I’m a junior with a 1560 on the SAT and 3 subject tests under my belt: 800 Bio M, 800 Math 2 (taken early on just in case I might apply to an engineering school) and 760 History (taken last year).
Based on my interests and activities, my intended major will be a foreign language, with a focus on foreign policy. Given this interest (with lots of EC’s, fluency in 2 foreign languages deemed critical to the US, and summer classes focused on foreign languages), would it seem odd that I did not take a subject test in the foreign language I am taking at school (not one of the language I am fluent in by the way)? Does it matter which subject tests I submit given my spike in foreign languages? Does it seem odd that I took 2 stem subjects when I’m a language guy? I focus on the 2 stem subjects because a super moderator (@skieurope) indicated that at his school, the two highest scores will be placed on the folder…thus, the Bio and Math 2.
I have been given the advice that I should not take the SAT again and instead, work on improving other parts of my application…so I’m taking a glance at what other things I can do before I sit down to work on my essays this summer…
No. Unless the college specifically suggests which 2 Subject Tests to take (as is often the case, where engineering asks for a Math and a Science) you are free to choose on your own. Now if you are applying to Georgetown SFS or Middlebury as examples, then maybe you’d want to include a foreign language. Note that for most colleges, you are admitted to a college, not the department, and many students change majors.
That’s not exactly what I said. What I said was that all scores will be placed in the folder, but only the top 2 are listed on the cover sheet. Again, that’s at my college. That said, I have also been on record as saying that more does not equal better, and that submitting a pile of Subject Tests may lead the AO to wonder if the applicant has anything better to do on a Saturday than take tests. I have also said that taking a FL Subject Test may be beneficial as an extra test because some colleges use them to exempt students from the FL requirement.
So there may be valid reasons for taking a FL Subject Test, but when you have 2 800’s, taking another will not “boost” your application.
@skieurope Thanks man for your reply. Really appreciate it.
The foreign language I am taking in school is Latin, one I chose to help provide a solid foundation for learning other Western languages. I’m thinking taking the Latin SAT might help with my overall story that I present to colleges. Who knows, this entire college process is so shrouded in mystery. Perhaps the lack of transparency helps the colleges to reach whatever objective they have, which okay I get it…but it’s truly maddening for those of us applying. And meeting AO’s at colleges I’ve visited wasn’t particularly comforting either…some just graduated from the college they are reading for…
All I can do is be in a position to purchase a lottery ticket, then hope my genuine story comes through in my essays, and my recommendations support my application.
Happy holidays and thanks again for supporting us hopeful teens in this (somewhat arbitrary) process.
If you don’t think you’ll need to spend a whole lot of time preparing (e.g., not taking away from maintaining top grades or from your EC’s) and you think you can score a 750+, why not. It may alleviate your concerns and give you some peace of mind, and provide the AO with more data points.
I think @gibby said it nicely once when he indicate that the more data points AO’s sees the more they will notice you are a top test taker and can surely handle the work-load on their campus. (Sorry @gibby if I’m misquoting you).
I would not. I think there are diminishing returns to too many subject tests. If I am an AO, I’m thinking, “Didn’t this person have more interesting things to do?”
I don’t think that he meant that one should pile on Subject Tests over and above what a college requires/recommends. But he can certainly clarify. I will also point out that while @gibby 's kids did submit more than two subject tests when they applied to college, this was in part because the highly competitive public HS they attended required students to take Subject Tests after completing certain courses.
From the college admissions perspective, though, I will simply quote what Jeff Brenzel, former admissions Dean of Yale said:
Thanks everyone for the feed back. I took about an hour to take and grade the CB released practice test cold in that massive brick of a Blue Book as a baseline and just got a handful wrong. So, I think I’ll go ahead and sign up for the test. In the grand scheme of things, one hour out of a Saturday doesn’t seem like a big deal (I spend entire weekends away at debate tournaments, even missing school for these) and the June SAT date is just about the time I’ll be studying for my latin final anyway and before the debate championship tournaments begin, so the timing fits. Again, thanks for taking the time to respond to my question, gave me different perspectives and things to consider. Georgetown SFS is a school I’ll be applying to for sure.
If you have fluency in a language NOT taken in school, it’d be worth it to take the subject test to demonstrate that fluency, unless you have another external test as evidence (Ap score, DELF, Goethe Institute…)