<p>Son is applying to engineering programs. In honors Physics first 1/2 year (graded as two courses) course the teacher was fired at the end of the 1/2 year. It was a horrible course - kids were not taught adequately, there was a lot of dysfunctional behavior from the teacher, and we have discovered that the teacher did not grade tests accurately. The school hired another teacher for the 2nd half (experienced with the material) and my son had a much better experience and received an A (B- inthe previous course). His Physics SAT II score was impacted and he will retake but we are wondering, if he should apply ED with the present Physics score, should we ask the GC to indicate that the Physics teacher was fired and the material never taught (we did not even realize what was really happening until finals - and we did not realize that he was missing material for the SAT II until he started to prep for the SAT II a couple weeks before the exam in the middle of everything else going on at the end of the year…etc.). He could not catch up at that point. The school is quite reluctant to admit that the Physics teacher didn’t teach properly and constantly emphasizes that they have found another teacher as their solution to the problem. I am not sure they will agree to write anything. Any thoughts? He is retaking SAT in Oct, can’t retake SAT IIs until after Nov 1. ED deadline. He may not do ED but I am curious as to what parents think about trying to explain his grade and maybe the SAT II in this context.</p>
<p>Where is he applying? My son went engineering, and most colleges don’t even ask for the SAT II. Even if they do, it’s not the only score/grade they are looking at. An engineering student will have to take a lot of chemistry and math. Has your son taken the math or chem SAT IIs? The one semester of “B” in physics is not going to break his application.</p>
<p>This is off the topic of your question about the incompetent teacher, but at our high school, teachers are not at all keyed into the SAT IIs because very few students apply to colleges requiring them. My son’s honors physics and chemistry classes did not teach many whole aresas tested on the SAT II. He did not do well on the Chemistry SAT II as a junior and then realized that he needed to prepare for the Physics one. He started to study from a review book a few months before the test and earned an excellent score.</p>
<p>Rileydog,
After rereading your OP, I honestly think that trying to explain a single “B” grade by saying the teacher was incompetent is going to do more harm than good. I can just imagine the eye rolling. I would encourage your son to keep as positive a tone as he can on his applicaion; I’m not an expert but I think that’s probably what adcoms would rather see- positivism rather than negativism. There’s nothing you can do about it now anyway.
My son had some B’s and managed to get into some very good engineering colleges. He even got the Presidential Scholars for Georgia Tech! They are looking at a lot more than just one or two semester grades.</p>
<p>I doubt that a B in the first semester of Physics will have much of an impact. There’s no doubt that the poor teacher impacted your S’s chances at getting a higher score on the SATII. I know it’s frustrating for your S and you but in the scheme of things it probably won’t matter. The fact that he shows improvement from a B- to an A is a good indicator your S didn’t really have a problem with the subject (although sometimes the first semester of Physics can be more difficult than the second semester).</p>
<p>Both of my D’s are in engineering and were required to take SAT IIs. The UCs however, only require that two SATIIs are taken from different areas (history/social science, English Lit, math, lab science, or language other than English). It’s the choice of the student as to which ones to submit and most will pick their strongest subjects. For engineering, I’d expect most would submit the math one but it’s not required. The UCs will use the two highest scores from the SATIIs (from two different areas) so if someone took 3 tests in 3 areas the UCs will use the top 2 scores for whatever weighting they give to these tests.</p>
<p>Different colleges may have different requirements.</p>
<p>Trying to “explain a bad grade” only draws attention to it.</p>
<p>If he studies adequately for the Physics SAT Subject Test and brings up his score, I see no reason to mention any aspect of the situation.</p>
<p>Many high school courses are a poor match for the SAT Subject Tests even if taught well by competent teachers. For the people who design high school curricula, the expectations of the SAT Subject Tests are not a top priority (presumably because so few students take these tests). They are far more concerned with meeting state and district requirements, which may be very different from the SAT Subject Test expectations.</p>
<p>Another possible option for your son, if he has taken a good chemistry course and remembers the content, is to take the Chemistry SAT Subject Test instead of Physics. Most engineering programs that ask for SAT Subject Test scores want one in Math and one in a “physical science,” meaning Physics or Chemistry. If he gets a high score in Chemistry, that would eliminate the problem of the low score in Physics, since colleges generally use the higher score.</p>
<p>Of course, this assumes that your son’s Chemistry course was well aligned with the SAT Subject Test, which may not necessarily be the case.</p>
<p>I am generally against “explaining” anything on college applications unless the circumstances are extraordinary. As nngmm points out, it only draws attention to a situation that might not otherwise attract attention. My own daughter did something that at first she considered explaining (she did not take either math or foreign language her senior year – and there were good reasons for this decision). But in the end, she chose not to mention it, and evidently nobody cared. She got into her first choice school.</p>
<p>I’m with those who say not to explain it. A B in the first semester and an A in the second semester is not a big deal (the opposite situation would be worse, because physics is cumulative). </p>
<p>However, how bad is the Physics SAT 2 and where is your son applying? The Physics SAT 2 has a very steep curve because students self-select. The mean on the Physics SAT 2 was 643, with a standard deviation of 107 (as indicated on page 14 of this report: <a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools)
This is the same mean and SD as the Math 2c test.</p>
<p>If your son is applying anywhere but the top engineering schools (such as MIT or Caltech), then anything above 643 is fine.</p>
<p>Perhaps others will correct me, but I am under the impression that the Math2C scores is more important for prospective engineering majors.</p>
<p>I also agree that lots of Honors Physics courses do not adequately cover the materials; that may have nothing to do with the competence of the teacher. I also agree that Physics SATII has a very steep curve. But I keep reading that the Math2C tests is graded generously.</p>
<p>The math II is graded generously, but the curve is brutal. A 650 on the SAT II math is like getting a 500 on the SAT I math.</p>
<p>He scored 660 so just barely above it. A friend of a friend teaches Honors and AP Physics at very competitive high school and he looked at his coursework as a favor to see what he might have missed. He is the one who identified that the tests were not graded correctly. In fact, he thought the tests were crazy. Clearly it’s whiny to complain about a teacher and I agree that it probably isn’t good to draw attention to it but think it’s so unusual for a teacher to be fired. </p>
<p>The friend is going to review some material with him before the retake of the SAT II and hopefully that will help. We have asked at a couple of schools (Tufts comes to mind) what they expect to see for the SAT IIs and have been told 700s. Given the skewed population that takes it that seems to make sense for some of the more competitive schools.</p>
<p>Rileydog, add my D to the list of people in the same boat. Replace Physics with Chem and a LOWER score and you have my D. At this point her only option seems to be to self study more and take the SAT II Chem over again. I’m really fustrated because this was a new teacher who had never even heard of a SAT II, and the kids were very unprepared. </p>
<p>My D like your S is applying to engineering schools and needs one Math and one hard science. Her HS offers exactly one AP science and it cannot be taken until Senior year (AP Physics B and that is the only physics class that is offered at her HS) Chemisty is not an AP class and the only other science classes are bio in 9th and Anatomy in 11th.</p>
<p>She’s going to take the Chem SAT II in Oct and hope for the best. If the score doesn’t improve, she’ll take the schools that require it off her list or apply with a dismal score and expect to be rejected. She has good ACT scores, a good SAT math IIc, great grades, EC’s and rank. But you can only do what you can.</p>
<p>I am NO expert on this but so far my research suggests that your daughter, as a female, is much in demand at engineering schools so I am not sure she should take any schools off her list because of a low SAT II score if everything else is looking pretty good re: application. Some of the schools have data on their sites about how many males/females apply and their different scores ranges. I think you can find it on Tufts and Cornell’s websites. Otherwise, you probably have to ask specifically. </p>
<p>We were also told on parents night the year my son took Chemistry that kids would have to study for the chem SAT II by themselves. It’s amazing that schools are not required to teach a standard curriculum. We do not have a strong science department either. Our HS did not offer any science ECs as some here have reported. When I asked our GC what previous students who wanted to study engineering did she said she’s only had a few. No wonder!</p>