<p>What if your kid just does better with the AP format for some reason? I have a feeling my kid is better at essay, show-us-what-you-know type exams than at strictly multiple guess. If the SAT2 scores are middling but the AP scores are 4s and 5s, how does this affect college admissions? Any suggested strategies that might spare a kid from retesting multiple times would be appreciated.</p>
<p>How do you define “middling”? There’s a big difference between, say, a 650 and 700.</p>
<p>Well, if a college requires SAT Subject Tests for admission, then there isn’t much choice except study well for them and take at least the minimum number required. If the school does not require them, your student’s AP scores will either be on their high school transcript, or else you can self-report those scores. I suppose you could even go so far as to have the official score sent from the College Board along with all your other application materials. What colleges will do with that information is up to them… but then it always is anyway just like any other element of your application.</p>
<p>If you want to know whether a college will accept AP scores in lieu of SAT Subject tests, or give them more weight in admission deliberations for a student whose AP scores are higher than their SAT scores, then you’d have to ask the individual colleges directly. Only they can give you an accurate answer to that question.</p>
<p>There is a bias in the way you posed the question though – “show us what you know” rather than “multiple guess”. There are many, many students who do well on the SAT tests not because they are guessing, but because they’ve retained a lot of information, can analyse the questions effectively, and just know what the right answer is.</p>
<p>If your kid can do that well on an AP test (which also has a multiple choice component), he/she can do the same with the SAT Subject Tests. Mostly it’s just a matter of taking practice tests and getting the hang of the style of the test. Not really any different than preparing for the APs, in my opinion, although the styles of the two tests are different. In the AP classes my son took, the teachers had those kids practice the tests over and over and over - both essays and multiple choice. You get a feel that way for how the test works, how to pace yourself, and what kind of information is likely to be covered.</p>
<p>By middling I mean 50th percentile, which could be a 650 on some SAT 2 tests. Remember that the score distributions on the SAT 2’s don’t follow a bell curve where 50th percentile is around a 500. Kids tend to test in their strongest subjects, so the distributions are higher overall than SAT1. </p>
<p>Re my bias, okay, what I should have said is that my kid is better at telling and writing explanations than at analyzing (false) statements. The kid is not a natural skeptic/analytical thinker, but more of a creative, divergent thinker, which works against the SAT testing, but less so the AP testing.</p>
<p>I know Pomona will take a combination of SAT Subject Tests and AP tests to satisfy their SAT Subject Test requirement… not sure if you could do all AP tests, but quite possibly. There may be other schools like that. I would really just be a matter of checking with the individual colleges. And in the grand scheme of things, not too many schools even require SAT Subject Tests, but unfortunately it seems common among selective privates.</p>
<p>My kids kind of enjoyed them. I mean, as much as anyone can enjoy a test. And hour long, 50 questions or so. My son took 3, my daughter took 5. Seemed like they were just a part of our family life there for a couple of years.</p>
<p>Some admissions officers do feel AP scores are more important, as it’s a better indicator of how well a student could handle college level courses vs a one hr subject test. But there’s no way to give an overall generality on this. Public schools would likely just go by the numbers, and the subject test scores are generally requested and factored in more than the AP scores. Private schools tend to be more flexible and look at everything.</p>
<p>^ Anyone who thinks HS AP courses are really “college level” is kidding herself. Most colleges don’t use AP test scores in college admissions, except as a factor in validating the applicant’s grade in the AP class. Most AP classes are pretty cut-and-dried, rote learning classes, geared towards generating high scores on the AP exam; they tend to “teach to the test.” Those classes just don’t exist at the nation’s top colleges and universities. That’s why AP scores are self-reported in college applications. If the adcoms took it seriously, they’d require official grade reports.</p>
<p>Would your child possibly be interested in Bryn Mawr? </p>
<p>Here is a featured discussion from a while ago about Bryn Mawr’s “Test-Flexible” policy: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/bryn-mawr-college/724922-not-test-optional-but-test-flexible.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/bryn-mawr-college/724922-not-test-optional-but-test-flexible.html</a></p>
<p>Also have you looked into SAT-optional schools at all? You didn’t provide your child’s SAT Reasoning Score, but if you think his or her SAT Subject scores may be an issue, it may just be better to avoid the whole SAT thing altogether. There is a list of SAT-optional schools at fairtest.org</p>
<p>My D also did considerably better on her APs than her SAT IIs. I guess it is not surprising that her ACT was better than her SAT I. All of the schools she is applying to will accept the ACT with writing in lieu of SAT subject tests. So that’s what she will send. Unless, she has to send official AP scores, we are not sending any more money to the College Board!</p>