SAT II Math - 8th or 9th grade?

<p>I don’t know why colleges even want the Math SAT II. Isn’t the regular Math SAT enough for them? Sorry, just had to rant against all the tests these kids take. But I agree, if they’re good at math, it shouldn’t be difficult.</p>

<p>Cardinal Fang: At our local “college prep” public school (in the neighboring school district) they excuse their less-than-stellar grades on the Math SAT II (and also on the PSAT) by saying they are so “advanced” that they have “forgotten” how to do the basic math. Right.</p>

<p>The good thing about being able to take the Math 2 Subject test is that any advanced math student can take it without further review and it counts as a Subject Test for those colleges who want you to take 2 or 3 of them. Better than than having to review chemistry or physics!</p>

<p>Warning- even top students should review their math for the subject test if they want an 800. Not all students do as well as they could without the review as son found out. For us this ancient history- but maybe a very elite school would have admitted him…</p>

<p>Kelo: congrats for your son. Please contact collegeboard and have them hold the score, otherwise they purge the middle school test results. </p>

<p>I would also recommend your son take the AMC-12 test:
[MAA</a> American Mathematics Competitions - AMC](<a href=“http://www.unl.edu/amc/index.shtml]MAA”>http://www.unl.edu/amc/index.shtml)
which is administered twice a year throughout the US. If your son’s school doesn’t offer it, quite often you can find a center where they administer it close by. You can get thier prior year questions on a CD for a nominal fee, and he can see how he does. The test is very popular among kids with interest in math, much harder, and the scores are used by some top schools like MIT. A good performance in it is a qualifier for even more rigorous tests like AIME and USAMO. My S only got as far as the AIME and learned pretty quickly that he had a lot more to learn than he thought.</p>

<p>Also, if your son isn’t already participating in the art of problem solving community:
[Art</a> of Problem Solving](<a href=“http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/]Art”>http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/) have sit through a few free “math jam” sessions and participate in their bulletin boards; he’ll be able to find kids who are also highly talented in math.</p>