Timing SAT prep, SAT taking and AP tests taking

Parents Forum
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<p>For anyone who may be reading this thread and considering bioengineering: be warned that a number of engineering schools will not consider the SAT-II Bio as an acceptable science exam. They want to see Chem or Physics. You do not want to find this out early senior year!!! We know someone who found this out as she was finalizing application lists. The student had a stellar score in Bio from freshman year, but then found out she needed physics for half her schools. This became somewhat stressful, as the IB Physics curriculum does not tie well to the SAT-II and so lots of extra study time was involved.</p>

<p>S1 took Math Level II as a freshman after pre-calc, World Hist junior year after the AP, and Physics October of senior year. He had taken physics freshman year, thermo and quantum junior year, and spent a couple of weekends looking at SAT-II physics books. Took the SAT in March of junior year. </p>

<p>S2 took Math Level II and USH soph year (immediately after pre-calc and AP USH) and Literature in May of junior year just before the AP Lit exam (he had a strong CR score and IB English, so took it cold). Took the SAT in March of junior year, retook in June. Because he’s in a very demanding IB program, we wanted to be sure S2 was done with testing before senior year began. This turns out to have been a VERY good decision. </p>

<p>In general, my feeling is that having the testing done by the end of junior year is the best way to go, whenever possible. Having those scores in hand will help the student gauge where he/she stands in terms of how schools line up as likelies/targets/reaches, and it avoids a ton of stress as senior year workloads plus applications and ECs reach their peak.</p>

<p>We found the best test prep for S2 was IB English, along with practice math sections from the Blue Book. </p>

<p>Re: math sequences – At S1’s program, everyone went from pre-calc directly to BC Calc, virtually everyone took AP Stat (which was calc-based and offered as a one-semester course), and a significant proportion of the class took MV, DiffEq and/or Lin Alg (each as one-semester courses). S2 took AB Calc because he thinks math is not his strongest suit, and even he thought the pace was a little slow. He’s taking AP Stat this year, but that’s more because his intended major will require a couple of stat courses, not because he was worried about BC Calc.</p>

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<p>Couting down, which Physics class does prepare best for SAT 2 then? The regular physics with covering some extra areas?</p>

<p>I agree with you that getting most of the testing done by Jr. year is ideal it does require some serious planning to make it happen with the rest of the activities going on which is why I am trying to come up with a plan before we get to Jr. year.</p>

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<p>Lakemom- Thank you for starting this thread. I hadn’t even thought of SAT II tests. I hope you don’t mind my asking a question here about S’s testing. </p>

<p>Here is S’s high school schedule. I am only including relevant classes for testing not electives and PE. He is in an IB program and all classes are MYP (9-10) or IB (11-12).</p>

<p>8th - counted as high school units
Spanish 1
English 1
Algebra 1</p>

<p>9th
English 2
Spanish 2
World History
Algebra 2
Geometry
Biology 1</p>

<p>10th
English 3
Spanish 3
Spanish 4
Am. Gov
Economics
Chemistry 1
Physics
Pre-Cal
Art</p>

<p>11th
English 4
Spanish 5
US History (AP/IB)
Biology 2
Chemistry 2
Calculus
Visual Arts (AP/IB)</p>

<p>12th
English 5
20th Century History
Biology 3
Chemistry 3
IB Math HL (not sure what this is)</p>

<p>He plans to take the SAT at the beginning of 10th grade. This could change depending on the 9th grade PSAT. SAT in 7th grade was around 1950. He will need to take at least 2 SAT II tests but will probably want to take 3 or 4. He will take IB exams as a senior except for Spanish and Art those will be taken as the end of junior year. Taking the ACT is an option but not sure when to take it.</p>

<p>So from the above list of classes what is the best time to take the SAT II’s in Chemistry, Biology, and Spanish. Should he take physics since he will only be taking one class in physics? I know US History will be taken at the end of 11th grade.</p>

<p>I appreciate any suggestions.</p>

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<p>If it were my kid. I wouldn’t be in a rush to take SAT 1 - I wouldn’t bother before January of Junior year. I’d take Math 2 at the end of 10th grade. I might try physics if curriculum aligns well with test. US History and either Bio or Chem at the end of 11th grade. (Chem if he’s going into engineering. No science if I got a good physics score.) I’d take the Spanish SAT for placement, but not to send into colleges. (Often a 600+ score will excuse you from a language requirement.)</p>

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<p>To DebateMom:</p>

<p>The grading curve on the SAT Subject Test in Spanish is brutal, probably because a lot of heritage speakers take the test. Scores tend to be low, even for students who have taken Level 5 or AP Spanish. I’m not necessarily saying don’t take it, I just wanted to make sure you knew. </p>

<p>If your son is interested in majoring in math or science, he might want to take the SAT Math 2 Subject Test. The best time would be at the end of 10th grade. He might also need a science test – which one to take depends on how well his school’s curriculum aligns with the tests (IB classes don’t always align well) and on whether he is applying to any programs that specifically require a physical science test (chemistry or physics).</p>

<p>If he doesn’t specifically need a math or science test, other good options include U.S. History (taken at the end of the AP/IB course) or Literature (IB students usually do well on this one).</p>

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<p>I am a high school senior now done and very happy with all of my standardized testing, and I think i found a really great schedule for getting it done.</p>

<p>June of 10th: take an SAT2 based on a class you took in 10th grade (probably Bio or Chem)</p>

<p>July after 10th grade: start very preliminary SAT prep</p>

<p>Sept/Oct/Nov of 11th: start cracking down, doing a ton of tests, getting a private tutor if you can afford it.</p>

<p>Dec of 11th: take SAT, plan for this one to be the “real” one, the first and final.</p>

<p>Depending on December score, you could be done with the SAT. If not content with score, plan to take it again in March (as I did), but don’t prepare in the same way. Take a long break until February, don’t even look at the test until February, then in Feb start doing tests, working specifically on what went wrong in Dec.</p>

<p>March of 11th: take SAT again.</p>

<p>Hopefully, that score is good enough. If it really really isn’t then wait until Oct to take it again.</p>

<p>May: take AP exams (I took US, Physics B, and French)
May: take SAT2s on the same subjects as the APs you took (for me Physics and US Hist)</p>

<p>Oct of 12th: ONLY if you really need it, take SAT for the last time. Probably best to study minimally. </p>

<hr>

<p>That’s a summary of what I did. I only recounted it because it worked really excellently for me and I never felt pressured or time crunched, whereas a lot of my friends didn’t plan it as smartly and ended up having to take SAT2s in Oct of senior year for classes they took in 11th.</p>

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<p>Thanks Jackpot!, I am going to print your post out for my son to read and see what he thinks. Thank you for taking the time to help us plan.</p>

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<p>Lakemom,
S1 did not have the usual physics sequence. He was at a math/science program and they did a very intense physics class first semester freshman year, and then he took Quantum and Thermo junior year (which seem to have covered via osmosis most of the off-the-wall stuff that shows up on the SAT-II). He took a physics class senior year which covered everything on Physics C, but faster and deeper, and with multivariable as a pre-req, but he was barely a month into that class when he took the SAT-II.</p>

<p>Somehow, his eclectic background plus the SAT-II books were sufficient.</p>

<p>S2 has a friend who is taking the two year IB SL Physics at their school. S says some of them decided to take the AP Physics B after the first year of the IB course, and the vast majority made a three or lower (and this is a well-respected program with some seriously high-powered kids). As I mentioned upthread, the IB Physics does not seem to mesh well with the SAT-II. OTOH, the pre-IB Bio at their school matches exceptionally well and most students pull 700+.</p>

<p>I’d trust the wisdom here that Physics B may be the better match for the SAT-II exam – but will also note that the Physics SAT-II has a very generous curve. If your S wants Physics C (which is calc-based and better preparation for an engineering program) and will sit down and review from a test book to fill in any gaps, he could get a great score.</p>

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<p>Thanks CountingDown, We will have to research the best path to the SAT2 in physics. My son has engineering skill but is leaning towards architecture which requires less physics and calc. He is currently taking regular physics now in 10th and finds it easy so far. He is taking the physics from the head of the science dept but I don’t know if this teacher is that clued into the SAT 2 tests content. I will investigate more as the year goes on.</p>

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<p>My D took the SAT1 in May of sophomore year and got a good score. That really helped decompress the junior year for her. Also helped her score well on the PSAT in junior year, whch is when it matters for NMSF. She still took the SAT1 again in March of junior year, but by then it wasn’t stressful at all, and she didn’t need to prep for it. If May 2010 is too early for your son then just have him take it for the first time in Oct or Nov of junior year. The prep for that will be the same as prep for junior yr PSAT.</p>

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<p>Our Ds took the SAT for the first time in Oct of junior year (week before PSAT is given). They when took the SAT again and the ACT for the first time in June of junior year. I think sophomore year is a little early to take the SAT “for real.” There’s a lot of growth that happens during that junior year.</p>

<p>I would plan on taking the SAT twice. Both D’s did better (one did substantially better) on the second take. Also, if you aren’t happy with either of your SAT scores, I’d leave room to take the ACT as an alternative test.</p>

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<p>ellemenope, I’m glad you are posting about your Ds taking both the SAT and ACT. My son took the PSAT in Oct as a soph. Did very well on the Math, less so on the CR and Wr. I live in the east so no one talks about the ACT and I would like him to have a chance to take it without real pressure for it to be a potential score. </p>

<p>I was thinking of having him take in in June 2010, at the end of his soph year just to give it a shot. STill take the PSAT in Oct Jr year again to see if he changed from soph scores.</p>

<p>Then after the PSAT, if he felt he preferred the ACT, I would have him focus on it for his next round of testing.</p>

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<p>I’m pretty sure DD took the SAT end of sophomore year because that semester the school district was funding a free prep course after school, and there was no reason to think it would be available the following year. She did extremely well. She may have taken it one more time and moved up just a bit in her junior year. I always felt it made the junior spring semester more stressful to add the first SAT exam to several looming AP exams. I think all of my kids took the SAT by fall semester of junior year.</p>

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<p>Lakemom, another reason I like to have as much testing done as early as possible (esp the SAT-IIs) is to leave the option open for ACTs. S2 was considering taking the ACT if he was not happy with SAT scores, esp. since the IB coordinator here says that a lot of IB kids do very well on them (the testing across subject areas on the ACT reflects IB’s approach, too). Having only one SAT-II left after the March SAT gave him the option to either retake the SAT, take the ACT, or both – and still have his testing done by the end of junior year.</p>

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<p>I should add that taking the SAT early may have helped with the PSAT – she was a NMS.</p>

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<p>I agree with both of you. Since the AP exams are “fixed” to a single date you have to juggle space between them and other testing so that it isn’t overwhelming (for my son and for me) that spring semester.</p>

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<p>Lakemom - thanks again for starting this thread. I am going to make an appointment with the IB coordinator and guidance counselor to discuss testing schedule.</p>

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<p>Glad it was helpful to you. Everyone’s input certainly has gotten me thinking about the best way to plan for next year.</p>

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<p>Very helpful thread! Thanks. I hope you don’t mind a related question…</p>

<p>How does one decide between Math 1 and Math 2 Subject test? DS2 is a sophomore who will finish Pre-Calc in January (we have a semester block system) and is signed up for the Jan. date to take just the Math at that time. He will take AP Calc AB as a junior (at our school it is challenging and no one goes directly to BC as it is not set up to do that).</p>

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<p>^ Good math students who have taken Pre-Calc generally do better on Math 2 than on Math 1, because of a looser curve.</p>