Stuyvesant Parent Night: SAT Subject Tests and Admissions Jed Applerouth Nationally Certified Counselor PhD Educational Psychology The world of assessments Every College will individually decide how to use these tests, for what purpose and in what combination. applerouth 2 What are the SAT Subject Tests? Reading Chemistry Writing US History No Calculator Math OR French Math On a day when the SAT is administered (except for March) a student can take either the SAT or 1,2, or 3 SAT Subject Tests, hour- long, subject-specific, multiple choice exams. applerouth 3 These tests have a long history under several names SAT Achievement Test CHEMISTRY 1937 1994 2005 SAT Achievement Tests SAT 2 or SAT II Tests SAT Subject Tests applerouth 4 List of SAT Subject Tests Non-Language Tests Language Tests • Literature • French • U.S. History • French with Listening • Spanish • World History • Spanish with Listening • Math 1 • Modern Hebrew • Math 2 • Italian • Biology E/M • Latin • Chemistry • German with Listening • Chinese with Listening • Physics • Japanese with Listening • Korean with Listening applerouth 5 SAT Subject Test basics Subject Test # questions Sec/quest. Basics Literature ~60 60 Knowledge of poetry and prose US History 90 40.0 80% 1790 to present day World History 95 37.9 Global history Math Level 1 50 72.0 Algebra through trigonometry Math Level 2 50 72.0 More functions and trig, aligns with pre-calc 60 questions the same, then branches off for Biology (E,M) 80 45.0 20 questions of ecological or molecular bio States of matter, reactions, thermodynamics, Chemistry 85 42.4 lab chemistry Mechanics, electromagnetism, Physics 75 48.0 thermodynamics applerouth 6 SAT Subject Test basics continued Subject Test # questions Sec/quest. Basics Chinese (L) 70-75 49.3 Language tests assess usage, French 85 42.4 reading comprehension and French (L) ~85 42.4 German 85 42.4 vocabulary. German (L) ~85 42.4 Language with listening has 20 Hebrew 85 42.4 minutes of multiple choice relating Italian 80-85 43.6 to audio selections followed by 40 Japanese (L) 80 45.0 minutes of written multiple choice. Korean (L) 80 45.0 applerouth 7 SAT Subject Tests ranked by popularity Test Mean Students Test Mean Students Math Level 2 690 144,772 French 636 7,587 Chinese (Listening) 759 5,204 Chemistry 666 73,551 Spanish (Listening) 665 2,982 The U.S. History 645 70,298 language Latin 613 2,790 Math Level 1 619 65,319 tests are Korean (Listening) 768 2,110 much less Physics 667 58,921 French (Listening) 666 1,621 popular. Literature 618 56,594 They may Japanese (Listening) 694 1,332 Biology (Molecular) 652 42,253 eventually German 644 706 be phased Biology (Ecological) 625 31,027 Italian 695 492 out. Spanish 651 19,302 German (Listening) 636 438 World History 618 16,657 Modern Hebrew 608 330 applerouth 8 Where do Subject Tests fit in the admissions process? Admissions Essays H.S. GPA in the context of Teacher/Counselor Schedule SAT Recommendations Strength and ACT Academic Strength of Activities School (Leadership, Depth) SAT Subject Tests Demonstrated Interest Academic Index: quantitative qualitative components: components the packaging of the application: Is there a cohesive story? applerouth 9 NACAC Survey: Factors influencing admissions decisions: Subject Tests are ignored by most schools Importance Considerable Moderate Limited None Grades in college prep 86.5% 11.5% 1.6% 0.3% Strength of curriculum 70.7 22.0 5.9 1.3 Admission test scores 57.8 32.0 9.2 1.0 Most Grades in all courses 45.6 43.9 9.8 0.7 colleges Essay or writing sample 26.4 37.5 19.9 16.3 do not Demonstrated interest 20.7 27.0 27.6 24.7 consider Teacher recommendation 17.4 47.7 23.7 11.2 Subject Counselor rec. 17.1 50.0 22.0 10.9 Tests in Class rank 16.3 42.2 31.7 9.8 admissions Extracurricular activities 8.9 43.9 34.3 12.9 Subject test scores (AP, IB) 7.0 27.2 33.6 32.2 Interview 6.6 26.3 31.9 35.2 SAT II scores 5.0 11.0 28.0 56.0 applerouth 10 However, many highly selective colleges require or strongly recommend Subject Tests SAT Subject Tests are required or expected by fewer than 40 of the most highly selective colleges and universities. Another 60 or so colleges will consider them in the admissions process. applerouth 11 SAT Subject Tests are important to certain elite colleges, but their influence is waning • 241,000 students took Subject Tests in 2015, down from a peak of 312,228 in 2011, before UC dropped its Subject Test requirement. • Amherst, Columbia, Dartmouth, Duke, GW, UVA, Vassar, Haverford and Williams have all recently dropped their requirements for SAT Subject Tests, but they will consider them if submitted. applerouth 12 Test takers and test numbers are in slow decline 900,000 800,000 SAT Subject Test UC drop 700,000 takers are down 600,000 13.6% over the 500,000 Test Takers decade. 400,000 Tests given Total SAT 300,000 200,000 Subject Tests 100,000 administered are 0 down 17.4% 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/research/cb-seniors-2005-total-group-report.pdf applerouth 13 But Subject Tests unlikely to disappear any time soon • Institutional Research reveals Subject Tests are strong predictors of Freshman and 4-year GPA, particularly for certain majors. • Admissions offices will drop the Subject Test requirement to increase access and increase the pool of potential students, opening a lane for those without strong testing. • Admissions offices still want Subject Tests as a key differentiator for top performing students, thus they move from required to recommend or will consider. applerouth 14 10 Year Trend Fewer students, more science, higher scores! 2005 2015 Mean Score Students Students Students Mean Score Students Mean Score Change Change % change Writing 240,364 605 Math 1 159,847 586 65,319 619 33 -94,528 -59% Over time Math 2 94,649 670 144,772 690 20 50,123 53% Science and US History 83,070 599 70,298 645 46 -12,772 -15% Literature 54,935 589 56,594 618 29 1,659 3% Math 2 are Chemistry 44,849 628 73,551 666 38 28,702 64% accounting for a Bio M 35,344 627 42,253 652 25 6,909 20% Bio E 32,489 595 31,027 625 30 -1,462 -4% larger share of Physics 26,527 652 58,921 667 15 32,394 122% tests taken. Spanish 25,289 636 19,302 651 15 -5,987 -24% World History 10,988 590 16,657 618 28 5,669 52% Mean scores are French 9,093 620 7,587 636 16 -1,506 -17% increasing in all Spanish (L) 5,656 635 2,982 665 30 -2,674 -47% Chinese 5,062 758 5,204 759 1 142 3% but 2 tests, Korean (L) 3,240 752 2,110 768 16 -1,130 -35% indicating a Latin 2,579 618 2,790 613 -5 211 8% French (L) 2,542 629 1,621 666 37 -921 -36% stronger testing Japanese (L) 1,465 687 1,332 694 7 -133 -9% German (L) 830 631 438 636 5 -392 -47% group. German 714 613 706 644 31 -8 -1% Modern Hebrew 617 619 330 608 -11 -287 -47% Italian 471 663 492 695 32 21 4% 840,620 636 604,286 659 22 -236,334 applerouth 15 If the pool of students continues to shrink, the curve will shift further to the right. • As SAT Subject Tests become a way for the strongest students to stand out, as colleges drop their requirements, anticipate the scoring curve to continue to shift. • As the pool gets stronger, otherwise “good” scores will become average scores, as is the case on the Chinese and Korean Subject Tests. applerouth 16 College Board mulling next steps with Subject Tests • College Board went to great expense to overhaul its flagship SAT and align its content with the Common Core State Standards. • College Board leadership has not sent clear messages what it intends to do with the Subject Tests. • CB may eventually cull tests declining in popularity. • CB may reinvest in most popular tests such as Math 2, Literature and the sciences, updating these tests and aligning them with agreed upon standards. applerouth 17 How many SAT Subject Tests to take? • On a given test date, you can take 1, 2 or 3 tests. • Schools that require them typically require 2, frequently considering SAT Writing as a de facto Subject Test. • Students can send more than two if the scores are strong and offer confirmatory evidence that a student is a strong test-taker. • Sending supplemental SAT Subject Test scores can be a differentiator in a strong applicant pool. applerouth 18 Interpreting SAT Subject Test scores 730 670 550 applerouth 19 While the SAT scores are on a particular curve Score EBRW % Math % 800 99+ 99+ 790 99+ 99 The midpoint is right around 780 99+ 98 770 99 98 540 for a section of the 760 99 98 750 99 97 Redesigned SAT 740 98 96 730 97 95 720 96 95 710 95 94 700 94 92 690 92 91 680 91 89 670 89 88 660 86 87 650 53 86 640 81 83 630 78 81 620 75 79 610 72 76 600 69 73 200 540 800 590 66 70 580 63 67 570 60 64 This roughly approximates 560 56 60 550 52 57 540 49 53 the normal curve applerouth 20 SAT Subject Tests are not on a normal curve! Test Mean score Test Mean score Korean (Listening) 768 U.S.