It's an interesting approach overall. When your son sits for the SAT II, he'll be several years younger than most students taking it. Another approach that's interesting is gearing high school curriculum to the test that is SAT - it's a which should come first question - the chicken or the egg but we're in enough of a bind to ask it. SATS are designed by a private company - should our country's school curriculum be driven by private decisions made by a private testing company?
But that question doesn't really answer yours which is how to prepare your son for an upcoming SAT when his school time isn't long enough to teach him enough of the test. Private companies are a reasonable if expensive answer. In fact, the ETS company that makes the SATS is happy to take our money to sell us old copies of the test, to tutor our children for the test all the while charging us money to sit for the test and charging colleges money to get the results of the test.
There are many private companies out there teaching to the tests that are the SATs and their subject tests. Depending on where you live, you can shop around a bit - some charge less than others. Kaplan is almost everywhere - the smaller less well known companies are a bit harder to find.
What about giving him an older copy of the test - easily purchased on-line from ETS itself or in any book store and see how he does with it? If he passes with flying colors and says it's a breeze, he might not need further tutoring.
Good luck.

I am curious as to which company runs the course you are doing. It sounds excellent- and worth the money, if it is as good as it sounds. Is this in New York City? As far as the scores go, you can cancel the scores within 24 hours of taking the test (without knowing the result).Otherwise it gets scored and if the colleges your child applies to subscribe to Score Choice, it will be your choice whether or not they see the score. If the school doesn't subscribe to Score Choice, they can request to see al scores. See this link for a good explanation of Score Choice:insideschools.org/blog/?url=http://insideschools.org/blog/2009/03/24/ask-the-college-counselorsat-score-choice/

NYCmom,
After going through the material with him from "cracking the sat" book by myself and familiarizing on what topics there are...
I joined him in a crash course test prep center. My 2 week training you may call as "pre-prep for a test prep:)) It is expensive of course but 3 hrs for 4 weeks...hoping they do miracles.

I thought there is a choice after test to cancel scores.. not sure. Hoping this is not a negative impact.
-thanks
irit123

I am so relieved to see your question- I have had the exact same situation with my son, who is a freshman. His biology teacher thought he would be a good candidate to take the SAT II biology test in June. Unfortunately, the class covers only about 70% of what is on the test. Rather than push him to spend every waking hour between now and then learning the new material, we decided to wait unit junior year, when he will take advanced Biology.Part of the problem is the new "Score choice" offered by the College Board. If you read all the fine print you begin to see that each college has the choice as to whether to subscribe to it or not. If there were no negative consequences to a lower than desired score, I would have thought,go ahead, you have nothing to lose. Then when I checked the lists of colleges and their position on Score Choice, I realized it the risk may outweigh the benefit!

Tinatina,
Thanks for the info.
But there is a lot of real teaching required on some of the topics like human body biology and Botany. So I'm doing those with him by myself, before joining a class. Since it is only 4 classes before the June SAT II.. and it may not be beneficial for him to see all these new stuff just in those classes. At this point, it can only supplement to his study. But it is a very painful excercise, that's why I'm making sure with the school that the chemistry they offer next year is higher level ( atleast honors level). But really don't know.

-thanks

I took my child out of private school because of problems like this. What you may have to do is pay extra for the right kind of tutoring. We pay a company called, wonder space here in Houston. It's worth it the money.

irit,

If this is his strong subject, and he's been reading and practicing all along, he will likely do fine.

The colleges will take note that it's a course he took as a freshman, and as he takes other courses and chooses other subject tests this one will only matter if he does really well on it. And after my son took four subject tests, he ended up at a school that didn't even require one. :)

Since there are two versions of the Bio test, your son can choose which one he's more comfortable with as well.

Good luck!

Magnetmom,
Thanks for your encouraging words. Bio is his strong field from what I see. Yes, I'm also aware that subject SAT will not be a requirement in 2012 in some UC's.. but as a parent and someone being in Science, I think this kind of subject prep is really required for anyone going to specialize in that field.
-thanks

Hi irit123, and welcome to GreatSchools Parent Community.

I have a freshman in college, so what you're going through really rings a bell with me. Keep in mind, though that he doesn't *have* to take the bio subject test this year, he could take it later (they are not tied to when the student takes the curriculum--or whether the student ever takes a formal class). However he'd have to study and keep the material fresh when he did decide to take it.

My suggestion would be to visit the public library to check out several of the "practice exam" books, and work with his text book to see what he knows and what he doesn't. Perhaps even seeing if a more comprehensive text is out there for your son to read up on. If you still don't feel comfortable, then you can check out the for-pay tutoring centers, but my son was able to study for his subject tests completely on the outside.

Keep in mind too, that many schools only require 1-2 subject tests in different subjects, and if Bio isn't his strong suit, perhaps he can take a different subject test. Too, the UCs just voted to abolish the subject test starting with the class of 2012, and it might not be as big an issue as other schools might follow.

Good luck, it sounds like you're off to a great start with your son! If you'd like to talk to more parents of college students and those who are college bound, please join us in the College and Beyond group here: community.greatschools.net/groups/11551