<p>D's counselor told her that studies have shown that students who take 3 subject tests at one sitting tend to do worse than students who take 2 at one sitting. Is that true?</p>
<p>Here's our situation. D is a junior and got 2340 on the Dec 7 SAT: 800 CR, 740 M, 800 W. She will be taking the AP exams for Calc BC, Chem, Statistics and US History in May. We're thinking of having her take the Math2/Chem/US History subject tests in May as well. She already took Math 2 at the end of her sophomore year and got a 770. She would like to have a stronger math score, but we're reluctant to have her re-take the SAT since her scores on that could go down. So we're thinking of having her take the 3 subject tests in May, and our only hesitation is based on the counselor's remark. What do you think? (D will be applying to some HYPS type schools, but not applying to any engineering programs. Major is undecided, but maybe chemistry.)</p>
<p>I am not aware of any empirical evidence that proves those who take three usually do worse than those who take two. One may logically believe that since focusing on two might be considered an advantage over three but one’s intial logical reaction is not always correct. Some considerations in determining the issue: colleges that require subject tests require only two and most of those consider only the highest two if you submit more. Thus two very high scores generally makes taking the third test pointless, but taking three at once and scoring high on two eliminates the not so high test. If considering science major you should take a math and a science because some of those colleges require those even for science and not just engineering. Math 2 would also be preferred over math 1 because some of those require math 2 for engineering or science.</p>
<p>No idea if it’s true, but I can believe it. Who is going to be at their best after two hours of grueling testing? I’d just sign up for the June test date also, and plan on taking the math then. That will give her a little time after the APs to review the math because they won’t be testing her on calculus. Or, she could do the math earlier, whatever is convenient for her.</p>
<p>I do agree that it’s grueling to be testing 3 different subjects in 3 hours but I think it’s possible if it’s possible to take the 3 hour long SAT. I took two subject tests last year thinking that 3 would be too much. After I took it, however, I regretted slightly that I hadn’t taken 3 tests. I took the Math 1 and Biology M and wished I would’ve taken Literature too. But it really depends on the person’s stamina and memory! I took bio M first because I’d remember the stuff more easily but yep! Don’t know until you try </p>
<p>I took 2 in December and regretted it. You want a wide choice of scores to pick from, there’s literally no downside. Just do the most important test first. </p>
<p>Okay, I did three Subject Tests yesterday. Did alright for my first two subjects, but I chose to keep my best subject for the last. Guess what? I was too tired to fathom one entire poem. If I were more awake, I would have noticed that the poem was from Othello and I would have probably aced it. Then again, it is really cheap to do the tests…much better to do 3 than 2. I made a mistake, kept my best subject for the last. Could have done better. </p>
<p>I did three subject tests at once and I wasn’t anymore tired than if I took an ACT or SAT test. In fact, 3 subject tests went by pretty fast compared to taking a SAT I or ACT since it’s only 1 hour per test. And it’s a good idea to do it in May since the material will be fresh in her mind. However, if you do decide to split them up, the June subject testing date is pretty close to AP testing too. (that’s when I took my subject tests last year and I didn’t have to re-study or anything because I still remembered the material). Either way I think she’ll be fine. </p>
<p>Thanks everyone. The June testing date conflicts with some family travel plans, so she will probably sign up for Math2, Chemistry and US History in May. I wish she could take Math 2 in March but the subject tests aren’t offered then. As someone else pointed out, Math 2 doesn’t cover Calculus which is what she’ll be prepping for the AP exam, but doing 3 in May seems like the best plan. Right now she has 740 on the regular SAT math, and 770 on Math 2 from sophomore year. She would just like one of those two scores to be a little higher but re-taking the SAT would mean risking getting lower scores on CR and W. Plus the curve on the regular SAT math seemed more brutal. She only missed 2 math questions on the Dec SAT.</p>
<p>To add, my DS14 took three subject tests this past June, after taking World History June 2012 scoring an 800, this June he took Bio (E) scored 730, Lit scored 740 and saved his strongest subject to last after 2 hours of testing he scored an 800 on US History. So it can be done and really its not that difficult, my DS is a good test taker, if your DD is good, which appears she is a strong test taker, I would have no doubt she could do well taking three tests in one sitting.</p>
<p>I have seen data which show that there are more SAT questions answered incorrectly at the end of the 3+ hour test because of fatigue. I would think it would be a valid assumption that a student who is otherwise prone to get tired during the third hour of testing may make more careless errors during the third Subject Matter Test.</p>
<p>So? A shot at a good score is better than not a shot. With Score Choice you have nothing to lose. Unless you’re applying to a college which requires everything (<em>cough</em> they’ll never know if you don’t send them <em>cough</em>)</p>
</p>