Help out a confused junior

SarumanTheWise
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:14:55 +0000

Having done both AP Englishes, AP USH, and the associated subject tests…here’s my 2 cents.

For USH, the subject test is basically the same as the AP Multiple Choice. Basically lots of memorization, with some document interpretation thrown in. Note that there is a guessing penalty on the subject test (unlike the AP exam) so you should be a bit more careful with your guesses.

The Literature subject test is much more like AP English Lit than Language, but honestly I think it’s harder (possibly one of the hardest subject tests). The curve on Literature is brutal (you can miss at most 2, I think, to keep an 800) and the questions on 16th century poetry can be quite tough to answer in the 60 minutes you have. Do a practice test for this one and you’ll see what I mean. Basically Literature is the subject test for you if you can ace SAT CR.

Math 2 is definitely a good one to take; as an AP Calculus student I don’t think you’d find it too challenging.

I did Latin so I can’t speak much for French, although I think most schools would prefer to see your proficiency in both speaking and reading/writing (for non-classical languages). You might want to examine the policies of each school you’re applying to for this one.