Category Archives: Getting Through The College Application Process

SAT Subject Tests—AKA SAT IIs—are slightly cuter versions of the SAT. Each Subject Test (there are over 20!) is one hour long and corresponds to material taught in high school-level academic courses. If you’re thinking about taking an SAT Subject Test, read on to find out everything you need to know!

1.) Who should take SAT Subject Tests?

You should take SAT Subject Tests if the schools you’re applying to require, recommend, or officially consider them. If you’re not sure where your top choice colleges stand, here is a comprehensive list of all schools that use SAT Subject Tests for admissions decisions.

Keep in mind that colleges vary in the amount of emphasis they place on SAT Subject Tests. Schools that “require” SAT Subject Tests, for example, will not even review an application that comes without them. Other schools, like Stanford and the University of Virginia, do not officially require Subject Tests, but applicants who don’t submit them will be at a sharp disadvantage. If you are applying to any school that “recommends” SAT IIs, you should absolutely take them unless your scores will mar your application.

Still more schools neither require nor recommend SAT IIs, but will consider them if submitted. Such schools treat Subject Tests as supplementary information and use them to form a more complete image of a student. Some schools, like the University of Notre Dame, only consider Subject Tests that enhance an application. Contact admissions representatives at your top-choice schools to find out where they stand.

2.) What Subject Tests can I take?

SAT Subject Tests come in a plethora of shapes and sizes! The College Board offers the following SAT Subject Tests:

— English Literature
— U.S. History
— World History
— Math Level 1
— Math Level 2
— Biology – Ecological
— Biology – Molecular
— Chemistry
— Physics
— French (with or without Listening)
— German (with or without Listening)
— Spanish (with or without Listening)
— Modern Hebrew
— Italian
— Latin
— Chinese with Listening
— Japanese with Listening
— Korean with Listening

3.) Are Subject Tests harder than the SAT? What about AP exams?

The SAT Reasoning Test and SAT Subject Tests assess entirely different things. Neither is harder than the other. SAT Subject Tests are designed to measure how much a student knows about a subject. By contrast, the SAT presents basic content in new ways in order to evaluate students’ reasoning skills. In other words, the SAT tests your ability to figure out the best approach to a puzzling question about an elementary topic.

AP exams are much harder than SAT Subject Tests because they test college-level knowledge, whereas SAT IIs measure principles taught in high school-level classes.

4.) When should students take SAT Subject Tests?

In general, students should take Subject Tests immediately after completing coursework in the subject they wish to test in. For many students, this means testing at the end of freshman or sophomore year! Language and Literature Subject Tests should be taken either during the spring of junior year or fall of senior year, as multiple years of coursework in these subjects will benefit exam performance. If you are taking and doing well in an AP course, you should take the same subject’s SAT II as close as possible to the actual AP exam.

Keep in mind that not all Subject Tests are offered for every test date! Language Subject Tests with Listening, for example, are only offered during the November administration. Make sure to review the Subject Test calendar so you don’t miss your opportunity to test!

5.) Which Subject Tests should I take?

Students should take Subject Tests that reflect their academic strengths and interests. It is also a good idea to test in subjects related to one’s prospective major. An applicant to a prestigious nursing school who submits Biology and Chemistry scores would certainly look better than one who submits SAT IIs in Literature and French! Also, keep in mind that some programs and university departments require specific Subject Tests.

6.) How can I get out of taking SAT Subject Tests?

Believe it or not, several schools will waive their Subject Test requirement if a student has taken the ACT with Writing. This is because such schools see the ACT Science and Writing sections as comparable to SAT Subject Tests.

Beware, however, of this foggy path! Most students accepted to the institutions mentioned above do submit SAT Subject Tests. Furthermore, many colleges (including Harvard, Princeton and Columbia) require Subject Tests in addition to the ACT. Also, most colleges that “recommend” or “consider” subject tests want to see them—even if an applicant has taken the ACT.

7.) How should I prepare for SAT Subject Tests?

Sentia Education offers top of the line tutoring for all Subject Tests, but if you’d rather self-study, the following resources will help you get started.

• SparkNotes: SAT Subject Tests – Provides free online review material and practice tests for the Biology, Chemistry, U.S. History, Math Level 1, Math Level 2, and Physics exams.
• Practice Questions from the College Board – Here you will find a bank of practice questions for all 20 Subject Tests.

The SAT and ACT are the main college admission tests and students often forget about SAT Subject Tests. Many students don’t realize the benefits of taking a Subject Test because a number of colleges and universities in the U.S. only require students to submit an ACT or SAT score. However, there are several surprising reasons why you should consider preparing for a Subject Test.

Some schools actually require (or recommend) students take Subject Tests

The list is longer than you might think.

Each school has its own policy surrounding Subject Tests. For the schools on your list, visit each school’s website or contact the school directly to see if they require, recommend, or consider Subject Tests for a student’s application. Be sure to check specific majors or programs at your target schools – the entire college may not require a Subject Test, but the engineering program or science programs might.

What does it mean if a school recommends a Subject Test score?

For selective schools with low acceptance rates, at least two Subject Tests are “strongly recommended.” Your application will still be considered without submitting Subject Test scores, but you will be much more competitive with Subject Test scores to submit. Arre you willing to take that extra step to stand out from the rest of the crowd. Do you know your academic strengths and have enough confidence to submit an objective number measuring those strengths?

Get college credit before you even step foot on campus

Some schools allow students to bypass introductory courses if their Subject Test scores are impressive. This means you can fulfill required credits more quickly.

Subject Tests are different from the other elements of your application: they serve as bonus points and give admissions officers a clearer sense of what type of student you are, therefore making it easier to determine if you’re a good fit for the school.

If you know you’re proficient in chemistry, a solid Subject Test score in addition to a strong academic transcript could be indispensable information on your application. This also adds a substantial amount of credibility to your claim that chemistry is your strongest subject.

You’re probably adept at rattling off reams of reasons why you hate, hate, HATE Standardized testing.  Everyone does. It’s a grueling, difficult exam with tremendously high stakes. It’s a source of conflict with your parents & competition between your friends. Tutors are pricey, studying is boring, and between school, work, socializing and heaps of extracurricular activities… you don’t have time for this! And to top it all off: Standardized tests are terrible measures of one’s potential to succeed! This test is pure evil!

Or is it?

In this blog entry I will give 10 reasons why the SAT and ACT is not so bad… awesome, even!

10.) For some students, Standardized Tests are much needed second chance. If you’re like me and slacked off during freshman and sophomore years of high school, the Standardized Tests are great ways to demonstrate newfound focus and academic potential to colleges. Coupled with a strong junior and/or senior year transcript, good Standardized Test scores will make you a viable candidate at many universities, even if you messed up parts of your high school career.

9.) Critical reading passages are really interesting! Here, I am going to let you in on a little secret: if you approach the critical reading passages with a focused, open mind, you’ll find that they are super interesting! It’s easy for students to say that critical reading passages are dry and boring–this is an excuse for disengaging from the material and not trying your best. I have NO idea why so many adults reinforce this ludicrous idea. Reading  passages come from recent (good!) novels, present wide-ranging scientific ideas & personal perspectives, and debate important issues. What is boring about this?!

8.) You’re entitled to a treat when you’re done. Twinkies, burrito, day at the beach… take your pick!

7.) Studying for the Standardized Tests teaches you important stuff you don’t learn in school, like good grammar (and, in turn, good writing skills) and how to think flexibly about math, apply strong problem solving techniques and use the math they do know in flexible ways. It asks that students go beyond applying rules and formulas to think through problems they have not solved before” In short, studying for Standardized test math promotes cognitive creativity.

6.) There are lots of available resources to help you prepare. Because so many students take the SAT and ACT it’s fair to say the test has been cracked. Not only are numerous books devoted to divulging essential content and strategies, but Sentia Education is also excited to pair you with an expert tutor, who knows exactly what material you need to know to score your highest.

5.) Misery loves company. You and your friends may grow closer through complaining about taking the SAT, ACT and SAT II Standardized Tests. Also, the fact that the eleventh grade class is simultaneously suffering promotes a feeling of community, a feeling of: I know this sucks, but we’re in this together.

4.) As you practice, you get to see the results of your hard work pay off.
Most students who work with a (good) tutor, or study a lot independently will see a big increase between their first practice test and their final score. Seeing this payoff is fun, encouraging, and will remind you that you can accomplish a lot when you work hard & put your best foot forward.

3.) You have more than one shot to take the test, and colleges will only consider your highest score. So you can relax a little. Unlike most of the exams you take in school, the SAT isn’t a one shot deal.

2.)  Completing the SAT, ACT and SAT II’s are a rite of passage, and an accomplishment that promotes confidence. Throughout life, you will be forced to face scary challenges head-on. As you meet & succeed in the face of these challenges, you will grow more confident in your abilities.

A driving instructor (shout out to Tony from Formula One, best driving instructor ever!) once told me that high school students face two, seemingly insurmountable tasks: the driving test, and Standardized Tests. Completing these tasks means proving to yourself that you can complete these tasks–that you are strong enough to succeed and persevere despite a mountain of pressure. Knowing this about yourself is invaluable.

1.) And most importantly, the SAT or ACT get you into college! Despite all its unpleasantness, these Standardized Tests are your ticket to college–one of the most exciting and challenging parts of life. This is the ultimate reward of the college admissions Standardized tests!

April Fools came early this year for nearly 4,000 applicants to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In what is now being referred to as an “e-mail goof”, the MIT admissions office accidently sent a mass email to regular decision applicants as well as accepted early action applicants containing an automated tag line that read, “You are on this list because you are admitted to MIT!” For prospective students already accepted through MIT’s early action program, the tag line was simply part of a routine mistake. But for the many applicants still awaiting a final admissions decision in March, those eleven words may have raised false hopes of admission to one of the world’s most prestigious institutions of higher education.

According to Chris Peterson, an MIT admissions counselor, the intended footer of the email sent to applicants still awaiting a decision from MIT was supposed to have read: “You are receiving this email because you applied to MIT, and we sometimes have to tell you things about stuff.” The problem, Peterson explained, was that they had recently combined two lists of students- those who had been admitted early and those still awaiting an official admissions decision. Evidently, the e-mail “footer” from the admitted group was somehow transposed onto all of the e-mails through the office’s MailChimp marketing system.

Since becoming aware of the mistake, the MIT admissions office has apologized to all applicants via their blog, and will be answering any questions or concerns via email. Despite the unseemly gaffe, scores of “hoaxed” applicants, who have taken to posting about the email on a college admissions forum, have been generally accepting of the university’s mea culpa. Time will tell if their forgiveness will extend past official admissions decisions when only 1 in 10 applicants will receive an “official” letter of admission.

A growing number of colleges and universities around the country are extending early decision application deadlines beyond Nov. 1 as a result of the continuing problems students, counselors, and schools are facing with the newly designed online Common Application. Scott Anderson, senior director of policy for the Common App, said in an e-mail to counselors that a number of fixes to various problems had been made and others were ongoing. He also said that more than 350,000 applications, a 28 percent increase of the same period last year, had been processed, and that most students did not encounter problems with the Common Application. While Mr. Anderson and Common Application brass continue to attempt to assuage the anxiety of nerve wracked college applicants, individual universities are handling this issue in predictably different ways.

Unfortunately, there is no master list on the Internet where students can find a list of colleges with their respective early application extensions. Instead, students must go to the individual admissions web pages of the colleges they are applying to in order to receive up to date information about changes in early admissions deadlines. Below is a list of schools extending deadlines as of, Friday November 1st. We hope this list serves as a good reference, but please note that all of this information is subject to change as schools continue to monitor the situation and adjust their deadlines accordingly…

Best of luck!

Colleges that have moved to a November 4 early deadline:
Emory University
Yale University

Colleges that have moved to a November 8 early deadline:
Barnard College
Beloit College
Brandeis University
Butler University
Columbia University
Cornell University
Dartmouth University
Duke University
Emerson College
Johns Hopkins University
Lewis & Clark College
Marist College
NYU

Northwestern University
Pomona College
Providence College
Purdue University
Rice University
The College of William & Mary
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Denver
University of Miami
University of North Carolina, Wilmington
Villanova University

Colleges that have moved to a November 11 early deadline:
The George Washington University
University of Vermont

Colleges that have moved to a December 1 early deadline:
Syracuse University
SUNY Geneseo

Colleges that are allowing students to apply via the Universal Application
Farleigh Dickinson
Hampshire College
Harvard University
Johns Hopkins University
Marquette University
Princeton University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Simmons College
Trinity College
Tufts University
Tulane University
Washington University, St. Louis

For many high school students the stressful process of applying to college has become even more nerve-wracking as major technical difficulties continue to plague the Common Application, the online college application portal used by over 500 colleges and thousands of students each year. After significant “upgrades” were made to the website’s software in early August, users began experiencing some alarming difficulties that are persisting through the early deadlines of multiple colleges. Common Application officials claim to have fixed two of the major bugs affecting students and school administrators, but many continue to experience significant glitches with the site.

Admissions officers have reported numerous problems with importing student applications, particularly the supplemental materials such as transcripts, letters of recommendation and additional essays. Unfortunately, the bugs do not end there; students have also encountered serious malfunctions with the functionality of the Common Application web site. Essays copied and pasted into designated essay boxes are often transmitted without proper formatting, leaving perfectly created essays without spaces, paragraphs, or indentations. Many students have reported that application payments have reportedly taken days to register with the system (rendering an application incomplete), or instead, registered duplicate payments for the same application. Some students have been unable to log in to their application, while others have been repeatedly logged off for inactivity after waiting hours to submit their application. These technical issues are not merely frustrating; they can be the difference between an application making or missing a deadline.

With early admissions deadlines looming and software bugs continuing to disrupt the application process, individual colleges have decided to proactively address the issue. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Georgia Tech have pushed early admission deadlines back from their October 15th deadline to October 21st and The University of Chicago, and Northwestern are extending early decision application deadlines to November 8th. Princeton has not altered any deadlines, but is allowing applicants to apply via the Universal College Application, a competing (though far less prominent) non-profit college application portal. Multiple other institutions are assuring applicants that technical hiccups will not hurt or affect their admissions decisions, but these problems certainly add an extra layer of anxiety to an already high stakes game.

Stuck in a PR and technical nightmare, the Common Application brass has issued more than one mea culpa via Facebook and Twitter. These apologies have mostly fallen on deaf-ears of the overstressed affected students and families. One student graded the organization’s recent performance a C- and cleverly quipped, “good thing you’re not applying to college”. While taking to Facebook and Twitter to denounce the Common Application as “the enemy” may very well seem like an appropriate and, at times, comical response to the situation, the only really proactive step students can and SHOULD take is to be overwhelmingly prepared ahead of deadlines.

Simply put, this is not a timely snow day that offers an extra day to study for a test. With all of the Common Application problems applicants are facing, procrastination is no longer an option and hitting submit at 11:59pm is more foolish than ever. Do not wait for the school of your dreams to extend its deadline, only to be caught off guard when they do not. Instead, students should make a concerted effort to have application materials completed well ahead of deadlines, just in case. This strategy should provide students with some semblance of a safety net, allowing ample time to contact schools and discuss other options for sending your complete application… without sounding like your dog ate your homework.