Hello college confidential!
I’m a rising senior interested in applying to Georgetown university (among other schools) in the fall. I mention Georgetown because they require three subject tests. In June, I took 3 subject tests with zero SAT II-specific prep and received one score in the 99th percentile, one in the 91st, and one in the 34th percentile. Obviously the last score doesn’t look to great on my record.
As Georgetown is a school where you are required to submit ALL tests taken, should I retake the subject test on which I performed poorly? Or, should I just take a different subject test and shoot for a high score? Or does it not matter too much?
Advice is much appreciated! Thanks in advance!
It’s probably not going to make a difference in terms of admission whether you decide to try and new one or retake. The important thing is to do prep this time around.
You need to list the subject tests and scores to receive a helpful answer. It also depends on what you intend to study. If the 34th percentile was for Math II, for instance, that’s not nearly as bad as the 34th for literature, given that the curve is more generous for math and more challenging for lit.
800 Lit, 790 US, 640 Chem
Ds2 got in with a much lower third score than 640.
My recommendation, honestly, is to not retake it unless you are certain you will score higher. You should focus on other aspects of your app.
Those lit and us hist scores are wonderful. If you apply EA, you’ll be fine. If not, you still have a shot. I got into Williams with a 620 on Bio and only a 700 on Lit, but my essay was A1 and my application spoke. Keep this in mind. Cost of opportunity. Diminishing returns.