SAT II Retakes, Your Opinion Wanted

Test Preparation
1

<p>Hello all and Happy New Year!</p>

<p>I took my SAT II Subject tests late in the game and did poorly, they are by far the weakest part of my application and likely unacceptable to the schools I'm applying too.</p>

<p>SAT II Spanish (reading): 570
SAT II Math I: 690</p>

<hr>

<p>By comparison, here is my profile:
GPA (weighted, 1.0AP .5Hnrs): 4.15
SAT I: 2220 Total, 700 Math, 720 Reading, 800 Writing
Solid ECs
Great essays
Good recommendations</p>

<h2>The schools that I am applying to and am concerned will consider me less because of my performance on SAT IIs: Columbia (legacy), Penn, Cornell.</h2>

<p>So the heavy question. Should I take SAT IIs again in January and send those scores out? I would likely take English, Math I, and/or Math II.</p>

<p>Your opinion means a lot, and thank you in advance!</p>

2

<p>30 views, any opinions? your help is appreciated</p>

3

<p>yes, you should take them again. just be sure the schools accept January test date.</p>

4

<p>Thank you SDonCC. One other question, should I send a letter to the colleges of interest explaining that my performance on those tests wasn’t representative of my ability, and for that reason I’ll be taking tests again in January?</p>

5

<p>You should definetly retake the SAT IIs, espeicially with the schools you applied to. I don’t know about the letters, but make sure they get your new scores.</p>

6

<p>They will get them for sure, but likely way after seeing my bad scores and judging me for those. I’ll try calling some admissions offices to get their preferred methods.</p>

<p>Any other advice is welcome, and thanks ncm2012.</p>

7

<p>By English do you mean Literature? It’s a hard one to study since you don’t know what kind of (weird) passages they may throw at you.</p>

<p>The Math 2 has a more generous curve than Math 1.</p>

<p>Have you considered schools that don’t require subject tests? The rest of your “package” is strong.</p>

8

<p>I’ve rethought taking Literature after looking at some of the passages you’re talking about. I sent all of my test scores to all of my schools (probably a bad idea considering some did not require or even suggest it).</p>

<p>My school list is diverse, two safeties (George Mason and Virginia Tech), three goals (U of Virginia, College of William and Mary, Carnegie Mellon), and three reaches (Penn, Columbia, Cornell). </p>

<p>I am now debating between Math I and II (I have taken Precalc Regular, and am in AP Calc AB this year). It would probably look good for me to retake the Spanish test as well, but my score would not be above 700. Granted, my stronger recommendation comes from my AP Spanish teacher.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for your advice!</p>

9

<p>If I could get any more opinions on whether or not I should send a letter informing these colleges of my intention to retake these subject tests because they weren’t representative of my ability, it would be really helpful. Thanks!</p>