<p>Assuming a student takes numerous SAT II tests and numerous AP tests throughout 9th, 10th, and 11th grade... is the student required to submit all SAT II scores and all AP scores when applying to Universities? I.e. Do they all get reported or is a student allowed to pick and choose which AP and/or SAT II scores to report to the colleges they apply to? </p>
<p>I ask simply to be able to help my child plan ahead. I.e. If my child thinks she'll only do "ok" on Bio SAT II test next month as a freshman, wouldn't it make more sense not to take it?</p>
<p>Many uiniversities want to see 2 or 3 SAT II scores, so if she knows she will do much better on SAT II tests in 10th and 11th grade (simply because of her interest in other subjects versus Biology) wouldn't it make since to pass on the Bio SAT II test? Or does she not have to report it, or do they not really care if a student has a few SAT II scores in the 700s and then one in the high 500s or low 600s?</p>
<p>Similar question regarding AP classes. If History is not a strong suit, is it worth passing AP World Historynext year simply to not have to worry about having to report a 3 etc. I recognize that if her options are AP World History or regular World History, Universities would prefer she take the most rigorous courses, not to mention the increased GPA. However, if AP World History takes up soooo much time and she ends up getting a B in the class, I think she would be better off simply taking regular World History, where hopefully she would easily get an A and have a lot more time to focus on making sure she gets A's in all her other classes. She has 6 Honors(or AP) classes set for next year. Does it make sense to lower the History class to regular instead of AP, simply to have more time for all the others, give herself a chance to get A's in all the other classes, and ultimately it's not a hit on her GPA for not taking AP World History... assuming she gets an A in regular World History and would have gotten a B in AP World History. Plus, if she thinks she would struggle to get a 4 or higher on the World History AP test... does this idea make sense? Or is one not required to report a low AP score to colleges?</p>
<p>By the way... I'm not really concerned with the idea of "not" placing out of college courses. I.e. I don't really care if she has a zillion credits entering college or not. My concern is making sure she is not completely overloaded and that she has the time to do as well as she can in all of her classes as opposed to taking "all" honors classes and then many of her grades slip because 1 class takes up so much time.</p>
<p>Some top tier colleges require that you submit all the SAT Is and SAT IIs you’ve taken since your freshman year. I’d suggest only taking them if you feel prepared, rather than taking them for the sake of taking them.</p>
<p>The way I personally went about choosing classes was taking the most rigorous courses in the subjects I knew I could excel in. I’m good at English and history, science is do-able and I’m horrible at math. So throughout high school, I only took the most advance classes in every subject but math. What I’m trying to say is that I wouldn’t shy away from a class because it’ll be too much work. I’d only pass on the class because it’s truly not something I’m interested in, nor do I have a history of doing well in. Moreover, I think a 90% in an AP class would be better than a 100% in a regular course. And a 3 on an AP test means a student is “qualified,” so it’s really not frowned upon or anything. </p>
<p>For me, the work was hard and stressful, especially combined with other activities. However, everything was well worth the effort in the end.</p>
<p>What Bio class is your child currently taking? </p>
<p>I’m all for getting Subject tests out of the way as early as possible. But only if prepared, which usually means taking the corresponding AP class (or preCalc for Math 2). Taking the Subject test the same time as the AP test is very time effective because AP tests are more comprehensive than the Subject tests and so no additional studying is required for the Subject test (with the exception of the Math 2, which usually requires some going over older material).</p>
<p>You don’t have to report all your scores. I don’t think I even sent any AP scores to my colleges, and I still got accepted to most of them. As for subject tests, only the more selective colleges require them, and only 2 or 3 that are relevant to your major. I was applying for engineering, so Carnegie Mellon wanted one for math and another for either chemistry or physics. I ended up sending every score of every test anyways, but you definitely have a choice of which scores you want them to see. For SAT’s though, a lot of colleges want to see all the scores/</p>
<p>As for AP vs Regular classes, I didn’t really think AP scores were that big of a factor. Most kids from my school didn’t even send in the AP scores unless they were asked for. Taking AP classes shows that you are taking a challenging course load though, which is a big factor in admissions.</p>
<p>My child is taking Biology I Honors. She’s a freshman. Next year she will take Chem I Honors, then Jr year Physics I Honors, then Sr year she can take Bio II, Chem II, and/or Physics II… all the “II’s” are AP classes. This is her track, assuming she stays at her current dayschool, and doesn’t apply for boarding school.</p>
<p>People are starting to talk about taking the Biology SAT II test. It’s definitely my child’s weakest subject… only class she doesn’t have an A in, so I think I’m going to recommend she pass on taking it.</p>
<p>Interesting, so you did not take “all” the most challenging classes available to you, as it appears you shyed away from taking the highest level math classes. It also appears you got into Princeton. That’s encouraging. I was kind of concerned thinking it would be absolutely necessary to take each and every top level class offered, each and every year. History classes (and Biology) are certainly my daughter’s weaknesses. Perhaps I will recommend simply taking regular history next year, though class rank would certainly fall. It’s a tough choice. She’s involved in so many sports and other activities, it might be worth the tradeoff. I suspect she would fall from top 2-3% down to the top 8-10% range simply for taking non AP history classes 10th and 11th grade year… meaning even if she gets an A in regular history those two years, it would drop her down to the 8-10% range simply because of the # of kids that “will” take all honors/AP and many will make all A’s. Tough call.</p>