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If a school lets you choose which SATII's to send, should you simply send your three highest scores? My son is very good at history, not so good at math, so his three highest scores will probably be in U.S. history, European history and writing. Would sending those three scores make him appear to be too narrow? If a school asks for scores on three SATII's can you send four scores?

By Dave Berry on Saturday, August 18, 2001 - 07:14 pm: Edit

Hi, Fern. Most schools that require SAT IIs ask for math, writing, and a third of the student's choice. Which school(s) are you talking about that let students select their own IIs?

A self-selected set of IIs comprising the three that you mention is a bit narrow, IMO. There is no math or science. Unless your son has strong grades (APs preferred) in math and science, there may be some negative attention drawn to that area.

I suggest that he take Math IC if at all possible. His SAT I quantitative score may offset a less-than-stellar Math SAT II. Depending on what level of school he is applying to, he may send as many II scores as he wishes. Four are fine, as long as they are in the ballpark for a particular college's accepted-student profile. You might already know about Score Choice, which allows the student to preview scores before they are released. Accepted-student profile information may be available on the colleges' Web sites. Best wishes to your son.

By Kendra S on Thursday, September 13, 2001 - 11:51 am: Edit

Question about score choice -- is this really how it works? sounds too good to be true. You can preview each score before deciding whether to release, and if you don't release, the schools will never know you even took the test?? What about several tests taken in a single day? Can you release one score but not the others?

By Dave Berry on Thursday, September 13, 2001 - 07:53 pm: Edit

Yes, this is really how it works. Here's an excerpt from the Score_Choice_info_page:

"Score Choice lets you:

- see your SAT II: Subject Test scores before you request that score reports be sent to colleges and scholarship programs

- decide which score you want to have included on your permanent score reports"

By Vijay Sreedhar on Friday, May 31, 2002 - 01:06 pm: Edit

My son has registered for 3 SAT II tests in June. He is not ready to take one of them. If he does not take that one subject test, will he be in danger of having all his tests for that day considered nullified? Cancelling policy by college board is not clear on this.

By Smiles on Saturday, June 01, 2002 - 02:35 pm: Edit

Vijay--I'm virtually sure that he can take any that he wants... Unless he starts a test and then cancels it, he should be fine. :-)

By Kendra on Monday, June 03, 2002 - 08:16 am: Edit

A couple of SAT II questions -- I'd like to reiterate the first poster's question. I have a kid who is likely to have three highest scores in non-math/sci areas, although Math IIC will be in low 700s at least, based on practice tests. Likely ED school doesn't specify which SAT IIs except writing, which is required. Should math IIC be sent, assuming it's roughly 730, even if there are two other higher scores? Second question -- there was a rumour on the Princeton Review parents' board that the collegeboard sends a score report with the score choice hold results blacked out, so that schools can see the student took additional SAT IIs and is choosing to withhold the results. Does anyone on this MUCH more reliable discussion board know if that's true?

By ~Sayuki~ on Monday, June 10, 2002 - 10:30 am: Edit

hi sorry this is a stupid question...
but how many SAT II's do you need if you're going for Stanford?
I couldn't find the information I wanted on their website...
All I could find was that SAT II's are "recommended" and not "required"
I'm a bit confused...

By Dadster on Monday, June 10, 2002 - 07:53 pm: Edit

Three SAT IIs is fairly typical, but I'd e-mail the Stanford admissions office if you can't find the info on their web site.

By Sara on Friday, August 23, 2002 - 03:07 am: Edit

Is it true that there is no more score choice?

By Dave Berry on Friday, August 23, 2002 - 08:36 am: Edit

That's right, Sara. The last Score Choice IIs were given in June.

By Christine (Christine) on Monday, August 26, 2002 - 08:19 pm: Edit

I took 3 sat IIs and one SAT. I have to retake the SAT in october and retake a math SAT II in november. So should I send in college applications before or after i take the SAT II in november?