SAT Chem Subject Score
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Anonymous
Percentiles compare students who took the same Subject Test, and are used to find out how students performed on the test. That said, that 700 is a helluva lot better than scoring 600 especially if you have a high GPA to go along with it. |
Anonymous
This article is a couple of years old but provides good insight. https://peaktestprep.com/blog/sat-college-admissions/seeing-beyond-sat-why-sat-subject-test-scores-matter "While only around 100 of the 3,000 colleges and universities across the country use SAT Subject Tests in their admissions decisions, those that do tend to be the most selective and prestigious schools. For schools like Stanford and Harvard, which accept only 7-10% of the 30,000+ highly qualified students seeking admission each year, SAT Subject Test scores are every bit as important as SAT/ACT scores. Though students will never be admitted to an elite university on the basis of test scores alone, they can certainly be rejected solely on this basis. In other words, when you're competing against the nation's best and brightest, a 2400 on the SAT is meaningless if your SAT II scores are in the 85th percentile. Unfortunately, many students, parents and schools treat the subject tests as an afterthought and believe they require no special preparation. Indeed, the forums of College Confidential and similar sites are filled with parents’ and students’ regrets about not taking the SAT IIs more seriously." |
Anonymous
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My son scored a 710 in the chemistry SAT after several days of practice tests. We hoped for better, but I certainly don't think it's a bad score. It's what he could do with a week of practice crammed after finals and between athletic commitments.
Too much pressure on these kids! |
Anonymous
Couldn't he have taken it at another time? |
Anonymous
| I agree there is too much pressure on these kids. But for what it's worth, I just dropped high school junior DC at NOVA for college chemistry class (which he loves by the way) to prep him for the chem subject matter test. Will report back if it works. His own chem. teacher said his own class was too watered down for him to do well on the subject matter test, hence the college level course. If DC hadn't gotten a 34 composite including essay on the ACT I wouldn't be doing this but he wants to apply to schools that want to see four subject mattter tests. |
Anonymous
| I've heard of 3 subject matter tests but what school wants 4? |
Anonymous
| Princeton and Yale both require four. |
Anonymous
| ^^ English, History, Math and Chemistry |
Anonymous
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Their websites appear to indicate otherwise:
https://admission.princeton.edu/applyingforadmission/standardized-testing http://admissions.yale.edu/standardized-testing |
Anonymous
That's interesting because Harvard isn't required SAT II's anymore if a student is financially challenged so I wonder how much weight they will give them. |
Anonymous
According to the links they recommend, but do not require, 2. In fact it's pretty soft language. |
Anonymous
| I don't know if they are but I think subject tests SHOULD be meaningless. To do well on them either means your school teaches to the test or that you had the time and money to prep on the side. I feel like the "better" schools are moving away from them and that about the only time they hold value is for homeschooled kids who need more objective verification of their ability. |
Anonymous
It is but it isn't. When app web site says "recommended" what it really means is that they expect kids to take/submit. |
Anonymous
| Why say recommend instead of require then? These schools don't seem shy about all the other stuff they want. |
Anonymous
Who knows... Maybe using "recommended" instead of "required" makes more kids apply. If you don't believe me, check out College Confidential discussions. |