<p>I figured this would be a reasonable place to document my progress studying for the upcoming October SAT IIs. Here are the materials I'm using, and my background in the subjects:</p>
<p>Biology M – Took general bio as a freshman (this was the lowest, least involved level of bio at my school) and got an A in the class. This will actually be a retake for a test I did back in June... For that, I studied pretty hard for a week and didn't do much else to prepare. I used Barron's and got practice results in the high 600s and low 700s. In the end I got a 780 on the M test, but I kind of want to try one more time for that 800. My excuse is that the June test was my first ever experience with the College Board.</p>
<p>Chemistry – I haven't taken a class in chemistry yet, at least not formally. Right now I'm working through Sal's chem playlist on Khan Academy, which seems to be going smoothly. I also took a year of Algebra II/Trig-based physics as a freshman, got a B+ (tough teacher).</p>
<p>Math II – This year I did Honors Geometry (B+) and have been learning the material for Honors Algebra II/Trigonometry. I also took an Algebra II/Trig class prior to freshman year (A) and have a general interest in mathematics.</p>
<p>Materials: Barron's has worked out pretty well for me so far, and I plan to stick with these books. I've got books in Chem and Math (2013 Editions) shipping in August, so until then my main focus would be learning the concepts. Actually, that's a lie. My main focus is summer classes (fulfilling requirements like health that just stuff up schedules during the year). I've also planning to get Dr. Chung's math II book as it has excellent reviews on Amazon and is pretty raved about in the CC forums. I also have a couple of textbooks on all the subjects, readily accessible, as well as Khan Academy. Also (to all the nerdfighters out there) CrashCourse Biology has been pretty helpful in exposing myself to pretty dull information.</p>
<p>I plan to update this regularly, maybe a couple times per week with the exception of the first week of school and maybe a vacation. And, of course, I'll post my scores when they arrive mid-October.</p>
<p>Hah what a coincidence, I’m taking the same exact subject tests in October. I haven’t even started studying or even looking into what books I’m gonna get. Thanks for the reminder I guess!</p>
<p>@jchun - Why would you ever retake the Biology Subject Test? Obviously an 800 sounds better than a 780, but you’ve proven that you can take a biology test. Why wouldn’t you prove you can take another type of test?</p>
<p>There was a lot that went down that day. Among other, much more taxing things that I’ll leave out of this forum, I just felt so underprepared. And for what its worth, I can’t let some of my friends (who got 800 mainly because they had the luxury of the honors class or private tutors) think that they’re better than me.</p>
<p>On another topic, I’m around one third through the KA Chemistry playlist. I notice that lots of the later videos are example videos where Sal works through specific cases. Any word on whether or not those videos are necessary to watch? I could be using the time doing math.</p>
<p>I actually lol’d at this. What is this 5th grade again? Seriously, don’t waste your time or money on retaking Bio; 20 points isn’t going to make or break any application.</p>
<p>Books came early. Studying chapters 1, 2, 3 of Chemistry while using KA for when I need extra help. Meeting up next week with one of the Chem teachers from my school for a Q & A.</p>
<p>^ I don’t think you’re listening to what anyone is saying. DON’T RETAKE THE BIO SAT!
Seriously…it will neither help nor hurt your application. Why would you even care what your friends think, when you could be usefully spending your time on other subject tests? No offense, but colleges don’t care about stereotypical asian behaviors. They look for personality and quality of what you will add to their school. </p>
<p>If your school requires all test-taking history, don’t you think re-taking Bio might make you seem a bit obsessive and like all you care about is the number? Just throwing that out there. You’d look just as bad as a kid with a 2400 SAT who wants to retake because they had an 11 essay.</p>
<p>@kayb92- Well the colleges I’m looking at either let you choose (MIT, Dartmouth) or superscore (Cooper Union, NYU, Columbia). The ones that superscore are not my top choices (of course, stuff is bound to change). And I could always say that it was my first test and that after I took it, I knew I could do a little better.</p>
<p>“Stereotypical asian behaviors” takes it a bit too far, IChewWaffles. This isn’t my 3rd, 4th or 5th time taking the test. It’ll hopefully be the only time that I ever have to retake a standardized test (besides the junior/senior deal with the SAT). Even if I am being ridiculous, it’s still not appropriate to bring race into the subject. Please, just call me ridiculous and leave it at that.</p>
<p>Really, if you haven’t gotten the point yet, don’t retake the Bio SAT. If anything itll just make you look bad because it will seem like you spend too much time on your SATs and not on other, more important stuff. Those are the exact tests I took and my scores were all 790 or below and those schools you mentioned didn’t care - they still accepted me. I only took each of those once by the way. Except math, which I took twice.</p>