I took the practice test and I only got one question wrong (a careless mistake). Also, I am a Malaysian.
If you mean that you want to use it either as one of the required or recommended SAT subject tests for admission at colleges that do require or recommend them, then be aware high ranked colleges have specifically mentioned that they are not impressed with high SAT language scores submitted by native speakers of the language.
Nevertheless, the test may still be usable for what is required or useable, or for other purpoes, in that some colleges (a) accept good scores in SAT language tests to meet the foreign language requirement for admission form those who did not actually take foreign language in high school; (b) have a college language requirement and may use the score for placement at the college level or even as a basis to avoid having to take,language on the college level; © may give some college credit for a high score.
With a 790 only being 46th percentile, I suspect it’s pretty much only native speakers taking the test. I honestly can’t imagine any admissions officer bothering to consider the scores from that and the other low-number language tests.
For placement purposes, take the test. Although most of the other posters have already mentioned that it’s mainly native Chinese speakers that take the test.
For what it’s worth, my kid (ethnic Chinese but can barely speak Mandarin) got a 740 on the test based on his skills or lack thereof from weekend Chinese school. Self studied for AP Chinese and got a 5 and claimed that the test was a complete joke.
I also subscribe to the theory that AOs are not impressed by an AP/SAT FL score from a native speaker/ethnic member. Son took 4 years of high school French instead while his ethnic Chinese friends took AP Chinese.
Also a lot of the top schools will give no FL credit for AP Chinese as part of the general graduation requirements.
Since there is no literature component to the test and most of the classic Chinese works of literature will be written in Traditional Chinese, which is not emphasized in most high school Chinese classes, many colleges do not consider the test sufficiently rigorous compared to French or German.
There is no literature component for any AP modern foreign language exam (AP Spanish Lit being a separate exam).
I don’t think that’s the reason. The schools that don’t give credit for AP Chinese usually also do not give credit for AP Japanese.My guess is that those colleges do not equate the level AP tests for Japanese/Chinese to be comparable to Spanish/French/Italian/German.
But for the OP, I agree with the others; you can take it for possible placement/exemption for college, but don’t use it as one of the required/recommended Subject Tests.
In other words, take the subject test in your native/heritage speaker language as an extra subject test beyond those otherwise required or recommended by the colleges you intend to apply to. So if the colleges want to see two subject tests, make this one the third (with the other two fulfilling the requirements or recommendations).
I guess the AP tests for FL have eliminated some of the Literature tests. Back in the day I took an AP German test for Literature.
I’m sad that German isn’t emphasized more in schools since it is one of the most important literary and scientific languages in the world. And very few schools in Silicon Valley offer German.
Back in the day, French, Spanish, German, and Latin were the only AP languages offered. German Lit was dropped in 1983, French Lit and Latin Lit were dropped in 2009.