<p>What exactly do Subject test scores mean? Are they supposed to represent the same levels in ability as SAT I scores?</p>
<p>Yeah, I believe so. But more than that, the score is a demonstration of how well you know the subject, not how much you are better than the others. For example, getting an 800 on Chinese will show that you have a fond knowledge of the subject, but it only puts you in the 56th percentile.</p>
<p><a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/sat_subject_tests_percentile_ranks_2008.pdf[/url]”>Higher Education Professionals | College Board;
<p>That’s for much the same reason as the 80 odd percent who get a 5 on the AP Chinese test. Namely, since the standard foreign language courses in this country are Spanish and French, most people who take the tests are native speakers who want that high grade. And the rest are people who go to the kind of rich high schools that even OFFER the relevant courses.</p>