Should I take the Math Level I or Math Level II SAT subject tests?

Test Preparation SAT Subject Test Preparation
1

Hi, I’m new here so sorry if something like this has already been posted 100000 times or I’m doing something wrong.

I am not sure which one I should take.

Here’s my dilemma:
I want to have some kind of math or science major in college. I also want to go to a high-ranked school. Not necessarily an Ivy League, but you catch my drift.

Anyway, I have taken Honors Algebra 1 (8th grade), Honors Geometry (9th grade) and college-prep Precalculus (10th grade–I skipped Algebra 2 trig and “did” it over the summer, but not really, haha.) I would have taken honors precal but I could not because of an AP class. I took the honors final, however, and my teacher filled me in on the stuff that was taught in honors.

Now, as a junior, I am going to be taking AP Calculus AB this fall. However, I am also planning on taking a SAT subject test.

I do not believe I am sufficiently prepared for the Math II test. I took a diagnostic test months back and scored horribly on it–I think below average. I didn’t know any of the content. But I just took the Math I test and knew all of it except, like, one question and that was because I forgot a formula from a year ago.

I’m just worried about two things. First, that colleges will not take me seriously because I only took the Math I test. Second, that I will get a bad score on Math I because of the curve.

What do you recommend I do? I would consider taking Math II in the spring, but the problem is I will have lots of AP tests to study for/take that may overlap, and the June date of the SAT test always falls on states for my track team, which I absolutely need to go to to make Varsity, which I absolutely need to put on my college resume, lol.

So, any advice? Again, sorry for my rambling and if I did something wrong. I’m new!!

2

Wow, you do have a lot to consider. First, you might want to think about whether you’ll need Subject Tests. About 8 or 9 schools dropped their requirements this year alone.
http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/subject-test-requirements-and-recommendations/

Were you practicing on the tests released by College Board? If not, I wouldn’t trust your practice results. If so, then you should be considering how your 200-800 scores compared and not right/wrong or percentiles.

I wish I could reassure you that Math 1 is just as good as Math 2 for colleges, but that’s not quite true. Some STEM programs – those that want Subject Tests – will want to see Math 2 and a science. If you can find a way to take Math 2 and to score about as well as you would on the Math 1, do it. Gives you more options. On the other hand, MIT is happy to accept Math 1.

As if you didn’t have enough to worry about, you might also think about whether the schools you are considering recognize Score Choice. It’s nice knowing that you can withhold a weak score. I’ve even known students who have taken Math 1 and Math 2 on the same day. NOT something I would recommend.

3

@TestRekt Thank you so much! That first article was very reassuring.

For the Math Level 1, I did not take an actual practice test but I did the sample questions from this link: http://media.collegeboard.com/homeOrg/content/pdf/teachersguide-to-the-sat-subject-tests-in-math.pdf
So yes, I guess that is College Board. But I didn’t actually score myself, I wanted to just see if I knew the content.

For the Math Level 2, I believe I used the 2014 version of the Kaplan Math II Review.

So maybe what I should do is not take the Math I test and wait until my senior year/end of junior year to take the Math II? My college counselor recommended I take the Math I, according to him he “hasn’t had many people get high scores on the Math 2” or something like that. But I definitely want to go into a professional math/science related field as that is where my strong points are.

4

One more thing! I looked at what topics the Math II covers. Looks like stats and probability is part of that. I have basically no knowledge of that field of math because in seventh grade, while I did take honors math, the probability portion was completely skipped over. I do not see myself taking Stats at all in my high school career. So maybe it’s best if I just take math level 1.

5

I think you’ll be fine with Math II. You did say you did well on Math I and Math I (according to CB) covers just as much as Math II on probability. Math II really just is Math I + Trig and what you’ve learned in your second year of HS math. If you did well on Math I and know trig, you’re good. Maybe prob. and stats are easier than you think cause you flew by it when you took your Math I test. I’d say give Math II a shot. GL