<p>I have read that most kids take an SAT II after taking the corresponding AP class. Your D could take an old released SAT II bio exam to see how she does, but I would be surprised if her biology class last year covered the material that she would need for the SAT II.</p>
<p>Elliemom - my older S took the SAT subject Bio test after 9th grade honors bio. We just knew he was never going to take another bio class, so we thought he may as well give it a chance. He didn’t study a bit, just went in cold. He got a 670, which if I remember right was just around the 50th percentile. Not great but not bad in a highly self selected test. He never sent it to any colleges. For perspective, when I was looking through the AP & SAT credits for our state university, he actually would have gotten credit for a bio class if he’d scored a 680 instead of 670. So I would think with a little studying, and if your D isn’t going to take AP Bio, there’s no harm in taking it and seeing how she does.</p>
<p>EllieMom – Will your D need the Bio SAT for the colleges/programs she’s considering? Did the bio class your D completed prepare her well for it? (Check this by doing sample questions online or in College Board prep book.) Will your D be taking another class that will prepare her better (e.g., AP Bio or community college bio class) before the deadline for college apps (typically Dec-ish of senior year)?</p>
<p>If she needs the test, is well prepared now, and won’t be better-prepared later, then she should take it now. Otherwise, maybe not.</p>
<p>670 is 50th %? SAT IIs are pretty different from regular SATs aren’t they? </p>
<p>S’12 never took any (he took ACT) but D’15 almost certainly will. This is one area of college admissions that I know little about…</p>
<p>Sorry for the long post, but I’m new to all of this, too. You’d think I’d be up-to-speed because this isn’t my first time sending a kid to college. But my son is 10 years older than my daughter, and they are as different as two people can be. He chose his college based on who offered the best football scholarship and never considered taking an AP class. </p>
<p>My daughter, on the other hand, decided she wanted to be a research epidemiologist when she was in 8th grade and has focused on that since—arranging to take the ACT in 8th grade so she could enroll in a CTY “History of Disease” class and paying her own way to a Summer@Brown class on the biological basis of disease. (She’s already tried to fill out the forms out for a CTY global issues course on epidemiology for next summer between 10th&11th and has a list of potential internships to try for the summer between 11th&12th.) She is nothing if not determined. But, as she admits, she’s “smart but not a genius” and while she tests well and works hard, she’s not a 2400 SAT/36 ACT caliber of student. JHU in biology or public health is her first choice, and she thinks she has the best chance of getting in if she applies ED. </p>
<p>That’s where the SATII issue comes into play—JHU strongly recommends at least three SATII subject tests. But for ED, that means that she would like to have everything done and ready to submit pretty much by the beginning of senior year. At her school, they have a very strict science sequence for the top tier students: honors bio—>honors chem—>AP physics—>AP bio or AP chem. In fact, each course is a prerequisite for the one that comes after with the only real option coming senior year. That means that she won’t have the chance to take AP bio before taking the SATII subject tests. But she thinks she can do “pretty well” (probably in the 725-750 range) based on practice tests and comparisons with other students. My concern looking at the percentile charts is that “pretty well” isn’t going to cut it for JHU, especially if it’s in her area of concentration. </p>
<p>If she takes the test this winter (after studying over break) and doesn’t do well, can she opt not to have the scores ever see the light of day?</p>
<p>Whoa Elliemom, I wonder if your D knows my D?</p>
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<p>D did “Neuroscience and Disease” at Summer@Brown this year and LOVED it. She did the app and got the scholarship to go herself. </p>
<p>I don’t know if official scores can be hidden but can’t a kid get an idea how s/he’ll do by taking practice tests, like the one I linked in my last post, or ones from a book? I’d think that would be a decent indicator of actual score, is that not what most people’s experience is? (I wouldn’t know, my S never cracked a book for an ACT or SAT and certainly didn’t do practice tests…)</p>
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<p>ohiobassmom - I looked it up on the chart - <a href=“http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/SAT-Subject_Tests_Percentile_Ranks_2011.pdf[/url]”>http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/SAT-Subject_Tests_Percentile_Ranks_2011.pdf</a>. Molecular Bio was a 55 percentile for a score of 670. You have to remember that it’s a very self selected group of test takers. Most colleges don’t require SAT Subject tests, and most students don’t take them. Of the students who do take them, they each usually take just 2 or 3 tests, so they pick their strongest subjects. So you’ve got mostly top students picking their best subject taking these tests. So getting 50th percentile is not too shabby! Don’t think she needs to get a super high score to be competitive!</p>
<p>I agree with Ohiobassmom. In my limited experience with my oldest, who will be a sophomore this year, the released College Board SAT II exams have been an excellent indicator of how he would score on the actual exam. I would have your dd take a practice test and then make a decision on whether or not she felt prepared to sit for the actual exam. </p>
<p>Colleges appear to have different rules (bit surprise!) regarding reporting test scores: Some colleges require all test scores from all test dates to be sent, while other colleges let you select which test dates to send in. Since colleges may change their rules before it is time for our kids to apply, I want my kids to have the mindset going in to the test that the result will have to be reported to the college.</p>
<p>Elliemom – D’12 took the SAT in Chemistry after honors chem, and before AP Chem and did very well. Your D doesn’t need 3 SAT science subject tests, and in fact, they probably would like to see Math2 for a science kid, which she can take right after precalc. So it shouldn’t be a problem. Your school may let her double up on science so she can take it all or she may be able to take a course in the summer. Ask your GC.</p>
<p>Did anybody take US history SAT subject test? how does that compare to APUSH? D. is taking AP UShistory this school year. I wonder if she should plan to take SATII at the end of the year, if she doesn’t have to spend too much extra time study for it. </p>
<p>D. is not really a science kid. She hasn’t quite decided what to do yet. So right now we are thinking she should take SAT subjects in different fields. The plan now is: SAT II US history, SAT II Chem, (she is taking AP chem this year) and SAT II math some time next year. please give your comments. Thanks</p>
<p>Maxwell, I have no first-hand experience on the US History SAT II, but AP Chem will definitely prepare your D for the Chem SAT II. The SAT II Math Level 2 tests concepts up through and including pre-calc.</p>
<p>Maxwellequations, my D is taking APUSH this year also and she’ll probably take the SAT subject test afterwards. Mine isn’t really a science kid either, so she’ll probably take one of the Math SAT tests (not sure what is covered by each) - I assume she’ll take Math II after taking Calculus junior year. Then she’ll probably take either and English or French subject tests because that is where her interests lie (well, for now). I think she’ll end up taking three because JHU may be in the running for her.</p>
<p>suzy100 – it might be better for your D to take SAT Math2 this year, immediately after pre-calc, rather than waiting till after Calc. Also, some kids find it hard to take 3 SAT subjects all at one sitting, so it may be good to get one done this year and the other two later on.</p>
<p>I agree with mihcal - it’s hard to take 3 subject tests in one sitting. Math I goes through Alg 2, and Math II goes through PreCalc…</p>
<p>Thanks guys! I had no idea that Math II followed pre-calc. I appreciate the info!</p>
<p>Sophomore year began this morning! </p>
<p>Though I feel school began a couple of weeks ago with softball tryouts and then we had a game last Wed and a tournament this weekend.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the comparison of SAT and AP. I think the plan now is she will take AP chem and APUSH, then take SAT chem and SAT US history. I don’t want her to take three SATs in a year. so maybe next year she will take math. </p>
<p>But, if she decides not to do STEM in college, does she need to take SAT chem and SAT math both? How can we find out what SATs she should take? We really don’t know which colleges she will apply yet. Maybe Princeton, that’s her top choice. chance is slim but she might try. Other than that, we don’t know yet.</p>
<p>10th grade also started this morning for my D15. She got to go shopping for new clothes yesterday, which improved her outlook for today. She is taking English II-Gifted, Chemistry, Algebra II-Gifted, Creative Writing, US Government-AP, French IV-AP and PE. Good luck to all for a successful and happy year!</p>
<p>If you have a kid who will cover the Math 2 curriculum, don’t bother with Math 1. The curve is nastier, and it doesn’t actually show the mastery you’d want to show.</p>
<p>I’m actually thinking that D won’t take any standardized tests this year with the school switch. While she’ll have a challenging course load, the curricula won’t align with any standardized tests (neither SAT subject nor AP). Perhaps she should take the ACT and get it out of the way, but that’s about it.</p>
<p>Hi - I somewhat lurk on this board because I have a D13 and I am on that board more - one kid at a time 
But I wanted to comment on the SAT II’s - Keep in mind that a lot of schools want the SAT and SAT II’s (not more than 3 total and often only for placement not acceptance - so can take late in senior year) OR the ACT with writing. My dd13 took the SAT II US History and Math 2 after APUSH and Honors Pre Calc - did real well on US History and OK in Math 2. She did not prepare for either one of them - took them right after her exams at school. She scored very high on her ACT with writing and will probably not even send her SAT II’s.</p>