<p>Does submitting subject tests when they are not required boost your chances significantly or barely (if not at all)? If they do help, what scores should I be aiming for? Can you also tell me if this is the same for other schools that do not require subject tests, such as UCB, NYU, UCLA, Johns Hopkins, and Northwestern?</p>
<p>Also, if a school requires two subject tests, would it be better to submit more, or does it not matter? How much would this improve my chances?</p>
<p>Thank you!!</p>
<p>They’ll really only help you if you achieve excellent scores (750+). Otherwise, it won’t make a big difference. UMich admissions doesn’t consider them very heavily.</p>
<p>If a school requires two, then two is what you should send unless you have a third one that is just as good as the other two. If the third one is below the level of the other two, then don’t send it. It’s like sending in an extra recommendation letter that isn’t quite as appealing as the first one or two. It certainly wouldn’t help.</p>
<p>If the third one is on par or better than the first two subject tests (750+), then how much will this help you?</p>
<p>If the college says it wants two, they’ll probably only consider your top two Subject Test scores–unless, for example, your top two scores are in US History and World History and your third score is in Math, then they might consider the Math score in determining whether you’re an appropriately well-rounded candidate. Or if you’re a native speaker of a language and you submit a stellar Subject Test score for that language, they might disregard or discount that score, and count a third score instead. I don’t think sheer numbers of Subject Test scores add anything to your application, and in fact they might dilute it a little because after you’ve submitted your top two scores (if that’s what they ask for), every score you add is only doing to lower the average. They might not officially count more than two, but they can’t help but see them if you submit them. (Though if they were all 800s I guess it couldn’t hurt).</p>
<p>Subject Test scores probably help only a little at colleges that don’t require them, but my D2 sent them anyway because her Subject Test scores were very strong and helped fill in a picture of who she was as a candidate, which is what colleges using holistic admissions, including Michigan, say they’re looking for. But you’ve got to figure that if they don’t require them but then start giving a huge advantage in admissions to people who submit them, they’re being a little disingenuous in telling people they’re not needed. So I think they’re probably useful only for their information value, confirming other elements of your application. So, for example, if you’ve got a 750+ in SAT CR and/or 34+ in ACT Reading, and all A’s in Honors and AP English classes, and a great recommendation from your English teacher, and then you add to that an 800 on the SAT Literature Subject Test, that Subject Test score helps to confirm and complete the picture. And that can’t hurt. </p>
<p>For a school like Michigan, I’d say probably any Subject Test score over 700 is a net positive, but it might depend a little on the test. A 750 SAT Lit puts you at the 92nd percentile of people taking that test. A 750 on the SAT Math II puts you only at the 68th percentile; it’s still a very good score, but more people do well on that test so you don’t stand out as much with the same numerical score. Similarly, Michigan’s average SAT CR score is around 650, while its average SAT M score is around 700.</p>
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<p>The “first two” should be your top to scores, unless they’re both math or both history. But if you’ve got three 750+ Subject Test scores, I’d send them all. Can’t hurt, might help, but this won’t be what’s decisive. </p>
<p>Notice that Michigan lists standardized test scores only as ‘important,’ unlike academic GPA and rigor of HS curriculum which it lists as ‘very important.’ And that’s for the standardized tests it requires. Subject test scores, which it does not require, are probably at best only ‘considered,’ and probably not considered as heavily as some other ‘considered’ factors.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t waste loads of time studying for tests or anything. I took Physics and Math II, scored well, and sent them. They’re cheap and quick, may as well try. It can’t hurt if you score 750+.</p>