<p>I am an international student with ~3.9 U.W. GPA, good E.C. and a 2210 SAT (740 CR, 750 M, 720 W).
I took the subject tests in December, but ended up sick on test day so my scores ended up pretty bad - 670 Math II, 720 Chemistry.</p>
<p>Since I'm applying to most of the Ivy League schools I was wondering- should I use the opportunity of the January test date to improve my SAT or my subject tests? </p>
<p>I plan on studying Philosophy and Business/Economics for my undergrad.</p>
<p>What would be the best improvement to my overall application?</p>
<p>2300+ SAT with the subject tests as they are OR improving my Math II to 780-800 but staying with the 2210 and the 720 in Chem?</p>
<p>It depends on the school you are applying too. For example, if you are applying to Harvard, then it would be best to focus on your subject test. Harvard weighs the subject test more heavily than the regular SAT.</p>
<p>@Daminus Thanks for the advice! I am applying to Harvard as well, but my dream school is actually Brown.
Is Harvard the exception on this matter or do most of the Ivy League schools focus on the subject tests more than the regular SAT?</p>
<p>Also, would it be pointless to only improve my Math II score? Should I try for both Math and Chem again instead? (Not sure I’ll be able to get 800 on both in one sitting…)</p>
<p>Edit: Thanks in advance to anyone else taking the time to answer my questions :)</p>
<p>if i were you i’d go for subject tests. Your regular SAT is already excellent, and improving it will not change much, not to mention that improving it will be harder than improving your subject tests.</p>
<p>I agree to the above suggestions. Your CR and Math score in SAT is excellent. If you had time to improve both, there was no harm in trying SAT1 and SAT2 again but given current circumstances, your SAT2 scores are kind of low for very competitive Universities. I don’t know the SAT2 percentiles by heart but I am sure you are way off. It will be a good idea to take the SAT 2’s again.</p>
<p>@meriks and @sanwal Thanks for the advice!</p>
<p>So now that we have established that improving my SAT II scores will be more beneficial, I would still like to know if there is any point in improving just the Math II to 780~800, or would I have to improve both in order to be taken seriously at the very competitive Ivy League Universities?</p>
<p>You definitely need to improve Math II, if you have time and can improve Chemistry also, that will be better but not at the cost of effecting your Math II preparation, High School courses. I am saying this because you plan to apply to very competitive Universities. Due to the nature of process in place, even having top test scores does not assure admission in TOP 20 Universities, having border line scores makes it even more difficult. unless you have some stellar EC’s, research, projects, etc, etc. </p>
<p>No problem! Also, I am not sure if most Ivy Leagues place more emphasis on the subject tests. Anyway though, as people said earlier, your SAT 1 is solid. It really is. Also, it would not be pointless to try to improve only your Math II score. Any type of improvement is good. </p>
<p>Thanks for the help @sanwal, @Daminus and @ABCGIRL!</p>
<p>Since I definitely won’t have time to improve my SAT I scores, I hope that I will be able to make a significant improvement to my Math II scores and possibly Chemistry as well </p>
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