<p>Hey everyone!</p>
<p>I am going through a little bit of a dilemma right now.</p>
<p>I am aiming to enter UPenn CAS for International Relations or Political Science, but don't know which SAT IIs to take. I have already taken World History, but am now stuck between two choices: Literature and US History. I am not American, so I am afraid my knowledge of US politics is extremely limited. Would I be able to get above 750 with around four months of studying? For Lit, I heard it's a subject test that you either do well in or not. I received a 750 on SAT CR, but I am not particularly well read or anything. My concern is that taking two histories (world and US) may reflect poorly on me during admissions.</p>
<p>I don't want to take Math or Sciences since I am absolutely horrific at these subjects (despite being Asian) and don't think it quite makes sense for a prospective humanities student to take SAT IIs on biology and math. Since I was born in Canada and Mandarin is not my native tongue, would it still look bad if I take SAT Chinese w/ Listening?</p>
<p>Sorry for this stream of questions -- I am a rising senior now so have very little time to get this all sorted out. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!</p>
<p>@ClassicRockerDad I’ve definitely thought about doing that. However, as someone who struggles with the SAT math section, I believe the ACT math and science sections will be quite a challenge. </p>
<p>Science on ACT is more like a Science reading comprehension – ability to interpret graphs etc. And Math on Act, while it technically includes pre-calc/trig, has only a handful of those questions. My student preferred ACT because it was less tricky than SAT, more of a speed test. Depending on your ability to work quickly, you might find the ACT more manageable. </p>
<p>I’m sorry I don’t have any advice about Lit vs. other Subject matter tests, as my student did not take any. </p>
<p>I have taken Lit, US History and World History and my recommendation would be that if you scored that strongly on CR, you would probably do well on the Lit test. I’m not sure if you’ve done this yet, but I went out and bought the giant SAT subject test book put out by the college board. I took every test I thought I had a chance of doing reasonably well on, and studied for the tests that I scored above 700 on (and ended up eventually taking most of them). </p>
<p>US History may be difficult for you, as most of the kids taking it have taken AP US History, and it is a lot of information to cover by yourself (1600s to probably around Clinton/Bush). If you do well enough on Lit, I would probably forgo it.</p>
<p>I also think ClassicRockerDad raises a great point - have you tried the ACT? I am more of a humanities-centric person myself, and I received a 33 on the ACT math vs. 690 on SAT Math, despite the fact that the ACT tests higher-level math. The science section, IMO, is misnamed. It is more of a test of quickly interpreting information even when it is shrouded in unfamiliar language. You don’t actually need to know about muons to do well, you just have to be able to read through the experiments, understand the graphs, diagrams and charts, notice the differences and the pick the correct answer. Don’t be scared off by it, I started out scoring in the mid-20s on the science, and after serious prep, I could score a 35-36. </p>
<p>Feel free to PM me if you have any questions!</p>
<p>Basically, in order to get admitted, you’re going to have to be competitive. I don’t see any downside to doing the ACT in addition to the subject tests. Then you can choose whether to send your SATI+II or your ACT. </p>
<p>Also, for Penn, early decision is a huge advantage. </p>
<p>Thank you all so much for the great advice! It made my day to wake up and see these comments :)</p>
<p>@Midwestmomofboys Yes, I’ve definitely heard that the Science section was more of a comprehension test. I will take a practice test today and see how it works out!</p>
<p>@butterfreesnd I haven’t bought the big blue book yet, but I probably should sometime (very) soon! I also self studied SAT II World History – how do you think US history compares to that? I do understand that I am at a disadvantage though, since the curve will definitely not be in my favour. Literature would probably be the better choice. </p>
<p>@ClassicRockerDad Being competitive is definitely a core requirement of admissions. I will take the ACT in September and see how it works out. And yes, since I’ve heard that ED gives a huge advantage, I will be doing that for Penn! </p>