<p>@VMT Thank you! I do have to agree with @mathyone that it is a mixed blessing, though. You are really constrained in high schools you can attend if you want to continue in math throughout high school. I’m not sure if we would have done it that way if we had it to do over, although it does have its benefits, as well.</p>
<p>And @ucbalumnus hit the downside of taking the test cold for a ‘trial’. My son’s counselor recommended that, and he did, but all but one of his top schools ended up asking for ALL sat scores so now he doesn’t know how much it hurt him to do that, since we are waiting for results from those colleges at this point…</p>
<p>In terms of taking a test “cold,” I agree that it’s a good idea to at least familiarize yourself with the concepts on the test, as well as the test itself. I took Math II and Physics without any preparation (I had a ton of math contest experience so I was confident at scoring 800, but for Physics I knew almost no E/M). Not sure if that was the best idea, but I scored a 740 with only basic E/M knowledge. Probably could’ve scored an 800 if I studied some E/M but it doesn’t really matter now.</p>
<p>However I will say that for exams in college, <em>definitely</em> take a practice test and make sure you understand everything.</p>
<p>We encourage the students in my school to take the Math Level 2 after prec-calc. For our honor students, this usually means after soph. year. I do tell them to at least prep through a practice test or two, or why bother. I know there are some students who wait til junior year, but for many this is overwhelming with all the other standardized tests (SAT, ACT, AP).</p>
<p>Curve more generous on level 2. Students we have taking them are planning on attending top schools bc the majority of schools don’t REQUIRE any SAT ll subject tests. </p>
<p>The standardized tests are pretty important for college admissions. I don’t know why any ambitious student would spend years working hard in school and then just walk in with no prep to take tests which will be reported to colleges. It just makes sense to do a few practice tests, if only to become confident that you don’t need to study. That was the case for two of the three SAT2’s my daughter took, but she did have to do some review for the math2 because it didn’t align with what she had been doing the past 2 years in school. It was not a big deal though. I’m thinking she spent a few hours per week for a month or so on the whole thing, including practice tests. Such a small blip in this whole process, I can’t really remember.</p>