SAT Subject Tests for Engineers

<p>I noticed that Princeton requires applicants to its Engineering program to submit an SAT Subject Test in either Chemistry or Physics. However, my D and S attend a small school that required an unusual sequence of science courses: Chemistry I (freshman); Biology I (Sophomore); AP Biology (Junior). They will be taking both Physics I and AP Chemistry (and AP Computer Science) next year as seniors. They have already taken tests Subject Tests in Biology, Math II and US History.</p>

<p>I believe they have at least three options:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Apply as Math or Biology majors, but plan to transfer to Engineering as soon as possible.</p></li>
<li><p>Ask the Adcom for a waiver to the Physics/Chemistry requirement.</p></li>
<li><p>Try taking the Chemistry test as late as possible (January?) and hope for the best.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I am interested in your recommendations, as well as any other options that you might suggest.</p>

<p>The admissions officers are very helpful. I expect they’ll appreciate the unique situation. A call to them should yield helpful advice.</p>

<p>i wanted to do ORFE but didnt have chem/physics SAT 2 or a math/science rec letter so I just applied AB and got in and will easily switch to BSE.</p>

<p>My son wrote the chemistry test after only taking one month of grade 12 chemistry (no AP) and scored well on it (also admitted to engineering class of 2016). Since you can take the best scores to submit to Princeton I’d suggest writing it in the fall to get a sense of content and rewrite if necessary in Jan.</p>

<p>At my (public) school, our AP chemistry sequence took three semesters, the first of which is “ordinary chemistry” (aka many people took just that and not the AP). So senior year I was just starting AP Chemistry. This sounds kind of similar to my situation. I took the SAT II test in the fall with very little AP chem experience. I did decently, and I got accepted as an engineer for the class of 2014. <em>shrugs</em></p>

<p>It is <em>extremely</em> easy to switch to engineering after being accepted as another major, though (basically an email and a five-minute appointment I think), so that’s still an option.</p>