Take SAT 2 Subject Test or just New SAT... or neither?

Test Preparation
1

Hello,

I am a rising senior and am considering taking either one SAT II subject test – Korean Listening – or SAT.

I have taken old SATs and have a superscore of 2080 (770M, 580R, 730W) and an SAT II Math 2 score of 800.

I am planning to apply to these 12 schools, and only half of them are considering/recommending SAT IIs:

  1. Georgia Tech
  2. UVA (in-state)
  3. Purdue
  4. UMichigan - Ann Arbor
  5. Ohio State University
  6. UMass - Amherst
  7. UCSB
  8. UWisconsin - Madison
  9. UIUC
  10. UWashington - Seattle
  11. New York University
    12.Virginia Tech

Question 1: Should I take this SAT II test?
One of my concerns is that not only do only half of them consider/recommend SAT 2 scores, but also getting the perfect score 800 for Korean w/ listening test indicates that I’m on only 60th percentile, which won’t really make me stand out against other applicants. I’m not sure if it is really worth taking it. (Please assume that, if I am taking it, I will be getting 800 without any studies.)

Question 2: Should I take New SAT?
The main reason for taking New SAT is that Virginia Tech (Safety & in-state school) is only accepting New SAT score, yet I haven’t taken it. I am honestly seeing no other reasons to take new SAT but this, so I will be aiming for about 1350-1400. Also, if there is one, could you tell me any great reason to take it?.. Or is it wise not to study for New SAT from start if I am doing just for one college (Virginia Tech)?

Question 3: Should I take SAT II or new SAT?
I might be retaking New SAT in November; however, the conflict is, as you all know, Language with Listening Test is provided only in November, and you can only take either 3 SAT II subject tests or 1 reasoning test on the same testing day. Which one do you think is better for me between Subject test and New SAT? Or should I just not take either of them?

Please also note that I am doing these during the summer:
-100+ hours of Internship
-70+ hours of community service
-5 college essays (spending most of summer on this)

Thank you for spending time reading this.

P.S. Could you tell me what other things I can do over summer?

2

Your CR is low, what are you getting on the new SAT for reading?

3

If you are a native Korean speaker, getting a 800 on that section doesn’t do anything to your application. If your top choice school is Georgia tech and since you are OOS, you are definitely going to benefit from having a higher score. As you already probably know, Georgia Tech is getting more and more competitive. Out of state students need higher score to get in. I say aim for 75th percentile score of GT (about 1500). The best way to improve your chances at GT is raising your score. I say raising your SAT score by 100 points is going to improve your chances so much more than the 170 hours you are going to be spending on Internship and community service.

Good luck!

4

Agreed. If you speak Korean already, getting an 800 isn’t impressive.