Will 2 SAT II's in History look bad?

<p>Hi, I am very strong in history, so I took the World History exam and got a 750.
I am taking the Literature test in May also, but I am wondering if I should also take the US Hist exam in addition to my other two scores( hopefully Lit will be high)
I need at least 2 SAT II's for many of the colleges I am applying to, and Georgetown requires 3( whats with that anyway?) I hate math and science with a passion even though i am a decent student- 95 in both. I am strong in Spanish but have heard that SAT II's in languages are difficult for non-native speakers. does anyone have any advice?</p>

<p>You can pick which SAT II scores to send. I don’t believe any school requires you to send all your SAT II scores. This means that if you take a specific subject test twice, you don’t have to send both scores. Someone else should confirm this just in case I am mistaken, as it may be different for top schools that require subject tests.</p>

<p>If you are strong in math, but don’t like it, you could still score high in Math II. Just try it for another test date (if you have time), and get it over with. It has a generous curve. If you get 6 questions out of 50 wrong, you’d likely still get 800.</p>

<p>so would world hist and math be better than world hist and us hist?</p>

<p>way better…
colleges generally want to see different SAT subjects to see if you are well-rounded
in this regard a 750 in us history and math II is probably better than a 750 in world and us history</p>

<p>^Crazybandit, I’m pretty sure schools without score choice requires scores of all subject tests taken.</p>

<p>^This is certainly not true for all schools that do not accept score choice, if not for most of those schools. When I sent scores, the site warned me about unchecking the boxes for SAT I since the schools I was sending them to did not adhere to score choice; yet I had full freedom in choosing which SAT II scores to send. I remember one other instance (in which the subject, a poster in CC, was sending scores to NYU) of this being the case.</p>

<p>There is certainly no way that a school that does not require subject tests in the first place would require you to send all your subject tests. This may or may not be different for top schools that require a number of them; I would not know from experience.</p>

<p>I don’t think WH and USH would be that bad to take together. It’s not like taking Math I and Math II</p>

<p>If you’re a history guy, there’s no reason to hide it. If you can do just as well in a math/science SAT II, then go for it. Otherwise, stick with history.</p>

<p>Conceptually, the idea of showing breadth by testing in both humanities and math/science may be important if you’re applying to a national university. Showing breadth is less important if you’re pitching your strength in, say history, to a liberal arts college, or if you’re applying directly to a specific college or degree program, e.g., engineering, within a national university or public flagship. If you don’t know whether a school is considered “national university” or “LAC,” see the US News rankings.</p>

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<p>For example, the OP is correct, Georgetown is now rare in requiring 3 subject tests. When you read what Georgetown wants to see in those 3, it seems they are pretty liberal, but there is a strict rule when it comes to foreign language, so read it to make sure it does or does not apply to you.</p>

<p>Another much-discussed subject test “quirk” is the University of California system–they want 2 from different subject areas, so Lit + 1 history is fine, but 2 histories probably wouldn’t work; and if you are going to submit a math, they want Math 2, not Math 1. (The UC subject test rules will change for class of 2012 and beyond: no subject tests required!)</p>

<p>thanks for all the advice guys.
Do the ivies have special SAT II requirements?</p>

<p>^No. Harvard recently changed its requirements to 2 subject tests, instead of three. However, I believe some of the ivies do consider additional subject tests. A little more breadth never hurts :)</p>

<p>hahaha. I love how georgetown thinks so highly of itself with the whole 3 subject tests and required interview</p>

<p>Georgetown remains the only university that requires three SAT IIs. Georgetown has traditionally required three. Before the new SAT was created to add writing, many required three and most of those required the separate writing SAT II as one of them. When writing was added to the SAT (and the separate SAT II writing was done away with) those switched to requiring two SAT IIs. However, Georgetown decided that it would not use the writing section of the new SAT for admission and thus kept its three SAT II requirement (i.e., it is not because it thinks highly of itself but because it does not believe the writing section of the SAT is a reliable test and many others who do use the writing section to some extent have their own doubts about the writing section).</p>

<p>The UCs, like most that require IIs, require two SAT IIs in different subjects and they do consider US History and World History to be different subjects (as others do who have the separate subject requirement)</p>

<p>There are two universities that do not require IIs but recommend them and recommend three – Northwestern and Johns Hopkins.</p>

<p>Harvard just recently went from requiring three to requiring two. However, it also made a switch in how it evaluates. Previously if you submitted more than three, they would use the highest three scores for admission. Now they require two but consider all scores submitted if you submit more than two.</p>

<p>As to score choice, colleges that have rejected score choice and require you to send “all scores” are divided on the rules applicable. Some require all SATs but you can choose which IIs to send, others when they say “all” mean all SATs and SAT IIs.</p>

<p>drusba, that is all extremely helpful info, thanks. And thanks for clarifying re: histories = different subjects; defies logic, but good to know!</p>

<p>I’m in the same boat as the poster. I already took the US History in January, and I’ll be re-taking it in June to get a higher score along with WH. I’m going to probably try Spanish in the fall, but I was wondering if I needed Math in there (I really suck at math).
I’ll be applying to schools like Georgetown, Hopkins, etc.
what schools require that you send ALL SAT2s?</p>

<p>Some schools require that you take an SAT II in math and science. I think MIT does and maybe the engineering school at UPenn</p>