kristinamontinola Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 (edited) So I'm in my junior year of IB and I'm currently taking IB Bio SL and IB Physics SL. I'm planning on taking the Biology E/M and Maths 2 subject tests on June 2 (the day after the last day of school for me) which I'm fairly sure I'll do fine on considering I've taken bio in both freshman year and this year. However, I'm not sure whether or not I should take the physics subject test. So far this year, I've been doing kind of mediocre in the class, I guess – around high B's and low A's on average. It's pretty inconsistent, actually, since some units I'll do really well on whereas others I'll completely fail. There's rarely any in-between. I don't think physics is exactly my forte, though I really do enjoy the class. I'm planning on applying for nursing programs/neuroscience (biology if neuroscience isn't available) major in university, so I don't think colleges are going to care much for my physics subject test score considering I've already got a Bio E/M test score to submit. Is it worth it for me to take the physics subject test? Am I prepared by taking the IB Phys SL course? EDIT: For that matter, am I prepared for the Biology E/M subject test through IB Bio SL and IH Biology? Edited March 20, 2018 by kristinamontinola Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw0573 Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 I scored well on Physics SAT taking 1 year of Physics SL, but I was doing very well in the class. You should at least work through available sample problems on the collegeboard website.I think if you find the physics questions manageable then you should take it in case any school wants to see it or if you want to pursue biomedical engineering. In both biology and physics, I would not recommend just counting on your SL course if you are serious about scoring well. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinamontinola Posted March 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 1 minute ago, kw0573 said: I scored well on Physics SAT taking 1 year of Physics SL, but I was doing very well in the class. You should at least work through available sample problems on the collegeboard website.I think if you find the physics questions manageable then you should take it in case any school wants to see it or if you want to pursue biomedical engineering. In both biology and physics, I would not recommend just counting on your SL course if you are serious about scoring well. I'm feeling less inclined to take the physics subject test now after considering for a while and looking through other forums and websites for the universities I'm planning to apply to next year. I looked at some practice physics subject tests online and I don't feel super confident about it. I don't think I'd be able to score well on the subject test, so I don't think it would be worth it for me to pay for that SAT if I'm not really sure I'd do well. On the other hand, I've bought a Biology E/M prep book, so I've been working through that for study material beyond the SL course I'm taking now. I'm planning on submitting my Bio SAT score to my early app schools, which have application + SAT/ACT score submission deadlines around beginning of December. At the latest, I could wait until I've gotten some HL curriculum and take the Bio E/M in November just in time for early decision deadlines. Sorry, just thinking aloud. Thank you for your response! This really helped! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw0573 Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 (edited) Some Early Decision and Early Application wants SAT in by November exam date so best to take it in August so you get results back in September and determine if you need to retake in November. Edited March 20, 2018 by kw0573 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinamontinola Posted March 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 1 minute ago, kw0573 said: Some Early Decision and Early Application wants SAT in by November exam date so best to take it in October when school not as demanding and to also leave an option for retake if you didn't get score you wanted. Oh, okay. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I think I'll end up doing this, then. Thanks again! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw0573 Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 I meant August because if you take in October your results wont be known by November exam date. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinamontinola Posted March 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 54 minutes ago, kw0573 said: I meant August because if you take in October your results wont be known by November exam date. Scores come out only 2 weeks after the test on the CollegeBoard website, though, right? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw0573 Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 (edited) So for example Oct 7 exam you know scores Oct 20-26. I don't think that's enough to prepare for a retake on Nov 4. Also the deadline (late registration) for Nov 4 exam is Oct 25. It's just much better to do it over the summer if you are free then. With that said, I think you'll be fine with subject tests. It's mainly the Reading/Writing/Math that you may need to give yourself at least 1 month to re-prep, if necessary. Also you cannot write subject tests and main SAT on same day. Edited March 20, 2018 by kw0573 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinamontinola Posted March 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 3 minutes ago, kw0573 said: So for example Oct 7 exam you know scores Oct 20-26. I don't think that's enough to prepare for a retake on Nov 4. Also the deadline (late registration) for Nov 4 exam is Oct 25. It's just much better to do it over the summer if you are free then. With that said, I think you'll be fine with subject tests. It's mainly the Reading/Writing/Math that you may need to give yourself at least 1 month to re-prep, if necessary. Also you cannot write subject tests and main SAT on same day. Oh, okay, I see. Yeah, I'll just see if I can sign up for the June dates for the Bio E/M and Maths 2 SATs. I've already taken the main SAT a few times and I've settled with a score I'm happy with, so I'm just working on getting these subject test scores. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IB`NOT`ez Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 (edited) 13 hours ago, kristinamontinola said: I'm feeling less inclined to take the physics subject test now after considering for a while and looking through other forums and websites for the universities I'm planning to apply to next year. I looked at some practice physics subject tests online and I don't feel super confident about it. I don't think I'd be able to score well on the subject test, so I don't think it would be worth it for me to pay for that SAT if I'm not really sure I'd do well. On the other hand, I've bought a Biology E/M prep book, so I've been working through that for study material beyond the SL course I'm taking now. I'm planning on submitting my Bio SAT score to my early app schools, which have application + SAT/ACT score submission deadlines around beginning of December. At the latest, I could wait until I've gotten some HL curriculum and take the Bio E/M in November just in time for early decision deadlines. Sorry, just thinking aloud. Thank you for your response! This really helped! Despite averaging 7s in Biology & Chemistry HL, on practice tests I typically made 650s~/800 on the corresponding subject tests. I felt SAT Subject tests were more in line with AP content and I actually studied off of my Biology teacher's old AP Biology slides back when he taught it in previous schools. As for Chemistry, I had to get familiar with more physical chemistry aspects and crappy units like Torr and mm Hg. I ended up getting 750s for my real tests on both, but it was a lot of extra effort beyond what was covered in the IB and I was pretty annoyed at that. My friends who were top students at my school's Math and Physics HL classes were also only getting 600s on their Physics & Maths SAT Subject tests initially and had to go through a lot of extra work just to hit the 700 benchmark. I don't think anyone got above a 690/800 on the SAT Math II from my school at the time. Edited March 20, 2018 by IB`NOT`ez 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IB`NOT`ez Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 (edited) 14 hours ago, kw0573 said: I scored well on Physics SAT taking 1 year of Physics SL, but I was doing very well in the class. You should at least work through available sample problems on the collegeboard website.I think if you find the physics questions manageable then you should take it in case any school wants to see it or if you want to pursue biomedical engineering. In both biology and physics, I would not recommend just counting on your SL course if you are serious about scoring well. I can't say I can corroborate that anecdotal experience with mine. My friend that had predicted grades of 7 and a final of 6 for Physics HL got a very low 600 for their real SAT Physics test. Edited March 20, 2018 by IB`NOT`ez 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinamontinola Posted March 20, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 7 minutes ago, IB`NOT`ez said: Despite averaging 7s in Biology & Chemistry HL, on practice tests I typically made 650s~/800 on the corresponding subject tests. I felt SAT Subject tests were more in line with AP content and I actually studied off of my Biology teacher's old AP Biology slides back when he taught it in previous schools. As for Chemistry, I had to get familiar with more physical chemistry aspects and crappy units like Torr and mm Hg. I ended up getting 750s for my real tests on both, but it was a lot of extra effort beyond what was covered in the IB and I was pretty annoyed at that. My friends who were top students at my school's Math and Physics HL classes were also only getting 600s on their Physics & Maths SAT Subject tests initially and had to go through a lot of extra work just to hit the 700 benchmark. I don't think anyone got above a 690/800 on the SAT Math II from my school at the time. Most of my friends who do generally average in maths ended up getting pretty decent scores on the Maths II test. I've heard around that it's pretty easy, but I'll still try to prep for it pretty well. Yeah, I doubt I'd do well on the physics SAT considering how I'm doing in the class now. We've got a really great teacher, it's just that I think physics requires a sort of abstract logic I just don't have. As for biology, thanks for letting me know that. I'll try to prep using more AP stuff, then. I'm not taking chem as an SL or HL (which I regret, honestly, as much as I enjoy physics), so I don't think my IH Chem course I took last year would be sufficient prep for the SAT. Thank you for the response (and the response to kw0573's comment). Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kw0573 Posted March 20, 2018 Report Share Posted March 20, 2018 The best way to prepare for SAT Subject Test is to, like what you have been doing, get a practice book and just go over all the problems. It's just won't work if you use something not meant for SAT, even if it goes beyond (like AP or IB HL). There are two steps to doing well in any standardized exam: I) know the stuff II) familiarize with the question styles. An SAT book is best for step II). Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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