Q: What are considered “good” SAT subject test scores (Math 2 and Chemistry)?
Background: My DD is a rising junior with good grades (3.9 unweighted, 4.8 weighted) and an SAT of 690 EBRW + 760 M = 1450 with no prep. (She will prep and retake during junior year.) She took two SAT subject tests at the end of sophomore year to help keep her options open if she ends up applying to schools where subject tests might be required or recommended. Her scores were a little underwhelming: Math 2 score was 730 (53%) and Chem score was 690 (50%). If she applies to schools like Carnegie Mellon, Notre Dame, and WashU to major in computer science and/or math, is she ok submitting these scores (do they “strengthen her application”?), better off not submitting scores at all, or should she retake the tests in an effort to raise the scores? Thanks.
She is better off not submitting these scores and retaking the tests. Especially for a major like computer science or math, the math2 subject test is very important, and realistically, anything short of a 780 is not something that she should show on her application. Most Ivy League schools require an 800. Personally, I got an 800 with 2 weeks of prep. The strategy that I used did not take too much time. I took one practice test every day for the first week, and two tests every day for the second week. If the 730 is because she hasn’t learned the material, I recommend that she waits until she finished the course. I personally have not taken the chemistry subject test, but from what I’ve heard, anything above a 750 is good enough for these schools. Good luck!
The ideal situation is to take Math 2 right at the end of taking pre-Calc though it’s not necessary. The material does go up to and includes pre-Calc. There really isn’t that much prep required IMO, IIRC my kid took 1 or 2 prep tests the last couple of days before the test and got 800 in Math 2 and 780 in Chem.
With Chem he took the AP test 5 days before taking the subject test so he did no additional prep.
I think schools are generally looking for 750 and above for everything (probably higher for Math 2) but the reality is that I think schools tend to use the tests as a secondary tiebreaker, ie if you were on the borderline of acceptance versus non-acceptance, then and only then would they seriously consider the scores. That’s what I heard from one AO.
720+ is generally considered good. 750+ is considered strong. Subject tests aren’t all that important especially at schools that don’t require them. It really depends on the subject though. An 800 in Math 2 is not as good as an 800 in one of the science ones.
They don’t really strengthen her application, so if you don’t have to submit, I wouldn’t.