Would it look bad if I took Math I instead of II?

Test Preparation SAT Subject Test Preparation
1

<p>I'm a junior and will only be taking pre-calc next year because I did my first half of high school in a third-world country with comparatively bad education, so I'm behind in math a couple of years right now. I know some basic trigonometry, but probably not enough for the Math II exam.
Also, the rest of my transcript is pretty good, so I'm planning on applying to top colleges. Would it look bad even if I explained my situation?</p>

2

<p>Check individual schools’ websites. Some don’t care, while others only accept Math II.</p>

3

<p>Since you plan on applying to top colleges, Math 2 may be to your advantage.</p>

4

<p>It wouldn’t look “bad” in any sense, but if you scored well on the math section of your SAT I, then it’d be fairly pointless to take SAT II Math I.</p>

5

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<p>Is that so? Are you sure about that?</p>

6

<p>Pear-Students you will be competing with for spots in colleges came from that “Third World Country” and they may have Math II on their transcript. Does that change your mind about taking the Math II? Plus you’ve had opportunity to make up math classes but chose not to.</p>

7

<p>Don’t take Math II if you’re not going to do well on it. While it’s certainly better for many schools to have Math II than Math I, don’t take a test for which you’re not prepared.</p>

8

<p>Math 2 is better and easier to do well on…</p>

9

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Not if you haven’t covered the material. And the curve is very unforgiving.</p>

10

<p>^ Was that sarcasm or a misprint or just general unawareness?</p>

<p>The curve on Math II is INCREDIBLY forgiving… you can get a raw score of 43/50 and still get an 800…</p>

11

<p>lol yeah, you can get a ton wrong and still walk out with an 800. My friend who’s going to MIT next year took BC Calculus in 10th grade, got an 800 on the SAT and SAT II Math II but a 760 on Math I. The curve on SAT II Math I is ridiculously harsh.</p>

12

<p>Actually you can even get 41-40/50 and get 800. Some people who I know that took the SAT Math 2 in January 2009 got around 9-10 wrong and still got 800.</p>

13

<p>What I was thinking of was the curve of percentiles, not the grading curve. My bad. What I was trying to point out is that if you don’t get a very high score on Math II, you will have a low percentile. As in, 700 is not a great score on that test.</p>