SAT Subject Test | Benefits of SAT Subject Tests
SAT Subject Test & Benefits of SAT Subject Test What is the SAT Subject Test?? SAT Subject Test is a part of the SAT program of the College Board, a not-for-profit organization. SAT Subject Tests are an effective way to reflect your entire academics and interests to onboard the well-versed colleges and universities in the US. One million Subject Tests are taken by students around globally each year. SAT Subject Tests are one-hour exams and they give you a chance to showcase your competency and expertise in the specific subjects. Taking these tests emphasize your keenness on the specific subject so that colleges get to know your competencies well. SAT Subject Tests are typically categorized into 5 General Subject areas and there's 21 SAT Subject Tests (we’re considering Biology E and Biology M as two separate tests) fall into these 5 General Subject areas. Let us slice and dice the 5 General Subject Areas and the Subject Tests that fall into each category. S.No General Subject Areas SAT Subject Tests in Each Category 1 English Literature 2 History United States History World History 3 Mathematics Mathematics Level 1 Mathematics Level 2 4 Science Biology E/M Chemistry Physics 5 Languages Reading Only With Listening French Chinese German French Italian German Latin Japanese Modern Hebrew Korean Spanish Spanish Let’s also have a glance at the number of test takers for each SAT Subject Test and their Mean Scores according to 2017. SAT Subject Test Mean Score # of Test Takers Mathematics Level 2 694 140,674 Chemistry 665 68,536 US History 647 58926 Physics 664 56243 Mathematics Level 1 605 51195 English Literature 612 48491 Molecular Biology 648 38299 Ecological Biology 617 30253 Spanish 649 16803 World History 626 14100 French 629 6096 Chinese with Listening 759 4143 Latin 616 2363 Spanish with Listening 669 2266 Korean with Listening 761 1712 French with Listening 667 1249 Japanese with Listening 702 1152 German 618 620 German with Listening 614 453 Italian 662 453 Modern Hebrew 614 325 You can address that the tests based on the core courses (other than languages) – i.e. English Literature, Mathematics, History and Science have attracted the maximum number of students. When it comes to the language tests, most students preferred the non-Listening option. You can also sense the large variation in the average scores of SAT Subject tests. A higher average score doesn’t indicate that the test is easier. Instead, it is likely to mean that the students who took the tests are quite familiar with those subjects. Benefits of Taking SAT Subject Tests: SAT Subject Tests assist you to differentiate yourself in a competitive admission environment by submitting the score of a specific SAT subject test. So even colleges like Stanford’s testing policy also states: “We recommend taking at least two SAT Subject Tests, as such information will assist us in our evaluation process. Applicants, however, who choose not to take SAT Subject Tests will not be able at a disadvantage in the admission process.” Charles Deacon, former dean of UG admissions at Georgetown, explained about the prominence of SAT Subject Test in an email he sent to Inside Higher Ed: “Georgetown, like Harvard and other selective schools, finds SAT IIs to be quite predictive of academic success at a high school level and we feel that they’re a valuable addition to SAT Is or ACTs. However, we are aware that for a variety of reasons, students may find it difficult to submit these results so we want to make it clear that they can still apply and we will do our best to consider them fairly based upon the information they are able to provide.” Even the International College Counsellors noted: “Universities used to require or request the submission of three SAT Subject Test scores as part of a complete application for admission. Now at many schools, like Georgetown, the language on the test policy has been changed to strongly recommended.” So, TestprepKart strongly recommends you to opt for SAT Subject Tests and prepare for it along with SAT General. If you’re aiming to onboard the renowned universities in the United States especially, SAT Subject Test is a mandatory article. SAT Preparation Resources: