<p>It's August first. This means that in about 2 1/2 months, it will be standardized testing season once again (huzzah). I'm looking for some tips on how to make the most out of this time in regards to SAT/SAT II/ACT preparation. </p>
<p>Subject Tests: I took the US History and Lit in June, but I'm very disappointed and shocked at my scores (610 on US and 590 on Lit YIKES). A few schools I'm applying to (particularly Vassar) require at least 2 subject tests... and I don't feel comfortable sending EITHER of these scores since they suck oh so terribly compared to the sea of 790's and 800's Vassar is bound to get. </p>
<p>SAT/ACT: My SAT's are decent. I didn't spend months preparing like some people, because I wanted to just get a feel for the test without stressing myself out (I had a lot of family issues going on at the time). I got an 1890, which I plan on raising to above 2000. I've been working tirelessly since school ended, doing 3 sections or so a day, to improve my scores as much as I possibly can. I have a wonderful English teacher whom I meet with weekly to help me prepare, and I'm taking online math classes to help develop techniques and strategies.
My ACT is ok (28 Composite: 34 English, 24 Math, 28 Reading, 24 Science, 8 Essay). But, again, I didn't study AT ALL for the ACT, so I'm hoping after an entire summer of prep, I can get into the 30's. </p>
<p>I'm scoring very highly on BB practice tests (2070-2300), so I'm thinking of taking a break from the SAT prep for 2 weeks or so so I can really focus on raising my Subject Test scores... </p>
<p>I'm willing to retake both. I had the Princeton Review for Lit and Kaplan for US, but I'm looking for other alternative studying plans. Is the Blue Subject test book good? Any other tips to raise these horrendous scores to 700+ by November? Please; I'm desperate and dying for a good score. </p>
<p>Vassar requires either the SAT Reasoning plus 2 SAT Subject tests OR an ACT with Writing test. Honestly, the SAT looks like the test for you since you seem to be more humanities-oriented. However, with the SAT, you need 2 subject tests, so that brings additional requirements over taking and submitting just the ACT w/ Writing.</p>
<p>What if you focused on just the ACT for now and submitted that score with your application? The goal with SAT subject tests is taking tests in subjects that you have mastered i.e. you shouldn’t have to study too much beyond your school curriculum. Have you looked into taking another subject that you’re good at? Lit is supposed to be quite difficult due to its unpredictability and USH is just a matter of memorization of key facts (not too difficult if you take it after APUSH/Honor’s USH). Though it looks like math may not be up your alley, Math I only requires knowledge of geometry and algebra II with Math II requiring precalculus in addition to those. If you have taken those classes, maybe try and take a stab at one of those? Taking a language test is another option.</p>
<p>Sorry if this is not the response you were hoping to hear, but think about this and let me know what your thoughts are. Good Luck! :)</p>
<p>I definitely understand what you’re saying because I’ve been thinking the exact same thing. 
I don’t know how I got the scores I did because I took APUS and got a 5 on the AP test … Oh well! I can’t do anything about it now. But the Language tests are definitely a great idea! Wow, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. </p>
<p>I’ve definitely been considering just focusing on the ACT (Especially since Vassar takes your best scores if you submit multiple tests…). But for some reason I feel like I should try the subject tests one more time just in case… </p>
<p>I’ll probably end up taking the Math I and the Lit over again… and perhaps the Spanish. Wow, I have a lot of stuff to think about. </p>
<p>Thanks so much for your suggestions! :)</p>
<p>Well if you got a 5 on APUSH, I would suggest that you try and take another stab at USH rather than Lit (which is pretty unpredictable). Honestly, USH should have a more predictable result, since you can actually study for it, rather than Lit (which you can prep for but will still have unpredictable poems/passages).</p>
<p>Ok! I’ll try and brush up on my US History. Hopefully by the end of the month I’ll have a better idea on which ones I’m more likely to do well on. Thanks again </p>