ethereal_x

Hi, I'm currently taking AP Bio and APUSH and i'm wondering if it's wise to take the subject tests in bio and ush as well?

Ari7

Sure, it makes sense

smartie_shopper

yeah, that's the same thing i'm doing too. i'm in APUSH and AP english lang & comp and am taking the SAT IIs in US history and lit in june

stinkyrat

that's what I did. I got a 660 in bio, 760 in us history

havefaith

taking APUSH really helped when i took the subject test in us history

Alyria

This is a question that's been bothering me as well. Does it really make sense to take two standardized tests in the same subject? I mean, I've been told the APUSH and the SATII US History exams are basically the same. So if you get a 5 on the AP, and a 700+ on the SATII, what does that prove that only the 5 on the AP wouldn't? Wouldn't it make more sense to take the APUSH, and then the SATII in a different subject area?

phanatic

^You could do that, Alyria, but some colleges don't "officially" consider APs in their admissions process, while simultaneously encouraging you to take SAT IIs--or even requiring them. If you score well on both, you could meet an admissions criterion via the SAT II and then, should you be accepted, also have some credit in that subject via your AP test. It seems to make sense to me, especially if the areas are your strengths.

happymomof1

The SATII exams and AP exams serve different purposes:

SATII exams are used for college admission. You should take the exams that are likely to yield the highest scores even if you are planning to take or have already taken an AP exam in that subject.

AP exams are used for awarding college credit and/or placement into higher level courses in college (as are the CLEP exams).

The SATII, AP, and CLEP exams are all designed and written by the same company, so there is a certain amount of overlap between the types of questions, and exam content. Read the websites carefully for the colleges that you are looking at. If you do well on an SATII and your college will accept CLEP credit for that subject, go ahead and try the CLEP exam. It can be an easy way to get credit, and you don't have to sit through an AP class (or self-study quite so much) first!

VehementBehemoth

I thought SATII US was harder than AP US exam. Overall, they were both pretty easy.

acp82192

yeah i think it makes sense... i'm taking my APUSH and AP Chem tests the same week as the SATIIs in those subjects. i might die from too much testing, but at least i can study and have them done with around the same time

xrCalico23

Is is true then that AP is not considered in the admission process? I attend a "not-so-great" public school that doesn't offer AP courses to juniors (besides APUHS). Would having good SATII scores make up for the fact that I have no AP classes? I thought that AP was harder than SATIIs.

nhsharvard

SAT 2 scores will not make up for APs because colleges will look at your academic record in terms of your high school. xrCalico23, I recommend that you take college classes and online AP to make up for not having that many APs. You should be fine if you do this because it shows that you challenged yourself.

It does make sense to take SAT subject tests that correspond to your APs. I got a 720 on the US History subject test and a 4 on the AP US History test (two years ago).

haikumarukuchan

took AP Bio, 590 on the SAT II
took AP US GOV-510 in SAT II History
took AP Spanish-770 in SAT II SPanish

armageddon

Absolutely. My school has us take practice SAT IIs in our AP classes which count towards our final grade. It's pretty much a given that you should take subject tests in your best AP areas.

wombatsoup

It's a great idea. If you prepared well for the AP exam you shouldn't need to study for the SATII very much. Last year I did this for Chem, and studied a lot for the AP and got a five. For the SATII I took a practice test a few days before and that was it; I got a 790.