The SAT II subject tests are created and administered by the College Board and the Educational Testing Service (ETS), the two organizations responsible for the dreaded SAT I (which most people call the SAT). The SAT II Subject Tests were created to act as complements to the SAT I. Whereas the SAT I tests your critical thinking skills by asking math and verbal questions, the SAT II Subject Tests examine your knowledge of a particular subject, such as Physics, Writing, U.S. History, or Biology. The SAT I takes three hours; the Subject Tests take only one hour each. 

In our opinion, the SAT II Subject Tests are better tests than the SAT I because they cover a definitive topic rather than ambiguous critical thinking skills. However, just because the SAT II Subject Tests do a better job of testing your knowledge of a useful subject doesn’t mean they are necessarily easier or demand less studying. A “better” test isn’t necessarily better for you in terms of how easy it will be.