<p>I am currently a high school junior and an ivy league hopeful. My grades are certainly up to par if one considers my sophomore and junior years (all honors/APs and all As). However, I struggled freshman year as the shift to high school did not come easily to me. I ended up with some Bs and A-s. I recently realized that I may be able to undo the effects of my low freshman grades by getting 750+s on the SAT IIs of the subjects for which I received low marks. Would this help my resume and buttress my appeal? Or rather would it make me look like one trying to pad his resume? I am confident I could do well and I typically do have Saturday mornings free . . . So what do you say? Thanks.</p>
<p>It would look bad in my opinion. Take three at the most, and use that extra time to strengthen nonacademic parts of your application.</p>
<p>So hypothetically if I were to hand in my application with 8 SAT II 800s, you contend that my application would be tarnished?</p>
<p>What you have to understand is that there’s a fair amount of over-testing going these days, spurred on somewhat by the change to Score Choice a few years ago, as well as because of the ever increasing competitiveness of admissions at selective colleges. </p>
<p>So there can be a fine line between showing your academic abilities via testing and appearing to be a test drone. Since most selective colleges only require 2 Subject tests, 8 could be viewed as overkill. And unless you already have incredible ECs, an adcom may wonder why you spent your Saturdays testing rather than getting out and doing something more interesting.</p>
<p>Overdone is overkilled. We went to a college visit at one of the cc top universities. We were told the record number of recommendation letters they received for one applicant was 34 many years ago. And someone broke that record this year. Neither of them got admitted. I don’t quite believe the story. But don’t overkill it. Two or three is enough. Save the bucks.</p>
<p>Unless you are homeschooled, it does not appear that more than three or so would be of much benefit.</p>
<p>According to some posters, unhooked applicants who are admitted to Ivy League schools are often top 2 in class rank, and no worse than top 2%.</p>
<p>So be sure you have other schools in your application list that you are happy to attend. At least some of them should be those which you are certain to be admitted to and certain that you can afford.</p>
<p>8 subject tests usually signals the college that you’re overly desperate to get in. In a way it might hurt your application. Then again, I know someone at my school who got into Harvard with 6 or 7 subject tests.</p>
<p>I can think of reasons to do it - you have poor grades and want to demonstrate that you know your stuff (a few Bs and A-s are not poor grades). You are home-schooled and what to show that you are prepared academically. You are an international and likewise have something to prove.</p>
<p>For you, it’s a waste of time. As others have said, the obvious question is why aren’t you using your time to do something more productive and interesting? Anyone can take tests and, if they are smart and well-prepared, score well. It says nothing about what they would contribute to campus life, their intellectual creativity and insight, or what kind of person they are. It shows drive and not much else.</p>
<p>Colleges that require subject tests require two and for most of those if you submit more than two they only consider the highest two so throwing 8 800s at them will result in having two 800s considered and the rest ignored. Too many believe that if you take a lot of SAT subject tests that somehow your chances will be greatly enhanced. Test scores are only one part of what is considered, and regardless of how much you try to berlieve otherwise, having 8 SAT II tests with 800s will not cause them to ignore the fact that you have a low GPA if it is in fact low.</p>
<p>"For you, it’s a waste of time. As others have said, the obvious question is why aren’t you using your time to do something more productive and interesting? "</p>
<p>OP: what M’s Mom is saying to you is that the path you’re taking is similar to the person who gets a 2300 SAT and then retakes it 4 more times in order to boost it another 80 points or so. Top schools will conclude that this person is a test-score whore rather than an interesting person. “productive and interesting” does not mean more time in the SAT prep book. Top colleges want people who will contribute to the community – not just people who can crank out grades.</p>
<p>Eight SAT Subj test is WAY too much.</p>
<p>@OP</p>
<p>If you have shown improvement over your freshman year, don’t sweat it, that is actually a good thing. Don’t try to compensate for those lower grades by trying to ace the related SAT II tests. I’m not exactly sure about most Ivies but I know Brown likes to see improvement in one’s transcript. They’ll see your rising scores as “peaking,” at the right time. Their philosophy is that they prefer to accept students who are reaching their academic productiveness at the right time(that time being entering college age) rather than a student who might be entering having burned out on “acquiring,” good grades.</p>
<p>So, just offer up the SAT II scores that have relevance towards your intended major and concentrate on getting into that top 2%</p>
<p>Do not take more than three. My alma mater even requires you to submit all scores (no score choice) so they can see how test obsessed you are as an applicant. The obvious question on the mind of the adcom is “after this kid got 2-3 750+ scores, why doesn’t he have something better to do with his weekends than take standardized tests?”</p>