Choose two tests that you know best, prepare, take only these tests, report?
Take several subjects, see the results, choose 2 of the best, report?
Second is obviously easier, because you don’t need to stress, to prepare, you always have another chance with the next subject. But I worry that colleges may ask to submit all subject tests that were ever taken.
Practically, Should my D try to take Biology? she knows Biology pretty well, but not brilliant. She is not planning to take any SAT prep for biology. The point is to take a try - if it works - fine, it not, than scratch it and move to Chemistry. Or should my D wait for the next year, spend time, and prepare herself really well for SAT Chemistry (time and money will be used)?
Take one of the sciences sophomore year after completing the honors or AP class to take the testing pressure off junior year. I don’t think that it necessarily takes a lot of time, and certainly not money, to get a score in the mid 700s, which is pretty much good enough.
Best to take Bio after AP Bio. Some tech schools require Math II, so if she has any interest in that, it should be on her list. Best to take after pre-calc. If she is good at Critical Reading, she might find the Lit test fairly easy.
My kids were big readers, so they both took Lit. It doesn’t really test that you have read a specific item… it is more about your ability to analyze and interpret literature. They both got a prep book and spent a couple of hours with it. I think one got a 760, and the other got an 800. But CR also came quite naturally for them, too.
If you are good at CR, Lit is very similar with poetry added. Probably worth a bit of review. AP Bio, APUSH, Pre-Calc usually line up pretty well with the subject tests. One thing I’d suggest is to take the time to take a practice test from the book of sample tests the College Board provides. If S2 had done that, he would have realized that Math2 was not a good subject test for him to take. He ended up having to go back the next month when he’d planned to do round 2 of the SAT to add another subject test (this was back when several colleges wanted three of them). And then he had to put off trying to up his regular SAT to fall of senior year, which was also an extra stress. It all turned out fine in the end. https://sat.collegeboard.org/practice/all-subject-study-guide
S took the chem subject test after Honors Chem sophomore year. His teacher said that the course didn’t cover all of the material on the test, so he held a few after school sessions covering the extra material for those who wanted to take the test. Mismatch between the curriculum and the test is something to watch out for. I think doing a practice test before deciding what subject to aim for is (almost) essential for that reason alone.
The reason I specifically suggested one of the sciences at the end of sophomore year is that typically they are 1-year courses, and it can help to have one good score before hitting junior year. If the student isn’t doing well in whatever science s/he takes sophomore year, I would revise that strategy.
Scores in open-ended subjects such as languages and literature will presumably continue to rise with more years of study, so it’s better to wait. Math II should be taken after pre-calc, whenever that happens.
Most students unless they are really good at languages are probably best served by taking them senior year after they know what the minimum score is to get out of any language requirement the college requires.
Take a practice test at home, which will likely take her less than 45 minutes. If she scores in the range that she needs for her target schools, pay CB and take it for real.
If planning on taking the AP course Jr year, I’d skip the Soph test. After preparing all year for the AP test, the respective Subject Test is generally a breeze.
Depends on you. It may be easier to prepare for one at a time then taking three at once. My child took one freshman year after honors bio + some studying and used that score to get into her dream school. NB; her bio class was not at all rigorous. You can get some idea of what your score will be from the subj test books but some are much harder than the test and some are easier.
Many students take one of the Math Subject Tests regardless of whether they are STEM focused or interested in otehr fields. Math 1 actually has lower scores on average than Math 2. It is not really a good idea to have a foreign language as the 2nd Subject Test if you are a native speaker as it really just proves your heritage not what you have learned. Some colleges will have very specific Subject Test expectations. MIT, Swarthmore and Penn ask for Math 2 for Engineering applicants. As noted above by several posters, taking the Subject Test after the related AP course is very helpful and taking Subject Tests sophomore year or earlier makes Junior year less stressful. Taking Biology if