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1

<p>Question Regarding the SATIIs.</p>

<p>I'll be applying to some top colleges (ranging from Berkeley to Harvard) this fall, and as we all know, I have to take basically 3 SATIIs. I took the Spanish and I got an 800 (I come from Colombia), but I was wondering how colleges look at this. For example, Harvard tells us: </p>

<p>"Although some students whose first language is not English are ordinarily well advised to avoid taking an SAT Subject Test in their native language, there are exceptions to this general rule. For example, some students who are preparing for the International Baccalaureate here or abroad or for national examinations in their own countries might be less well prepared for certain SAT Subject Tests. So, too, might students who attend schools that generally do not prepare students well for specific SAT Subject Tests. Such students might wish to get the advice of their counselors about whether to take an SAT subject test in their native language, which might well support their academic credentials."</p>

<p>I'm not sure if this pertains to the Language tests though...</p>

<p>Additionally, here is an anecdotal bit from a random poster:</p>

<p>"I was in a UC Berkeley summer program last summer and I remember the admissions team came to talk to us and they said something along the lines of they're not stupid, if they see that you haven't taken a certain foreign language during high school and have a name that they can clearly see as coming from from a certain background, they'll know what you did and won't look at it very nicely." </p>

<p>Any insights?</p>

2

<p>Ummm…</p>

<p>Anyone have any insights?</p>

3

<p>Nobody will care, that you got an 800 on the SAT II if you’re a native speaker. For precisely the same reason they wouldn’t care if you can ace a fourth grade English grammar test.</p>

4

<p>I think you should take another instead of hoping they will accept it as one of your three. If you´re applying to top colleges, every little detail is noted.</p>

5

<p>Are you an IB student? Are you preparing for national exams in Colombia? Does the Spanish SAT II support your academic credentials? If the answers to these questions are no, Harvard, according to the quote you yourself posted, says you are “well advised to avoid taking an SAT Subject Test” in your native language. </p>

<p>You answered your own question: Don’t use the Spanish SAT II as one of your three SAT IIs for Harvard.</p>

<p>And then you went on to quote someone else about Berkeley’s view on the SAT II, which says the same thing: Don’t use the Spanish SAT II as one of your three SAT IIs for Berkeley.</p>

<p>What other insights are you looking for? Surely sounds to me as though you shouldn’t use the Spanish SAT II as one of your three SAT tests for elite schools.</p>