SAT subject tests? Should my son take them?

[Janeway]

I signed my son up for subject tests in June. He says top choice would be Latin and Latin is only offered in June and December. I figured even though none of the schools on his list require the tests, he might find a need for them by the time summer is up, in the form of selecting a school to be interested in that requires them or maybe scholarships or anything else I do not know about yet? Now I am wondering if I should cancel the subject tests. He has not gotten serious about looking at colleges yet so I do not know what might come up.

[kokotg]

I would go ahead and take them unless he KNOWS he's not applying to any schools that require them. We realized too late that Emory wants to see three subject tests from homeschoolers; by then it was the end of his junior year, so he'd already taken a lot of classes where the material wasn't fresh in his mind anymore AND he was overwhelmed by all the other college application stuff and couldn't handle cramming for subject tests just for one or two applications. He ended up applying to Emory and just submitting 2 scores, and we'll see what happens. For my current 9th grader, I'm going to make sure he takes the tests as he completes classes, so he'l have them if he needs them. (Our state flagship also requires some kind of outside evidence of completion of core classes, and subject tests work for that as well).

[Hoggirl]

“Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it,” is one of my many mantras.  

Is he just taking Latin?  I am a fan of doing one subject test at a time if possible.  Yes, you can take three in one day, but I think that’s a bit much. If he’s strong in Latin, start with that, and then align other subjects when taken to additional subject tests. 

Ds has several schools that listed submitting two subjects tests as optional.  One school wanted three.   Even if optional, it’s just one more data point.  For homeschoolers, I think they are good to have as just one other means of “outside verification.”

[kirag714]

For most students most schools do not require subject tests, but for homeschoolers they can be very helpful. The more selective schools my daughter applied to required at least two subject tests for homeschooled students. As others have said, it certainly can't hurt. And you don't need to submit them everywhere if you don't want to.

[Arcadia]

I’ll let him take Latin in June. It would only “waste” two hours on a Saturday as kids need to report to the test site by 7:45am (better by 7:30am) and are let out by 10am for one subject test. 

My oldest took Math 2 and Physics on the same day in case he decide to go for engineering school. He did take Chemistry as well on another test date just in case a college prefers three subject tests from applicants.  My youngest took Physics in June and Math 2 in August as he didn’t want to take two subject tests on the same day. He would be taking chemistry in June or August depending on his preferred test site availability as we haven’t done the online registration yet. 

It is really a case of better to have subject test scores if your son could afford the time and you could afford the test fees. Each test date has an admin fee so doing two tests on one day is cheaper than a test a day but it all depends on your son’s preference.

Edited February 26, 2019 by Arcadia
Typing mistake, missed a zero.

[katilac]

Neither of mine took them. 

Oldest did have some interest in schools that required or recommended them but felt that her multiple DE classes at a university should be an acceptable substitute. Had her heart been set on a certain school, she probably would not have rolled the dice like this, but she did get accepted everywhere she applied, including at least one school that 'required' subject tests for homeschoolers. 

Youngest only applied to a couple of schools and it was not needed. 

It never came up for scholarships for either of them. 

I'd leave it up to him, letting him know that it could affect his admission at certain places.  

[...................]

If you feel he will do well and not be overcome by test anxiety, it looks VERY good for college transcripts to have SAT Subject tests 🙂

But I mean, he does have to be willing to break out the subject test prep book and actually study it consistently between now and then.  If not, it's a waste of time and money.