Anyone's DC taking SAT Subject tests this spring?

[Ann.without.an.e]

DD is taking Bio and Lit on Saturday.  She signed up based on her interest.  She would like to double major in Bio and English so it just made sense.  After she signed up she read that the Lit was super difficult to score high on.  It made her nervous that she'd made a mistake but she took at practice test and did very well so I told her to breathe - she's a worry wort.

 

Anyone else have these tests coming up?  I would love to know which ones ya'll chose?

[JeanM]

My ds is also taking the literature on Saturday. Then he's planning to do world history and maybe one other in June. He thinks he'll do physics, but he needs to do a practice test and find out how much studying he has to do.

 

[yvonne]

My boys are taking the French and US History exams on Saturday.

 

They're worried about the US History because they haven't done any prep at all for it beyond the work they've done for the class they're taking. I had read somewhere on the CB site, I thought, that one could pick & choose which specific SAT subject scores to send to colleges, even if both tests were taken the same day, so I figured there was no downside to trying the US History exam. I can't find that info anywhere now, though, so I'm beginning to wonder if they should skip it?!

[rlestina]

My oldest DD is taking bio this saturday, and FS is taking bio in June.  This will be the first SAT II for any of my kids, so hopefully it all goes smoothly.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

DD is taking Bio and Lit on Saturday.  She signed up based on her interest.  She would like to double major in Bio and English so it just made sense.  After she signed up she read that the Lit was super difficult to score high on.  It made her nervous that she'd made a mistake but she took at practice test and did very well so I told her to breathe - she's a worry wort.

 

Anyone else have these tests coming up?  I would love to know which ones ya'll chose?

 

The ability to score well on the lit test depends on the ability of the student.  DS2 had a very high SAT reading score and scored very high on the SAT Literature Subject test.  He is a fast, strong reader with a lot of experience in literary analysis.

[TCB]

If you are doing an AP exam is it a good idea to also try and do the SAT ll ? I'm wondering because we are not at all sure where dd is going to apply for college, and I know some require SAT ll tests.

[quark]

The ability to score well on the lit test depends on the ability of the student.  DS2 had a very high SAT reading score and scored very high on the SAT Literature Subject test.  He is a fast, strong reader with a lot of experience in literary analysis.

 

Sorry for the quick hijack!

 

Congrats to your DS, Sebastian. I think DS will do well in SAT Lit too but if his SAT reading score is already excellent, do you think it necessary to do the SAT Lit test as well? I'm trying to help him decide between SAT W History and Lit in June. He hasn't had W History in a while and will have to review more than he will have to review for SAT Lit. But I'm thinking SAT W History might be a better test to verify a mommy grade for our unschooled World History studies.

 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Sorry for the quick hijack!

 

Congrats to your DS, Sebastian. I think DS will do well in SAT Lit too but if his SAT reading score is already excellent, do you think it necessary to do the SAT Lit test as well? I'm trying to help him decide between SAT W History and Lit in June. He hasn't had W History in a while and will have to review more than he will have to review for SAT Lit. But I'm thinking SAT W History might be a better test to verify a mommy grade for our unschooled World History studies.

 

 

He needed to take the Dec Subject Test sitting in order to take Latin.  (Only offered 2x per year and I wasn't sure if there would be a June conflict.)  

 

Since he was going to be taking Subject tests that date, I had him make a spreadsheet to determine if his likely colleges wanted Subject Test scores.  Several do require them or appreciate them from homeschoolers.  He's not a STEM student, but is applying for a ROTC scholarship.

 

We didn't yet have his most recent SAT scores in hand, so I didn't know how high his reading score would be when he signed up for Subject Tests.  We did know that he would be taking the AP English Lit exam in May (two days!)

 

He already has AP scores in two government courses and European History and will be taking the AP US History exam this year.  Given that, I figured that the social studies/history verification was set, but that a few more outside scores in English wouldn't hurt.  

 

He ended up doing Latin (primary reason for that sitting), Math 1 (some schools specify that they want a math score), and English (partly with the reasoning that it would be good timed practice for the AP exam).  That was our reasoning.  The English subject test filled a gap that was already covered in history.

[anne1456]

My son is taking Math II and Physics in June. He might also take US History or Literature as a third one that day, but we aren't sure yet. I am going to have him do a practice test in each in a few weeks and see how the scores look. He took the Chemistry SAT II a few years ago and the score was a little lower than he'd like, but I think there is only one college on his list that wants 3 SAT IIs anyway, so we may just send them the Chemistry score and not bother with 3 tests on one day.

[JeanM]

Sorry for the quick hijack!

 

Congrats to your DS, Sebastian. I think DS will do well in SAT Lit too but if his SAT reading score is already excellent, do you think it necessary to do the SAT Lit test as well? I'm trying to help him decide between SAT W History and Lit in June. He hasn't had W History in a while and will have to review more than he will have to review for SAT Lit. But I'm thinking SAT W History might be a better test to verify a mommy grade for our unschooled World History studies.

 

 

Keep in mind the W. history isn't offered very often (I think just June and December). The lit is offered (I believe) every time the subject tests are offered. Thus if your ds is considering the W. history, he might want to take it in June.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I wanted to add that when we were researching SAT Subject Test requirements, I searched twice for each school.

 

1.  <School Name> Admissions Requirements Subject Test

 

2.  <School Name> Admissions Requirements Homeschool

 

This let me find schools that had specific requirements for different prospective majors (ex. Engineering Students might have to submit Math & Physics or Chemistry while English Majors only submit Two scores of their choice) or that accepted Subject Test scores as one of several options.

 

This is a good research project for junior year or earlier, because it lets you contact admissions offices for clarification before you are in a time crunch.  

[AFwife Claire]

DS2 is taking bio in June.  He's taking the AP exam as well, but a friend of ours, who got a 4 on the AP exam 2 years ago, would get credit at some school (can't remember which one!) for his SAT 2 score, which was 780, but not for his AP score of 4.  So we're going to knock out the SAT 2 as well.  DS1 took it after he finished AP bio, and he did well on it.  He also waited until June.  The bio one is different enough from the AP exam that one needs some time to brush up on what isn't covered during AP bio, and he is too busy in early May with AP exams and with the mock trial national championships to do that.

[teamturner]

My dd is considering taking the bio SAT in June. When is the deadline to sign up for it?

 

 

[amsunshine]

My dd is considering taking the bio SAT in June. When is the deadline to sign up for it?

The regular registration deadline is May 11, to avoid extra fees.

[Ann.without.an.e]

If you are doing an AP exam is it a good idea to also try and do the SAT ll ? I'm wondering because we are not at all sure where dd is going to apply for college, and I know some require SAT ll tests.

 

 

It is a great idea to do this, tcb.  My dd is taking AP Bio this year so she coupled that with the Bio Subject test.  While you don't have to do this, it kills two birds with on stone since the AP Exams are generally tougher than the Sub tests.  If a student is well prepared for the AP in a subject then they should not need much prep for the sub test.

[JeanM]

It is a great idea to do this, tcb.  My dd is taking AP Bio this year so she coupled that with the Bio Subject test.  While you don't have to do this, it kills two birds with on stone since the AP Exams are generally tougher than the Sub tests.  If a student is well prepared for the AP in a subject then they should not need much prep for the sub test.

 

:iagree:

 

I will add though that some APs and subject tests line up better than others. Last year my ds took the AP US history exam and the US history subject test. He did minimal studying for the subject test and did very well. This year he's taking AP physics and is considering taking the subject test in June. His hesitation is that the subject test covers more material at much less depth than the AP test. He is planning (hopefully soon!) to take a practice physics subject test to see how much preparation he will need to do.

 

[daijobu]

Dd14 is took the AP chem test yesterday and will be taking the SAT chemistry subject test on Saturday.  PAH class prepares you for both, and she's feeling pretty confident about it.

 

Dd13 had been taking the WTMA biology class, but then dropped it halfway through because the papers were too much for her.  But she was told that the class would prepare you for the SAT bio subject test, so we signed up for next week.  It turns out that the course does not cover organ systems, so we'll actually need another month to study up on those.  So now she's also signed up for the June exam also.  She'll probably take the exam this week for practice.  

 

Now I'm wondering whether she should be taking it at all, since she'll probably take AP bio in another couple of years.  Ugh.  It hadn't been on our radar at all until it was brought up in class, so now she's cramming for it.  Oh well, we'll see.  

[amsunshine]

:iagree:

 

I will add though that some APs and subject tests line up better than others. Last year my ds took the AP US history exam and the US history subject test. He did minimal studying for the subject test and did very well. This year he's taking AP physics and is considering taking the subject test in June. His hesitation is that the subject test covers more material at much less depth than the AP test. He is planning (hopefully soon!) to take a practice physics subject test to see how much preparation he will need to do.

 

 

May I ask, because we are just starting the high school journey next year and I am ignorant:  What is the specific benefit of taking both the AP and the SAT II tests in the same subject?  Would it be just in case the student didn't do as well as hoped on the AP, the SAT II would be a fallback score to use?  I did read above that there might be the rare school that accepts an SAT II score more readily than an AP.  Other than that rare circumstance, though, what's the reasoning behind this?  Thanks so much!

[daijobu]

May I ask, because we are just starting the high school journey next year and I am ignorant:  What is the specific benefit of taking both the AP and the SAT II tests in the same subject?  

 

Some colleges require a certain number (maybe 2-3) SAT subject tests.  I figure it's better to have your bases covered.  Unlike an AP exam which is long and difficult, an SAT subject test is only an hour and all multiple choice.  It's a quick add on.  

[amsunshine]

Some colleges require a certain number (maybe 2-3) SAT subject tests.  I figure it's better to have your bases covered.  Unlike an AP exam which is long and difficult, an SAT subject test is only an hour and all multiple choice.  It's a quick add on.  

 

Ok, I get it.  I knew that colleges required the SAT II's and was planning on Math II and Biology E/M for my oldest.( We are foregoing the AP test for Biology though, because it will be in her major and she'd rather take it again in college rather than get credit for it.  

 

It's a lot of testing these days!  In high school, I took 2 APs, 1 PSAT and 1 SAT, and done. 

[yvonne]

 

Now I'm wondering whether she should be taking it at all, since she'll probably take AP bio in another couple of years.  Ugh.  It hadn't been on our radar at all until it was brought up in class, so now she's cramming for it.  Oh well, we'll see.  

 

If she does a few practice tests and it looks like she'll have a decent score, I'd go ahead and take the SAT.  If she ends up taking AP bio later, great. Take the AP test, too. If she doesn't, she'll have a bio score in her pocket.

 

I wish I had had my sons take the Bio SAT last year when they finished their bio course, but I figured they would have other science SAT scores down the road and/or an AP bio or chem course. They're veering more towards the humanities, though, and may not end up with that AP bio course after all. It would have been nice to have that SAT score, especially if they don't do a bunch of AP science courses the next two years. Definitely dropped the ball on that one.

[mumto2]

Sorry for the quick hijack!

 

Congrats to your DS, Sebastian. I think DS will do well in SAT Lit too but if his SAT reading score is already excellent, do you think it necessary to do the SAT Lit test as well? I'm trying to help him decide between SAT W History and Lit in June. He hasn't had W History in a while and will have to review more than he will have to review for SAT Lit. But I'm thinking SAT W History might be a better test to verify a mommy grade for our unschooled World History studies.

 

FYI, a student can take an additional exam that they have not registered for and pay later. So if he goes registered for history and is feeling confident he could go ahead and do the lit also. Dd did the lit with just a practice exam as her studying. Good score.