<p>DS2 is a sophomore and not doing well in pre-cal. The plan all along was to have him take the Math II SAT Subject Test in the spring, but he's got a low B/high C at this point, and I wonder whether he should just take the Math I instead.</p>
<p>He does standardized testing really well. Has some aspirations of Georgetown and other places that require two or three tests. He has no intention of being a math or science major. Should he:</p>
<p>1) Roll the dice with Math II (not sure that he will improve his grade dramatically)?
2) Take Math I (he made As in lower-level math classes)?
3) Not even take a math subject test, not knowing how he'd fare in a science-related test?</p>
<p>I would wait until his junior year when he is taking an AP class. He can get the study guide and prep for the SAT Subject Matter tests right after finishing the AP test in May. He can take English, a math or science and whatever else in which he feels strong.</p>
<p>He hasn’t, ILoveLA. Good thought. I guess I was thinking that since he isn’t interested in a math/science major that it’s not biggie to take the Math I instead of the Math II.</p>
<p>glido, he’ll definitely wait until junior year for any other tests. I was just hoping to knock math out earlier since he will have had the corresponding course.</p>
<p>Do any of the colleges he hopes to apply to specifically require a math subject test?</p>
<p>If not, it might be a better strategy for him to choose tests in other fields. Math is not an absolute requirement for many colleges. It’s not even necessarily a requirement to have one test be in math or a science. Some students, for example, take history and a foreign language. This is acceptable to some colleges but not others.</p>
<p>What are his other candidate subject tests? He will want to have two subject tests. If he has two other subjects that he would expect to do better in, why take a math subject test at all?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend that anyone take Math Level 1, since it has a harder curve than Math Level 2, e.g. you can miss a lot more questions on Level 2 and still get a high score than you could on Level 1. The college board has the raw score conversion tables for all of their tests online.</p>
<p>D took Math II as a junior after the first year of AP Calculus and did very well. True, I did purchase a Princeton Review book for her about a month before the test to refresh her memory, but it still seemed relatively easy for her. Assuming that your S will continue on to Calculus next year, why not wait a year until he feels more comfortable with the material and then decide which test, if at all, to take?</p>
<p>My younger son does not test well in math. He made the mistake of waiting till junior year (the year he was taking Pre-Calc) and took Math 2, got a 610 which he definitely didn’t want to send to Georgetown. When he looked at Math 1 in the practice book, he felt he wouldn’t score any better in that he decided to take Literature instead. He did have a good score in Biology thanks to AP Bio and his 3rd score was in History. He was applying to SFS. What I’d suggest is that you son take both practice tests in the SAT book that has real tests - and see how he scores. For a non-science major a good score in Math 1 is fine. It’s true, though that if you are well prepared you can get several wrong answers and still get an 800 on Math 2, so many feel it’s easier as long as you are familiar with the math it covers.</p>
<p>One can generally miss ~7 questions on Math Level II and still get an 800. </p>
<p>S2, who is not a math guy (Bs from Alg I on, and sometimes it was a struggle for those), took Math Level II at the end of pre-Calc and did VERY well (shockingly well, to put none too fine a point on it). Went through a couple of test guides and DH would patiently work with S through every problem he missed. He also applied to SFS.</p>
<p>If he can take a science SAT-II this year and do well in lieu of a math, go for it, esp. if he feels he should present “well-rounded” subject scores. S2 did USH, Math Level II (because he missed the 9th grade pre-IB Bio teacher’s repeated advice that her course matched up REALLY WELL to the SAT-II), and English Lit. If he’s taking AP World Hist or Euro junior year, those are good options for the SAT-II, too (and the MC on AP and SAT-II align pretty closely). </p>
<p>Foreign language SAT-IIs can be tough scoring for non-native speakers, but IIRC, even Harvard waives the FL requirement with a 600 FL score. S2 was not confident enough in his Spanish to that the SAT-II, though he wound up doing better than he expected on the AP and IB SL.</p>
<p>Marian convinced me years ago that taking the SAT-IIs immediately after the corresponding course, and getting all testing done by the end of junior year, was a good strategy. Boy, she was right! :)</p>
<p>Shockingly well? C’mon, 11% of the students who take that test get a perfect 800! If you’re taking the SAT IIs, you’re almost certainly looking to get into schools that primarily only admit that top 10%.</p>
<p>He has to take pre-cal this year. He could try to leave the honors track, but they generally won’t let you do that unless you’re flat-out failing. </p>
<p>He went to tutoring today after school and feels like he “beasted,” so he still has hope he can turn this thing around. ;)</p>
<p>I need to look at the list of subject tests and try to figure out which ones would be best for him. I have an old Math ST book leftover from ds1, and the Math I section hasn’t been touched. I guess I’ll let him take that as a practice and go from there. We’re trying to get all the testing done junior year, too.</p>
<p>LorenIpsum, yeah, he scored 100 points higher than any practice test he’d taken and 220 points higher than his Math PSAT the prior year. “Shockingly well” was EXACTLY how he described it. He was one question short of the “top 11%.”</p>
<p>If he’s not planning to major in math, science, or engineering, I’d encourage him to take two subject tests in areas that are stronger for him. </p>
<p>I look to Georgetown to abandon the 3-Subject Test recommendation next year in favor of just 2 tests. Once Harvard eliminated the 3-test requirement, Georgetown was the “last man standing” with a 3-test requirement. Clearly, Georgetown felt the pressure from Harvard, thus the softening of the “requirement” to a “recommendation.” I think it’s a good bet that next year they’ll adopt a 2-test requirement. I don’t think they want to be the only remaining American university asking for the results of 3 tests.</p>
<p>wjb, I agree with you – they will lose very qualified applicants who don’t want to spend the time/energy/$$$ on a third test. Has Princeton also dropped the third test requirement?</p>
<p>The three test “recommendation” at Georgetown was also present last year when S2 applied.</p>
<p>Watch out for the timing on the tests. I think the math tests are routinely offered at every SAT date, but some subjects are not. World History, for example, is only offered once or twice a year. So when you are choosing tests, look ahead for the dates. You can’t take the regular SAT on the same day, so if he ends up taking that twice it will chew up two of the SAT dates in his junior year.</p>
<p>intparent – I’d forgotten about that – WH is usually offered in June, but not May – S1 was out of town the day of the WH exam and had to make arrangements for a ride to take him to the test.</p>
<p>Foreign Language with Listening tests are usually in December only – but check the CB schedule.</p>
<p>He does not need a Math SAT II (any level), considering he is not looking to major in math/science/engineering. He should instead concentrate on bringing up his grade in class, as that is far more important – to have good grades – than a standardized test.</p>
<p>He should also concentrate on his upper year (grades 11 and 12) classes in high level social science/humanities type classes (e.g., AP econ, government, English, etc.) since he wants to stay away from a science/math major in college. He should still challenge himself as best he can in upper level science & math classes (perhaps AP environmental science or AP statistics), but he does not need AP Calculus BC, e.g., to prove his worth to admissions committees.</p>