<p>The math level II test has a great curve, making a perfect score in the 90th percentile.</p>
<p>A perfect score on the math level I, however, is in the “99+” percentile.</p>
<p>Even though most colleges accept the two tests equally, would a top college secretly find more impressive to see an 800 math I than an 800 math II?</p>
<p>well, lets look at AP calc AB&BC test for a moment here
calc BC have more people getting 5s every year than AB, so would a top college secretly find more impressive to see a 5 in calcAB just because theres less ppl getting 5s in that test than BC?</p>
<p>^^no. lol thats sad. BC sounds for ab too.</p>
<p>They might take both tests equally but I don’t know of a single college who would rather get a math I score instead of a math II score. My guidance counselor actually told me that its better to not score perfectly on Math II than it is to get 800 on Math I because colleges like to see that you’re willing to take on challenges. If you’re going to take one of the maths, why not the harder one? </p>
<p>Also, harder things generally get larger curves, so I don’t see any reason for colleges to think Math II is easier than Math I.</p>
<p>What really puzzles me is why do colleges even look at the two tests equally if the difficulty level isn’t the same.</p>
<p>^Many of them don’t.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter whether they think it’s easy or not - it’s standardized.</p>
<p>It’s standardized between different administrations of the same test, not different tests. Math I and Math II are two different tests. Math II tests a much higher understanding of math (Pre-Calculus) that Math I. Colleges consider a 800 on Math II harder and more impressive than a 800 on Math I even though the percentiles might say a 800 on Math I is 99+ or whatever. The percentiles for Math II are lower because of the kind of people who take it. People who take Math II tend to be extremely good at Math. Then look at the students who are required to take Subject Tests. They are students who are going to the nation’s top universities/LACs. So being 88 percentile among those types of students is extremely impressive. (Evidence: Caltech and the UC’s as well as other colleges won’t even bother considering scores from Math I.)</p>
<p>Summed up: If you can take Math II and do well on it go for it. Colleges view it as a harder test than Math I.</p>
<p>of course top colleges see math 2 very easy…in fact, many of the stuffs in math 2c are covered prior to high school in the majority of Asia, not to mention that the difficulty of questions in math 2 is relatively low, which means it is always best to get 800 in order to prove that you are at least capable of doing math…but 800 on math 2 (or 5 on ap cal bc) doesn’t show that you are great in math - math olympiads do.</p>
<p>of course top colleges see math 2 as being pretty easy…in fact, many of the stuffs in math 2c are covered prior to high school in the majority of Asia, not to mention that the difficulty of questions in math 2 is relatively low, which means it is always best to get 800 in order to prove that you are at least capable of doing math…but 800 on math 2 (or 5 on ap cal bc) doesn’t show that you are great in math - math olympiads do.</p>
<p>my friend who got into MIT told me that MIT told her that it is more impressive to get an 800 on MATH I than MATH II</p>
<p>I don’t know why people think that admissions officers delve too much; basically, both are fine, though it is better to do the MATH 2 since UCs accept only math 2 and since you can get a higher score on the math2. Take the advice from a Jordanian. Unless you are in a public school in Jordan, you have to take 7 SAT2 subject tests for your Diploma Equivalency.</p>
<p>Wow, how did this thread get rehashed. I don’t know about colleges, but I personally feel 800 Math I is more impressive than 800 Math II. I think it is unfortunate that this is the case. I wish Collegeboard would recenter Math II so that you can only get 1 or 2 wrong for 800. That should certainly cut down on inflation and make an 800 Math II more impressive than 800 Math I.</p>
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<p>These are likely the words of an interviewer - formal or otherwise - or possibly of an admissions officer. My guess is that he or she assumes that people reporting either of those scores to MIT is extremely qualified in both areas and has likely done much more advanced math than that covered by either test, making them both effectively of comparable difficulty to him or her. This would make an 800 on Math I a more impressive test. However, one must consider the caliber of students who apply to MIT. It’s sort of like a high school teacher saying that, for students in math classes, an 100% on an elementary school addition test is more impressive than a 100% on a multiplication test with a curve (or, say, a 70% without one). Any high school student who can’t do well on both is probably in deep trouble.</p>
<p>^By “people,” I meant “anyone.”</p>