<p>Alright, so I’m panicking about the in-less-than-a-week November SAT subject tests (Maths IC, 2C and Lit). I have a few questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>People say they do not ‘matter much’ in the admission process (I’m an international applying for HYP, Dartmouth, Williams etc), in the sense they are not ‘make or break’, unless you ‘bomb’ them. Is this true? And if it is, how do you define ‘bombing’? Below 650? Below 700? Does a 2300+ on my SAT 1 make a difference?</p></li>
<li><p>I got an 800 in Critical Reading on the OCT SAT, and I’ve read through PR and done a practise test, untime and unscored (just checked wrong/ right). I have a week to go, and I can give Lit around 3 hrs a day prep time (I have holidays going on right now). I’m also a pretty avid reader. Is it enough prep time for me? I really don’t want to do exceptional on this test, 700+ will cut it for me, really. </p></li>
<li><p>I’m worried about Maths 2C although a lot of people tell me its very easy (I’m Indian, so…). I’m a pretty good student at Maths, I pick up stuff really fast, I’m great at calculus (I know this is not tested), and at the Indian curriculum which is pretty rigorous (I’ve studied all I need for the test in school already: vectors matrices probability limits functions trig etc) and am fairly comfortable with it. Again, will a week of hard prep (2-3 hrs a week) grant me a 700+? I hear the curve is pretty sweet, too.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Wow, you sound exactly like me! I just took Math II and Lit in October, and Math II’s the one I was most worried about. We also both got 800 CR on SAT I 
(I’m not international, though.)</p>
<p>Generally I’ve read that 700+ is a must for HYPS, and 750+ is recommended. Anything less will probably count against you, but I’ve seen exceptions, so who knows!</p>
<p>I’m not really sure what I can say for Lit prep. I went through the official practice test once without a time limit and that was it. But I’m also in AP Lit and took AP Lang last year, and it’s just kinda my thing, so… 
I dunno about that one.</p>
<p>I think that should be good with the math prep, though. Just keep hammering through practice tests and reviewing every day and you’ll probably do great. The curve is very generous, as you said. In the official BB the curve let you have about -7 points before you stopped getting 800’s. Out of the 50 questions, -17 off the raw score was the end of the 700 range. Seems pretty generous to me!</p>
<p>Woah! I just did Barron’s diagnostic (it’s 3:00 am here, but I couldn’t sleep with panic), and got 15 wrong with a LOT of careless mistakes. Is that a good sign? </p>
<p>It’s cool to see someone like me :). So you didn’t do anything but one practise test? Well, I’ll need to practise more, given your AP experience, I guess, because in India…the english teaching isn’t spectacular, especially with poetry analysis (oh the horror!). But I am a good english student, though in India…idk how much that counts. </p>
<p>So one week hard prep puts me in a pretty okay place? <em>fingers crossed</em></p>
<p>Oh, I agree, poetry is the worst, haha.</p>
<p>That’s a really good sign, I think! Especially because Barron’s is known for being tougher than official tests. Of course keep in mind I was talking about points off for the curve, not questions wrong, because there’s an extra 1/4 point off for when a question is wrong (rather than left blank). So -15 wrong would be about -18 points off the raw score.
Still though, with a hardcore week of prepping I’d be surprised if you DIDN’T get a near-800 from where you are. I bet you’ll do great, so long as you keep at it :)</p>
<p>Thanks a lot, Prussia! It’s a real relief to hear that. I just hope I’m good to go for Lit, too.</p>
<p>You’re definitely okay for Math. You judge your own skills for Lit.</p>
<p>Are PR practise tests a good gauge? They seem easier to me than Kaplan.</p>
<p>I took the lit SAT ii with zero prep and made a 770. I also got an 800 on the CR section, read a lot, etc. Honestly, I think you’re fine. Study a little if you want, but at this point I don’t think there’s any way you couldn’t do well.
Good luck!</p>
<p>That’s a real relief, thank you!</p>