Has anyone only submitted only one SAT subject test and been accepted?
Penn requires 2 SAT subject tests. Why would you waste ~$80, go through filling out the essays, take the new SAT and one subject test to end up submitting an incomplete application? They will probably throw it away without reading it…easy way to weed out applicants.
@karen0 that wasn’t meant to come off as rude either. I just really think you would be throwing away any chances you might have and it’s a lot of time and money to invest to do that
It is possible, but you have time to submit two, so why not do it?
Penn recommends but does not require 2 subject tests, I heard from Dean Furda at alumni event. DD already has one subject test, she has an athletic conflict on June 2, next SAT test date and will be taking regular SAT for the second time on 8/25. So that only leaves the October test date and she is applying to Penn ED, very tight. I know Penn says recommends but does that really mean requires assuming there are no financial issues to testing?
SAT subject tests are optional at UPenn/Wharton. Not having 2/3/4/x will not be why your DS /DD/both (not clear from your other threads) does not get into Wharton.
Parent to parent, your student attends an academically competitive boarding school, which certainly has experienced GCs. You have started a new thread on this topic every month for the last 4 months. Your level of anxiety is getting to me- and I am not your kid! If your anxiety reflects your students, then you can best help her/him by ratcheting it down, emphasizing that there are a lot of paths to get to the same destination (ie, no one college/set of colleges is the be-all) and letting that GC you are paying for through tuition take the lead.
If it is your anxiety, b/c that is the path you believe best for them, please take 2 steps back. I am related to, and see every year in my kid’s classes, kids whose parents have made it clear that any college ‘less’ than X (specific name or group such as “Ivy”) is not good enough- and then the kid doesn’t get accepted to X. The damage it does to the kids and the families is heartbreaking to watch. The kid not only gets the sting of rejection, but feels as if they have failed their parents- even though they almost always have acceptances to other academically excellent colleges. It’s a terrible moment for a parent when they realize how much extra, unnecessary pain their kid is in and is gutted; it’s even worse when the parent has put so much of their own ego into it that they feel embarrassed or like a failure, b/c that compounds the kid’s misery.
Either way, the difference in career trajectory between the graduates of super duper selective, super selective and the merely very selective is simply not that big in the US.
DS applying ED to Wharton, he has one SAT II, in math II (800). He does not think he’ll be able to take another subject test before ED deadline. Has anyone ever been accepted to Wharton ED with one or none? He attends a boarding school where most of his peers do NOT take subject tests.
One of the advantages of attending a boarding school that has a $60K/year sticker price is that they also have more college counselors per student, and they are used to students applying to top-tier colleges. They should be able to guide him through the process. But @collegemom3717 is correct; you’ve asked this question numerous times; we don’t know you or your kid, so our answers probably won’t change.
There are 2 dates left before the ED deadline (there were more the first time you asked the question, but time has now passed). If he uses one for SAT I then there is still a date left for Subject Tests. If there is a conflict with a track meet/dentist’s appointment, etc., then you and he need to set priorities.
For me, I cannot imagine how/why a student would apply to a college with a single digit acceptance rate and not try to put the best possible application (including 2 Subject Tests) together, when armed with the information that Subject Tests exist. But that’s just me.
Is is possible to get in with only one? Yes. Have others done that? Yes. Is Eric Furda telling the truth that Subject Tests are optional? IMO, yes. Would I personally risk it? No.
Good luck.
Thank you and to @college3717. I have boy/girls twins applying early to Penn. One to the college one to Wharton. One attends a day school, one boarding. I don’t feel Penn is the only place for either one of them but there is a fair amount of coordination as one twin may be an athletic recruit and one just returned back from a semester school and is just starting to prepare for any testing now. Lots of moving parts as these are my oldest children and I have another applying to boarding school this fall. They are both very adaptable people and will do well wherever they end up.
Are you an alumnus? Furda is merely restating the official policy on subject tests, but it always helps to have multiple strong scores. It used to be required about 10 years ago, but the policy shifted toward a “recommendation” to accommodate low-income families.
Surely your twins have time between now and this November to take subject tests, but if there is truly a conflict on every test date, then simply have them explain that, succinctly, in their application.
FYI, for competitive athletic recruits, you most likely do not need 2 subject tests. Hell, the minimum SAT score that coaches at Penn tell you to get is a 1250.
I went to grad school at Penn, which does not hold much weight. Plus, I have not remained active in the community so while technically my kids are legacy they are not counting any favorable consideration.
If a child really wants to go to a selective school, they themselves (not the parent) will get everything done to be the best prepared and put forth the very best effort in the application. This includes all parts of the testing. There are many testing dates offered by both ACT and SAT, and this “not enough testing dates left” doesn’t sound like someone who really cares or is motivated. All parts of the application have to be amazing. I would personally never send one SAT 2 subject test score. I would send 2 or more, or none. Good luck!
I was just at the UPENN admissions talk and the woman leading the discussion said that 2 SAT subject tests are “recommended but not required” and then further clarified what this specifically means is submit the two scores unless it is a financial hardship.