luck!</p>

<p>I took the SAT II Biology in January and got an 800. didn't study for the AP test (didn't have AP Biology either) and got a 5. but that's because i studied really hard for the SAT.</p>

<p>@PKSswmr76</p>

<p>That's so weird. I got the same scores (well, I haven't got my AP chem score yet but I'm pretty sure I got a 5). I didn't prep for the SAT chem but that was because it was the June test right after the AP chem exam. Not to mention that chem is my favorite subject.</p>

<p>@JenniferJones08</p>

<p>Are you the type of person who knows a few areas very well or knows all of the areas to some extent? If you're the latter, then an 800 should be very likely to attain on the SAT physics exam considering that it's regular physics level and Physics B is AP level.</p>

<p>Also, please don't post the same thread in 2 different subforums.</p>

<p>Yeah, I should have taken it in June, but I was soo worn out after the AP exam. I reviewed everything before the AP exam and the MC was a breeze for me (the FR was harder). I'm decent at pretty much everything but I might have forgotten a lot of things. I haven't touched any Physics for a couple of months now. </p>

<p>So yeah, if I play to apply to UCB and Stanford, I know I need at least 2 subject tests. I'm planning to take Math IIC in Oct also. I will probably also take Biology SAT II because I'm taking Bio AP next year.</p>

<p>Will Math IIC, Physics, and Bio look good for a person wanting to go towards the science, computer engineering, or medical fields? Should you only take subject tests at areas that you excel and love the most? Thanks for your help guys! :D</p>

<p>Math IIC, Physics, and Bio will be just fine.</p>

<p>Actually, both the subject tests and the AP exams are designed to test material learned in a college level class. look on the college board website.</p>

<p>I found that, though subject tests have easier material on them, it's harder to get a perfect score simply because if you get a bunch wrong, chances are your score will be 750-790 rather than 800. The good (or bad, depending on how you view it) thing about AP tests is that you can get a 70% on most of them and still get a "perfect" score because such a wide range of raw scores get a 5. If I were you, I'd ask other people or my physics teacher about how hard THEY thought the subject test was. If you have an A+, chances are you'll get an 800 or in the high 700's. However, some teachers don't cover all the material on the subect test or just... aren't that good. For example, I have a friend who got an A+ in honors physics in our school and still only managed a 750 on the SAT II. He took the AP Physics B exam and got a 5, though. <em>shrug</em></p>

<p>you only need around 65-70% to get a 5 but you need at least 85%-90% to get an 800</p>

<p>Subject tests are much harder. I got a 5 on both the US history and world history APs, but I only got a 680 on both of their respective subject tests. Don't make the mistake I did by thinking that you're prepared for the subject tests just because you did well on the AP exams.</p>

<p>yes, but the opposite holds true. if you get an 800 on a subject test, you are guaranteed (100%) to get a 5 on the AP exam. no joke.</p>

<p>I think 710-749 on a subject test equal a 4. I got a 720 on US History in May and I got a 4 on the AP test(I messed up when I wrote about Shay's Rebellion).</p>

<p>I'm not quite sure about other subjects...but for Chemistry I found that the AP multiple choice and SAT Subject test had a lot in common. The type of questions were pretty much the same...including the topics tested. However, the AP test has questions that require you to analyze question in further depth. Also, in the AP exam you need pretty good math (arithmetic and logarithms) that you can do without a calculator; unless of course you can guess and estimate pretty well. </p>

<p>One of my classmates even did pretty well in the SAT Subject test with only a semester of AP Chemistry...but with one semester of AP Chemistry I don't think you would do well in the actually exam (especially since we hadn't covered Electrochemistry, Rates of Reaction and Thermodynamics), but you wouldn't get a very high score (750+). Therefore you could say that the SAT Chemistry test is easier than the AP. </p>

<p>After having said all that I think it would be more difficult to get an 800 (like 3 mistakes?) rather than the AP 5...just because of the fact that AP exams have a bigger curve (like a 65-70% for a 5). Of course you would never know if someone got a 65% or a 100%...therefore I would actually say that an 800 is a better score and indication that you are better at the subject...but it depends...</p>

<p>And of course this is just based on Chemistry alone...not sure about the others</p>

<p>5s are more common than 800s.</p>

<p>For an 800, you can get very few wrong. There is much more latitude with AP scores.</p>