I wish I took AP chemistry last year so that I would have a full length course to be able to cover all topics on the Chemistry SAT. Honestly… I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do in junior year. I wasn’t too fond of science but didnt dislike it. Physics 1 turned out to be more interesting than I thought yet it only covered half of the subject tests material. I want to apply to school of Engineering at Carnegie but subjects tests are a must. I took math 2, got a 750 yet got I didn’t take physics. I tried to self study the remainder of Physics B but it looks like I’m going to screw up my last chance to be even seriously considered by Carnegie Mellon. What are the chances I could transfer? I really wish I could have taken AP chemistry or even Physics B before it was broken into Physics 1 and 2.
It really isn’t fair that so many school require these tests which the HS curriculum doesn’t cover. My S16 got stuck taking the physics test and he did OK but not representative of his skill level. He got a 5 on the AP Physics 1 test which less than 5% of the people did which I think tells a lot more than that mult choice test. My D17 is taking AP Chem this year in part to be able to take the Chem subject test. I strongly feel they should only make you take the subject tests if you don’t have AP scores in Calc and 1 Science.
Yeah. I really dont think SAT Physics is relevant to measuring ability. I mastered the Physics 1 topics yet scored 560-590 just by answering the Physics 1 topic questions. I didn’t take chem because I was unsure if I wanted to do something in engineering or science.
The test is curved a fair bit, I believe. I took it after only Physics 1 (5) and ended up with a 770. I self-studied a bit of the extra material, but not a whole lot. I hope you still tried to take it, or another subject test. The worst that could happen is you don’t score well and maybe it brings your application down a little bit, but that’s better than to not take it and not meet the requirements of a subject test. If you did well on the AP and your other scores are good I find it hard to believe that one poor SAT II would sink your application.