SAT 2 French Scores

cnp55 · 06-26-2008, 06:12 PM

My son got his SAT II French score this morning. 700 -- and he is a rising junior. He sat the test in France at the completion of his year abroad where he attended French public high school.

He's disappointed -- since he was practice testing over 700 and as high as 760. I will note that this was practice testing under non-test conditions. He did not have any real prep assistance aside from prep books.

What would you advise YOUR child? I told him he could take it again if he wants to ... but he'll be taking AP French as a junior and will sit the AP exam next May.

I also told him that *I* am satisfied and pleased with his results. He had a successful year at the lycee in France, and ended with an average grade above his class average and passed all his courses.

soozievt · 06-26-2008, 06:29 PM

In my opinion, that is an excellent score, particularly for a rising junior. If it makes you feel better, I will share personal experience. My D was always advanced in French and accelerated and so she took French V in 11th grade (the highest level class offered in the HS). Our school did not have AP designated French classes. She got a 700 on the French SAT Subject Test if I recall correctly. She did a two on one independent study in French VI as a senior. She was accepted to most schools she applied to including a couple of Ivies and other very selective schools and just graduated the Ivy. When she entered college, she desired to take more French because she loves it so much but there are no foreign language requrements at her college. She had no AP French score. For French placement, she was able to use her SAT Subject Test score and there may have also been a placement exam and she was placed into a pretty high level and able to skip several levels of French. She chose to take French all four years of college and also worked in France two summers. In her senior year, she was hired as a French TA for a lower level French class. So, she did all right with that 700 on the SAT French test!

Your son's score is fine for any college. If he truly is not satisfied, it would not be a big deal to sit for it next year since he will have another year of French and be taking the French AP exam.

cnp55 · 06-26-2008, 06:37 PM

Thanks Soozie ... that's what I was hoping to hear. It's a great score IMO, and I'm hoping that he'll see it that way by tomorrow or the next day!

soozievt · 06-26-2008, 06:43 PM

Any school looking at his record in French will see these strengths (assuming these exist).....year going to a school in France, a 700 on the SAT French test, acceleration in French in taking AP French in junior year, a 4 or 5 on the French AP test, good grades in French classes. If he has all those things, he should place well into French classes in college if he chooses to continue. Further, in term of admission, a 700 score is FINE! (particularly in light of the other factors if he has them) Please tell him what I shared about my D with regard to French. She is fluent in French.

mathmom · 06-26-2008, 06:45 PM

Harvard will let you out of the language requirement with either a 600+ on the SAT2 or a 5 on the AP. So that tells me it's a pretty darn good score.

WAVE24 · 06-26-2008, 11:24 PM

I got a 700 on my SAT-II French, while my great friend, who lives in Brussels, goes to a superb private school, speaks French more fluently than I, and is wicked smart to boot, got a 580. The SAT-II exam is intensive on the grammar...while most European schools focus on speaking and listening comprehension, which explains why my friend scored lower than I did. Regardless, a 700 is great...I don't know where your son wants to go, but I got into my top schools with a 700.

franglish · 06-27-2008, 05:32 AM

Also, SAT IIs are not really used for admission, at least not the same as the other criteria. They are used for placement and for exhibiting the breadth of a student's HS experience. If your son wants to study French in college, and he will have taken the AP, perhaps his placement can be based on the AP, assuming he does well on it. However, 700 on SAT II this early in his HS time is excellent. He really should not be upset about this. My D got 670 on Fr w/listening SAT II, and 3 on Fr AP. She didn't submit her AP scores at all (she took 4 of them). When she arrived on campus last fall, she took a French Department placement test, and placed into 4th semester French, which was fine with her.

woody · 06-27-2008, 10:48 AM

Can Anyone Weigh In On French Vs. French With Listening?

bluebayou · 06-27-2008, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Also, SAT IIs are not really used for admission, at least not the same as the other criteria. They are used for placement...

That really depends on the college. For the most part, those few colleges that require Subject Tests, like the UCs, use them for admissions. For example, a <600 Math 1-2 test will be close to an auto reject at schools like Caltech and MIT.

To the OP, a 700 for a non-native speaker is an excellent score. But, after a year of AP, I'd retake next spring -- an ~800 is likely.

ReneeV · 06-27-2008, 12:39 PM

Woody,
Although it's also comparing two different languages, my D found the language test without listening easier. She took the French test without listening and scored in the low 700s. She really was not fluent at all (mostly independent study with Rosetta Stone and a distance learning class), but she has good reading comprehension and grammar skills. The next year she took the German test with listening and had a disappointing score - I don't remember exactly, but low 500s. She expected to do much better, because she is much stronger in German than French.

woody · 06-27-2008, 06:17 PM

Thanks, Renee.

bluebayou · 06-27-2008, 06:19 PM

woody:

for what its worth, one thing I have heard from kids at our HS is complaints about the audio quality of the language CDs -- they claim that it's hard to hear nuances or inflections due to poor quality.

froghorn · 06-27-2008, 08:51 PM

For what it's worth:
I transferred to a small, private high school where my French was too advanced for the program. I took the SAT II Fr with little assitance and scored in the low 700s... Anything above 700 is a GREAT score, especially in languages which are infamous for the tricky grammar tactics ETS employs. Tell him to relax; I, like him, never score on tests as perfectly as I do at home. SAT II scores aren't critically important, a 700 is great and he still has the AP to get a 5. As for listening, I didn't take it because it's only offered once but I know that admissions offices don't care whether or not a spec takes w/ or w/out so, if listening plays to his strengths, he should go for it. If he is better at reading and analyzing, he shouldn't only because the listening section takes away from the vocab/lit/grammar sections. He can't go wrong with a 700 under his belt. Felicitations!

franglish · 06-27-2008, 09:43 PM

French w/listening is harder.

froghorn · 06-28-2008, 12:42 PM

I beg to differ; I think, if listening is a strength, then it is easier because it detracts from the number of grammar sections. I think I probably would have scored 750+ versus 730 had I taken listening because that plays to my strengths. If a student does better with grammar than with rapid spoken-lang. then listening is harder.