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Types of SAT Tests

SAT Reasoning & SAT Subject Tests

SAT is an aptitude test and has two variants

  1. SAT Reasoning Test
  2. SAT Subject Test

The SAT reasoning test judges the critical thinking and problem solving abilities while the SAT subject tests are concerned with the extent of knowledge of the student in a particular area. The SAT Subject tests also gauge how well the student is able to apply the knowledge.

SAT Reasoning Test

SAT reasoning tests (which are simply known as SAT) are concerned with

  1. Critical Reading
  2. Math
  3. Writing

SAT Subject Tests

The SAT subject tests fall into 5 basic categories, which are as follows

  1. English - Literature
  2. History and Social Studies - U.S. History, World History
  3. Mathematics: Math Level I, Math Level II
  4. Science: Biology E/M, Chemistry, Physics
  5. Languages: Chinese with listening, French, French with Listening, German, German with Listening, Spanish, Spanish with Listening, Modern Hebrew, Italian, Latin, Japanese with Listening and Korean with Listening

SAT subject tests are used as an admission parameter by some colleges. The choice of subject tests depends on the colleges to which the student has applied and on the field of study the student intends to specialize in. The subject tests to be taken for admission are specified by some colleges while some others prefer to let the students select the subject tests.