I scored a 5 in AP Chem this past May and am signed up for the January SAT in Chem. I know that the 2 tests aren’t really similar at all and I’ve forgotten a lot from AP, but I’d * really really * rather not spend my evenings reviewing chem for a test if it won’t matter much. Do I have much to gain from studying and getting an 800 or should I just walk in unprepared and try my best?
Basically, will universities that require subject tests be plenty impressed with my 5 as proof of my ~chem knowledge~ or are they really going to want to see that 800 as well?
You don’t need an 800. Having said that, a 5 on the AP exam will not replace a bad (or for that matter, a great) score on the Subject Test. If the college wants a Subject Test, they want a Subject Test, and will not use an AP score in lieu of one.
There’s little that will “plenty impress” a university. Winning a Nobel Prize is impressive. Scoring a 5 on an AP test, is commendable, but hardly in the same category.
@skieurope Thanks for the help! I guess what I was trying to ask was if a fairly decent SAT II score would/could be supplemented by a great AP score. In your opinion, what is a decent score for a state university compared to one for MIT/Caltech/etc?
Depends on the school. For most highly ranked state schools a 700+ won’t hurt you. But really, don’t stress about this until you actually get your scores.
My sense is that they are going to want to see a solid score on that SAT Subject test, irrespective of what score you have achieved on the corresponding AP test. Thus, I would spend whatever time you think is necessary to achieve a score of 750+ for the test in January if you are serious about schools like MIT and Caltech.
Alright, I’ll go out and buy a prep book (Barron’s seems popular) and take this thing seriously. 
I’ll update this thread once I receive my score.
Update for anyone who’s interested:
I bought Barron’s, read through the chapters I was unfamiliar with, and took ~3 practice tests. I ended up taking both Math 2 and Chem & got an 800 in both.
Dude same! But in my opinion, SAT Chem is much more harder than SAT Math 2 to get 800. It was harder for me to prepare because I was in the middle of wrestling season and I didn’t have any time. As for your question, I feel like there are a lot of people who get 5’s in the AP exam but only get 750s or 760s in the subject test.