My kid is so over tested. He is an IB student, has great ACT scores, ECs etc and now he stressed trying to crack a 700 on subject tests. I think the curriculum of IB doesn’t line up that well with the College Boards subject tests. So he has to basically study for an entirely different content subject matter. However, it seems that Dartmouth still really cares about these tests. So he has three options… cram for ANOTHER set of tests with everything else going on, submit SAT subject scores in the mid 600s (his practice test scores) or not submit them at all. His application is pretty strong otherwise for Dartmouth ED. Thoughts?
my son took only one test and was not satisfied with his score (790 math2). he scheduled to retake and add another but ended up not sitting for the test because he was stressed out, never studied, had a varsity meet… etc. also, the dart rep that came to his school apparently said they were really not required. I don’t believe it, but he did…and he is not sending the 790 or taking another. he applied ED.
@taliecharley A score of 790 on Math 2 is a very good score! Kids taking Math 2 over Math 1 are already in a select group. A perfect score is 800. Why in the world would you not submit it?
because unfortunately, a 790 is only like 80th something percentile… and because they require 2, so he feels sending one is not recommended? is that wrong? TIA
actually just checked it is 70th something percentile.
The percentiles don’t matter. Anything over a 750 is perfectly fine.
OP - Dartmouth still recommends two subject tests. IMO, your son would be doing himself a disservice by not taking them.
what do you think of sending one if that’s all that have been taken (and taking another isn’t happening?)
One score is better than nothing especially when the score is that good.
So I listened to video chat that Lee Coffin had recently (on YouTube) and he answered the question. He said Subject Tests were an opportunity to show mastery of an area. He thought they were useful to explain a lower grade. Said it was the students choice to send. So I got the impression that it was more optional than recommended…like a lot of other top 20 schools. So why have the recommended language still?
My objection to the subject tests is that the content doesn’t line up with IB in tests like history and biology. My other child got a 7 on IB biology test, I assumed she’d kill it on the subject test and got 670. She is currently a microbiology major at a top 20. At some point, it’s another $50 bubble test that you have to buy a study guide for and take time out of your ECs and homework to study. It if you gotta do it I guess you gotta do it. My kid wants off the testing merry go round.
We had a rep visit our school and our son flat out asked if SAT2s were really just recommended or “recommended with a wink”. Meaning, for strong students from good schools, are they really required and the recommended language is just for kids who maybe don’t know much about SAT2s. She told him that they are optional. Truly optional, even from his high school where kids take them all of the time. He got a 5 on BC Calc, APUSH, and AP Lang. I don’t see why any school would need to get SAT2s from those subjects. Why see some precalc SAT2 score when you can see he got a 5 on BC Calc and is now in Multivariable as a senior? Doesn’t make sense.
So, we are gambling. He didn’t take the SAT2s. He was so done testing and his regular homework load is already intense. I got some advice from a friend who is a private college counselor to send the actual AP scores to them instead of just self reporting them. She thought it proved his scores and that he was serious about the school. Not sure if that will make any difference at ALL but we went ahead and sent them. I don’t feel like the lack of SAT2 scores will hurt him knowing everything else on his app.
@homerdog, agreed. I think schools that truly need/want SAT2 should state that and ones that “consider” them should state that. But the halfway position of “recommended” is confusing/ambiguous. As DVmom18 points out, there’s that Lee Coffin video on Youtube in which he states SAT2’s are “optional.”
Nor is it designed to. Nor does it/should it align with AP courses. Subject Tests are designed to test knowledge gained in a HS course. IB/AP are the equivalent of intro-college level courses. Apples and oranges.
Retaking a 790 is, to me, the dictionary definition of overtesting.
A 790 is 75th percentile and an 800 is 79th percentile. The difference will not be the reason one is rejected.
Don’t get caught up with percentiles. It is important to understand that for several subjects, the percentiles are depressed because so few colleges request Subject Tests, that the ones that do are the ultra selective ones. As a result, it is the high achieving kids taking the tests. No AO is sitting on the floor cross-referencing scores with percentiles.