When most people talk about the test for college admission, they usually mention SAT general test or ACT. After that, they may mention AP exams. Seldom have you heard people talk about SAT Subject tests, yet many universities have departments that require at least one SAT subject test to be submitted when applying. So, why does any department even requires a SAT subject test scores when there are AP exams?
There are crucial differences between AP and SAT subject test which make it necessary for any college applicants to carefully consider how they will approach them, both. AP exam is very demanding and students typically get only one shot at the test. The students can try multiple times at a SAT subject test, and unlike AP, they have much more freedom to choose when to take the subject test. Furthermore, a student need not be enrolled in an AP class to adequately prepare for a SAT subject test, thus it offers a great alternative to those who seek to limit the number of AP courses they will take, in order to not overburden themselves. Unlike AP exams, SAT subject test mostly requires knowledge obtainable by the end of Junior years for most high school students. This is important for college application as most students will be taking the AP courses during their Senior years, thus they won’t be able to use the AP Exam scores to bolster their college application. SAT subject tests may be the best way to demonstrate a student’s college readiness to an admission officer. It also is worth noticing the difference in the frequency of the perfect scores. The AP exam is in 5 points maximum scale, and in many tests, more than 20% of the students report a “perfect” 5/5 in the AP exam. In contrast, SAT subject test is in 800 points maximum scale, and in the majority of the tests, less than 5% of the students get the 800/800. In subjects like Literature and Chemistry, it might be harder to get an 800 in SAT subject test compared to 5 in AP exam. The college admission officers know well what the distributions of the scores are, thus will not consider 5/5 from AP in the same light as 800/800 in SAT subject tests. In many ways, SAT subject tests are just as useful in preparing for college as AP courses. AP courses expose students to materials normally taught at the college. Since students have to learn many year worths of high school materials as well as college materials in a single year, the students are not expected to know everything there is in an AP Exam. Recent released information says a student can get 5/5 mark in AP while receiving less than 70% of the maximum possible scores in an AP Exam(If more details are desired, click here). To get an 800 in any SAT Subject Tests, you need at to receive at least 80% of maximum RAW score in any test, and this is a score where you get 1/4 of points deducted for wrong guess, thus you usually have to answer more than 90% of the questions correctly. If AP exams test how much college materials a student already knows, SAT subject tests examine how completely a student knows the high school materials. To further illustrate the difference between these two test achievements, consider the following. A student with AP score of 5 may impress his/her college professor with knowing something already, but may also disappoint them by not knowing what the college professor assumed everyone should already know before arriving at his class. A student with SAT subject score of 800 might not know the college subject material in advance, but will not disappoint the professors by failing to answer something professors consider to be fundamental. Someone with AP Score of 5 may fluctuate wildly in test scores for the college course of similar content, while someone with SAT subject test score of 800 will likely perform steadily and adequately, provided that both students put efforts similar to other students in the same course. In college, more advanced the course becomes, more important the knowledge of the fundamentals. Even if SAT Subject Test score didn’t help a student enough to get the student get admitted into a college program of their choice, it will help them graduate from whatever college program they enter. At the minimum, preparing for SAT Subject tests will minimize a student’s need to take a “remedial class” after entering a college, thus improve his chance of graduating within 4 years, saving great amount of money for everyone. On top of everything said above, SAT Subject Test is a great way to bolster one’s college application, and also a way to cover up for a mistake. For example, if someone scored mere 3/5 on AP Chemistry, he can try to cover it up with a score of 780/800 on SAT chemistry subject test. Also, consider following scenario. Put yourself as someone in charge of admission for an Electrical Engineering Department. On one hand, you have a straight A student with 2200 on SAT General Test, has 5/5 in AP Calculus BC, but no other AP scores since he is taking them in Senior years, and also no other SAT subject Test scores. On the other hand, you have a student who has high school grades distributed between B+ to A+, with 1800 on SAT General ( 510 on Reading and Writing, 780 on Math ), but has 750 or above in SAT Subject tests in Math Level II, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, and World History , and 5/5 on AP Physics B ( the non-calculus one) and a 5/5 on AP Calculus AB during his junior year . The first student did what is expected of a typical student, but his application just doesn’t have that “engineering flavor”. The second student must be a math/science geek whose difficulty with English interfered with his grades, and this probably have denied him a chance to take better AP courses as well. Despite that 400 point difference in SAT General Test, and some deficit in GPA, an admission officer for an Engineering department will take a very good look at the second students, and may often pick him instead of the first student. The comparative ease at which a student may prepare and take SAT Subject test makes it a crucial part of the plan for the college admission process. It is a test that is easy to take, and one that can be taken often. While it is a hard test to receive a perfect score, very good score will bolster any student’s college application. Even if the student don’t end up with score that may help them in college application, the work that goes into preparing for these tests will help them during their college life and probably long afterward as well. Therefore, every student should try to master at least one of these SAT subject tests every year after reaching 9th grade. If they do, they will be rewarded well, sooner or later. [CLA note : A good problem to refresh your memory about angles, triangles, circles, and chords.
Try following link : http://www.clisnotes.com/math/geometry/circles/arcs-and-chords ] [CLA note : As many would have guessed, this is a counting problems about choosing three dots.
Think very carefully about how many lines you can draw on the picture that will pass through at least three dots.] [CLA note : This is a very challenging problem that requires thorough understanding of many aspects
of calculus. It is a problem worth doing once every year.] [CLA note: It is very important to realize that this is actually two part question depending on the
value of h. Also remember that if you minimize the square of the distance, you also minimize the distance as well. ] [CLA note : This is a simple problem about distances from the origin, which should mean circles are
involved. For some reason, much of 1957 2nd test was about circles.] Please feel free to point out any problem with translation or formatting. Post your solutions as a comment and we will check it! 1957 2nd test [CLA note : Do not be frightened by so many scenarios and sudden change of directions. Remember
that 0 < t < 1 and exploit the symmetric property of reflection. ] Everywhere, people are talking about how they can make educational setting better by utilizing technology and increasing chance for students to be involved in various community projects. These are much evidence that supports the idea that active, interactive, and challenging projects for the students enhance their knowledge and develop skills that students can utilize throughout their life. Does this mean that we should tear down classroom walls, throw away pencil and paper, and give all the students portable computing devices?
Well, for better or worse, the answer is resounding NO. In search of community involvement, technological devices, and enhanced interaction, people may be losing sight of two things everyone needs and what researchers still believes to be essential to learning; time for quiet reflection, and cross-examination by diverse means. Students still need an opportunity to scribble their ideas and equation without being confined by what a software can offer. They still need time to think through alone, recast the concepts within their head, and let their imagination work without having much of their attention distracted by random chit-chats or something on the screen. They still need to be challenged in ways that deeply probe their understanding, and practice using their knowledge enough times to no longer make silly mistakes. Like many things in life, it is never one or the other, it is everything possible in the appropriate amount. There always is a danger that a student may develop faulty ideas due to the project having many aspects that student didn’t know about, and also have their understanding skewed heavily in certain field and become oblivious to much larger picture which can only be seen if you can look at it from a distance. Therefore, students should still read textbooks, solve quizzes, take difficult tests, engage in discussions with other students who have a very different experience and understanding, and practice verbally demonstrating their understanding of the subjects. We need to offer students opportunities and challenges that school and community projects may have a difficult time offering in amount and depth a student needs. This is why we want to tailor make the program to the students and gather students of similar needs to engage them in class activities and academic workouts that best utilize the strength of the students and the instructors. |
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