<p>So I am planning on applying to Columbia next winter. They require two subject tests. I do not want to be an engineer so that frees up my options. I have taken french for the past 6 years, and was planning to do that one, but I heard it is really hard. Took Us history ap test this year, but wont remeber any of it by next year. WHich ones should i take? Literature? So confusing. Also if my Sat I math score was less that desirable (670 M compared to my 760 R), should I take a math I sat II test to make up for it?</p>
<p>I know you have probably heard this a lot, but take which ones you feel CONFIDENT that you can do well in! I would take French if you feel like you have a great knowledge of it. Don’t take math just to make up for the SAT reasoning if you don’t feel you could score 700+ on it. If you are confident in it though, have been consistently scoring high on practice SAT subject math tests, and feel you could get 700+, then I say go for it. </p>
<p>It also helps to take subjects that you just took classes for, or are taking classes for (or that you can significantly self study for). Although this isn’t necessarily the case for Lit. For Lit, if you have great reading comprehension, have read your share of literature pieces, and have time to self study, or already know basic literary terms, then you could take Lit.</p>
<p>Finally, it would help to buy the college board book for all SAT subject tests and take a diagnostic test in the subjects you feel you could do well in. Then see which ones you feel most confident about, sign up for that test, and buy a prep book for extra review! (If you don’t want to buy the book then just go to sat.collegeboard.org and take the practice questions for the subjects there).</p>
<p>But all in all, unless the colleges you are applying to/major you are going into specifies that you need to take a particular subject test, it is entirely up to you. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Ok so I am a great reader, and my teacher focused on literary terms this year so I could do that one. Now if I was sure to score 700+ on my math would that make a difference to Columbia at all?</p>
<p>Yes if you feel confident about Lit then definitely take it! But take practice tests, and buy a good prep book (like kaplan or princeton review) to study for it.</p>
<p>I think if you could get a solid math score on a subject test in math, that colleges would definitely look at it and weight it seriously (although I can’t speak for Columbia alone), and it could compensate for the lower sat I math score. If you want to know for sure though about Columbia specifically, you could contact an admissions officer and ask them, I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to ask…</p>
<p>So if you decide to take the sat math, then definitely focus fully on studying for the subject tests. </p>
<p>Once you get satisfactory subject scores, then I would say if you don’t have anything else going for you (like impressive ecs, hooks, or an impressive academic transcript) then try taking SAT reasoning again but placing great emphasis and concentration on the math section. It couldn’t hurt to take it once more (unless you’ve already taken it 3 times or unless you have other things going for you like I mentioned above). But overall don’t stress over your SAT I scores if you get good subject test scores because they look good to me!</p>
<p>–The French test is difficult, but not impossible. 6 years of French should have given you enough knowledge to excel on the test.</p>
<p>–If you’ve taken Precalculus, you should consider the Math II test. The curve is nice and is much more aligned to a high school’s precalculus curriculum, as opposed to the logic-test-like SAT Reasoning Math section.</p>
<p>–Do realize that the Lit Subject Test is the SAT CR section on steroids. The Lit Subject Test asks questions like those on the SAT CR section, but gives you arcane poems instead of passages.</p>
<p>314159265 I do agree. The CR is much easier than the Lit, but I still think if you do very well on CR you can do well on Lit (but it is worth noting that there are a lot of poems and “older” english prose on the test). If you buy a good prep book that helps you analyze poems the way the Lit test wants you too, it’s fine. For the Lit test, you really need a solid background of literary terms, and you just need to be able to read difficult passages, quickly and effectively! I do agree that the Lit test can be very hard compared to the CR on SAT I, but if you do well on practice tests you will most likely do well on the real thing! (And just for the record I found Kaplan and Princeton Review tests harder than the actual College Board test, but that is subjective I guess).</p>
<p>I am going into calculus bc ap next year so I will consider Math II. I can always take Math II, French and Lit and then send the two highest scores. Thanks guys this has been very helpful. And yeah, I really struggle with the reasoning part of math. Just give me some good trig or mathematical induction and I will be happy.</p>