<p>Hello everyone! Next year I will be a junior, and I am planning on taking the SATs in the spring. I want to major in a biochemical/physics are of study at university, preferably at UCLA, but I also have a strong talent for foreign languages. As for the SAT II's, I plan on definitely taking biology M and Spanish, yet I am uncertain if I should take the chemistry or physics subject test? I will be taking AP physics and chemistry CP next year. If I had taken biology CP last semester, would I be allowed to take the subject test for biology E/M, or would I need a bio H/AP bio class (and if I will be taking chemistry CP, would I be able to take the subject test for that subject as well)? </p>
<p>In other words
- My major= physics or biochemistry; should I take chemistry or physics subject test in addition to biology subject test?
- With having only taken bio CP and chem CP, will I be allowed to take such subject tests, or will bio H/AP bio be the only exceptable prerequisites?
- Should I take the physics subject test instead of the chemistry subject test, being that I will be taking AP physics?</p>
<p>Generally speaking and there are exceptions the AP courses prepare you better for the SAT IIs. However, you can take the tests without the AP courses if you dedicate time to study. You will need to identify the areas of the test that your class did not cover and self study. If you use some of the prep books and are serious about you can get a score above 700 without the AP class. If you plan to just walk in the test that would be risky. Of course it depends on the rigor of you CP class, the type of student you are etc etc.
Now, about the physics. I think that the AP physics curriculum does not align well with the subject test. So spend some time looking at the curriculum and compare or ask here a question to the student that already took the Physics test.
You do not need to take too many SAT IIs and you should only take the ones that you feel most comfortable and most prepared. As long as you have one science sat II colleges do not really care if it is chem or physics.
You should also check one by one the college you will be applying to and see their requirement and if they have requirements per major. For example some colleges say 2 SAT II (any two), others say not required and others specify per major (for example one math and one science for engineering major).
It is better to concentrate on one SAT II and get a good score than half study for 2 or 3 and get bad scores.</p>
<p>So the type of subject test does not matter when applying to colleges unless you’re applying for a specific school within the college that suggests (basically requires) you to take a subject test. i.e UPENN has an engineering school that wants you to take the physics sat subject test. You also don’t need to declare your major when applying to schools and you are welcomed to change your major once you’re already in (the school won’t check up to see if you ended up pursuing that major). Taking two subject tests that are irrelevant to the major you’re aiming at won’t hurt your chances, unless the scores are bad (but that won’t hurt your major, just would hurt your overall application). </p>
<p>But if you’re already taking AP physics next year, I would recommend taking the physics subject test. If you believe in your teacher, that he/she is really preparing you guys for the AP, and you are doing well in physics then I would take the subject test. However, whether your CP bio and Chem are sufficient is really up to your school. I took Honors Chem. did extremely well in school, and did poorly on my chemistry subject test, but took Honors Bio in my school and did well in both the class and the subject test. However I studied for one subject test and not the other in my own time. </p>
<p>Sometimes teachers do not cover everything on the subject test because they’re just teaching the subject , not preparing you to take a test, so they’ll either go into details about different aspects that won’t even be on the subject test or not mention anything about another topic that will be on the sbject test. I didn’t review any material before my chem test and did poorly, but reviewed all of Biology (studied every chapter in a subject prep book) and took 5 practice tests before taking the actual subject test. </p>
<p>So whichever one you study more for, Physics and chem (or if you feel good about both and study both, then take both) you should do that subject. </p>
<p>Side note: According to some schools, this might just be for specific schools with programs like an engineering school or business school, biology is considered a soft science, meaning is not as valued as high as physics or chem. So if you do well on either physics of chemistry, I think it’ll look good </p>
<p>You are right about biology. Usually when the requirement is one science sat and one math sat they want to see chem or phys and math 2. This is because both chem and phys involve some math while bio does not. Some majors are very dependent on math and they want to see a certain fluency. However this is mostly relevant to engineering and tech schools (MIT, RPI etc).</p>
and you are welcomed to change your major once you’re already in (the school won’t check up to see if you ended up pursuing that major). Taking two subject tests that are irrelevant to the major you’re aiming at won’t hurt your chances, unless the scores are bad (but that won’t hurt your major, just would hurt your overall application). </p>