Wow…the Buckeye scholarship is huge. How do they choose who’ll receive it if there are many qualified applicants?
Your counselor is correct. Subject Test scores will be meaningless at a vast majority of US schools, and only moderately meaningful at the top schools that recommend/consider them.
Essays will be important almost everywhere.
@hansen9952 Don’t beat yourself up about the PSAT - the curve was brutal this year and I know a number of students that had qualifying scores as sophomores and didn’t make the cut as juniors.
@RichInPitt is correct - very very few schools require subject tests any more and the number that even consider them is also dropping. Check periodically at schools of interest. With the move to TO, it’s highly unlikely that many schools will be requiring subject tests.
@mamaedefamilia Bummer, i’ve been studying quite hard this summer. I really don’t mind it though. Even if it only helps a little, I’m still willing to take it. It won’t take away from writing good essays b/c I have nothing better to do anyways
Aren’t SAT subject matter tests helpful for college placement in the appropriate courses ? Seems especially helpful with foreign language study but should also help in other areas such as math placement.
While they may not be used for purposes of admission, college course credit & appropriate course placement are still meaningful uses of subject tests.
@publisher - ordinarily I would say yes (although AP scores fulfill a similar function and can be duplicative - for example with a 5 on Calc AB or BC, I don’t think that an 800 on Math II brings that much to the table). Given how hard it is to find a testing center and the relatively lax social distancing/mask guidelines currently in place, the ROI may not be worth it. JMO, YMMV.
For foreign language placement, colleges commonly have some or all of the following:
A. Their own placement tests.
B. Placement by AP score.
C. Placement by SAT subject score.
D. Placement by years of high school foreign language completed.
For math placement into calculus 1 or lower (precalculus, college algebra, etc.), colleges commonly have some or all of the following:
A. Their own placement tests.
B. Placement by SAT subject score.
For math placement into calculus 2 or higher, colleges commonly have some or all of the following:
A. Placement by AP score.
B. Their own placement tests.
@hansen9952 , many of the D3 schools I mentioned do offer generous merit scholarships (although D3 can’t provide athletic scholarships), which are not dependent on financial need. My son has a significant merit scholarship from Denison and had similar offers from a number of other D3 schools. With your stats, you may well qualify for merit aid at many strong schools. As to times, my son is a sprinter, so I’m not sure about long-distance times. There are others on CC who are more knowledgeable about that, so you might try starting a separate post, something like “Track - Long Distance Times for D3 Schools” and see if anyone responds. The other thing you can do is go onto the webpages for teams you may be interested in and look at the stats for their long-distance runners. If they don’t have the times posted, you can see the roster and then look at their times on Athletic.net or another site. The other thing you can/should do is just reach out to a couple of coaches at schools that look interesting and let them know your times - there is a recruiting questionnaire posted on most school websites. They may reach out to you if they are interested. (Although with track, walk-on is often possible.) If you will consider the Northeast, maybe look at Connecticut College as well. Many NESCAC schools don’t have merit scholarships but Connecticut does.
@hansen9952, FWIW, my son thought your times seem very credible for D3, so I would encourage you to complete some of the questionnaires and drop a note to the coaches at the schools you may be interested in. We found the coaches in general to be extremely helpful and willing to share their time with us, and talking with them was also unexpectedly helpful in getting a feel for the schools’ overall vibe.