*SAT Subject Test Biology E/M June 2016 Discussion Thread*

Does anyone know what a good score in M for top colleges like the Ivies is? I can’t find any info about it anywhere

@aaronuhs normally the Ivies like to see above 750s, but it really depends on your future major and what were the scores on your other SAT subject tests

@nytestguy Thanks!

yup above 750 is good

Anyone know if the curve is the same for all June SAT Biology or if it is different based on what day you took it. I took it today so it was a different test but is the curve the same?

@yellowhello the curve depends on the number of questions people get wrong… correct me if I’m wrong, but if a lot of test takers get a question wrong, it doesn’t count? This is my first SAT subject test so I’m not sure

okay the test today was pretty hard

@yellowhello was it the same test as the one on saturday?

would it be worth retaking a 720?

@lunarboy I think if you’re not planning on going to medical school or a biology-related career, it’s not worth it. It’s not a bad score

no the test today is different

@yellowhello hmmm in that case, the curve should be similar but it really depends on the difficulty of the test?

okay hopefully the curve is good

are the two tests on the same curve or no?

Anybody have any predictions on the M curve specifically?

I can’t stop thinking about the question involving the Calvin cycle enzymes. The more I think about it, the more it seems to me that there are two correct and equally strong answers.

As a refresher:

“Nonphotosynthetic bacteria and archaea use enzymes similar to those found in the Calvin cycle. Based on this information, which of the following is a logical hypothesis?”

© The Calvin cycle developed before the light-dependent reactions.
(D) Plants today use enzymes from the Calvin cycle for nonphotosynthetic functions.

Both are factual statements and supported by the information given. I’ve heard arguments from both sides, yet I am still unable to see one of them as being a decisively stronger answer than the other. One could argue that C is better because some of those bacteria and archaea did indeed use those enzymes to carry out the Calvin cycle. However, this is not information given in the question, and thus we can’t necessarily assume that those enzymes were used to carry out the Calvin cycle.

If one hypothesizes that the enzymes were indeed used for the Calvin cycle, C becomes the clear choice; if one hypothesizes instead that the enzymes were not used for the Calvin cycle but for other functions, D becomes the clear choice. However, the question is not favored towards either of those, and thus both seem like valid hypotheses to me. With two arguably correct answers, this hardly feels like a fair question to me.

Thoughts?

@mastersuperfan yeah I agree I put c but I can see how you could argue d do you think they will throw it out or do they not do that on subject tests

Anyone know curve projections?

@yellowhello it should probably be minus 3 for an 800

as is 3 questions wrong or 12 wrong (because a fourth is taken of for each wrong)