SAT or SAT Subject Tests Dilemma

Test Preparation
1

Hey everyone, I’m new to College Confidential and I just had a question regarding the sat and sat subject tests. I am in a really stressful situation, I just completed my subject tests today and I was planning to retake the regular sat this December, but my subject tests did not go as smoothly as I thought so now I’m not sure what to do.

I’m a high school senior, and I’m getting ready to finish up my application process for the January 1st deadline for Regular Decision and Early Decision 2. I have an unweighted GPA of 3.9, which I believe weighted is a 4.5. I go to an IB school, where I am currently taking HL Math, HL Physics, and HL Spanish, the rest of my classes being SL’s. Today I took the subjects tests in Spanish (with listening), Math 2, and Physics. Spanish and Math I believe were okay, my goal was to be somewhere in the 650+ range and I believe I am there. Physics, however, was a whole different story. I knew it was going to be hard, but I was completely overwhelmed. I am not good timed test taker, and even though I have been practicing I still felt like I was taking an endless test. 75 questions in 60 minutes for me is absolutely crazy, I usually take a long time during tests and work slowly and meticulously, so having to answer one question every 48 seconds is nearly impossible for me. Now I know you’re never supposed to answer every question on the test, but what makes it hard for me is that with 48 seconds I just can’t think through the problems well enough and feel very pressured, which then leads to me not thinking straight.

So when the test session ended I felt like I had done terrible. I had omitted at least 12-15 questions, and many of the ones I had answered I was unsure about. I had believed some of the problems would be purely concept-based and then many would be using formulas to find a specific answer, but I was completely wrong. Nearly the entire test was concept-based; I can hardly remember 5 questions on the tests that involved actually plugging in for formulas. What upsets me is that not only do I take a very difficult Physics class (HL), but I am also getting an A in the class and I feel as though a test like this should not have been so overwhelming for me. I understand that timing was mostly my issue, but I still felt like I should have been able to do better.

So now I am faced with a problem (sorry for taking so long to get to the main point of the post): Retake the subject tests in December, or retake the full SAT? My regular SAT score is a 1960, which for some of the schools I am applying to is good, but for many of the other ones is fairly low. My top choices are Tufts, Johns Hopkins, NYU, and Dartmouth, but I am also applying to Case Western Reserve University, Roanoke College, and Susquehanna (among others). My plan was to retake the SAT in December with a goal of 2100+, but now I am not so sure. Are the subject tests more important than the SAT, or vice versa? For many schools I’m applying to I will need a science subject test, so I feel as though it is very important to have a good score on that. But I’m just not sure whether applying with a 2100 sat and a poor physics subject tests is better than applying with a 1960 sat and say a 700 physics test, or if it is the other way around. I am in a tight position, because December is the absolute last date that I could take the sat or subject tests and I want to use it as wisely as I can.

Any help/advice on what I should do would be extremely appreciated, just any info that could steer me in the right direction for what test I should take. Also, if anyone has any advice for a better approach I could take for the Physics subject test, that would also mean so much to me. Thank you so much for reading this post!

2

I think a lot of universities accept January SAT and SAT Subject Test scores. Check the individual websites to verify their policy on the matter.

3

I think you should first focus on raising your regular SAT scores and identifying more target schools which don’t require subject tests. Then if you aren’t satisfied with your subject scores and realistically think you can do better, retake the subject tests in January for those schools which both require them and will accept Jan scores.

4

Thank you for the information, I had no idea that I could take the january sat too, before I applied. I will definitely look into that!

5

And thank you too Ciervo, I will do that then, I was leaning towards taking the full sat again and that makes my decision easier. I’ll check the schools I am interested in and see if I can take the January subject tests. Hopefully they all will accept them!

Thank you both for your help!

6

I cannot say what you shoud do as to the unnamed other colleges in your post, but Case Western, Roanoke, and Susguehanna do not use subject tests for admisison and for all three of those your current SAT is probably fine, although raising it can always help.

Tufts and Dartmouth take through the Jan SAT tests and thus for those you could do the Dec SAT and Jan subject tests if needed. They use only the higherst two subject tests in determining admisison and you do not need to send more than two. Hopkins also accepts through the Jan test but does not require subject tests. If you send subject tests, it will consider, in determining admisison, those two with the highest scores and ignore others. You also need not send more than two. Note, however, if you are applying for science or engineering at Hopkins, you should consider that the physics test would be more valuable than the Spanish test if you can get a good score on it. For all three of those colleges, you would be in a better position than you are now with a higher SAT score.

NYU creates a different issue. It accepts for admission your choice from the following four choices: (a) SAT, (b) ACT), © three subject tests, or (d) three AP tests. If you choose the subject test or AP option, one must be in literature or humanities (language included in that), one in math or science, and one from anything of your choice. For it, testing needs to be completed with the Dec test date. That would indicate taking the SAT in Dec because your score could use improvement there for NYU.

In essence, if you are intending to take more tests, the indecated route would be the SAT in Dec and subject tests in Jan.

7

Thank you so much Drusba, you just gave me extremely valuable information, I was actually going to check into all my schools to see their policies for the January testing dates but you were kind enough to fill me in. I’ll definitely be doing that then; I’ll retake the SAT in December and take my subject tests in January. Again thank you so much for taking a lot of stress and anxiety of me and making my decision clear!