• The SAT II Physics exam covers the entire gamut of introductory physics subjects. MIHS Physics courses, and almost every other high school physics program in the U.S. does not cover all these topics. From what I can tell, all students encounter a large number of questions that are unfamiliar and because the test is curved, good scores are possible even for students who are not familiar with all the topics on the test.
     
    That said, my students generally find that preparing for the SAT II test by reviewing topics they have studied, learning about topics they haven't studied, and taking high quality practice exams is beneficial. 
     
    • This site includes (near the bottom of the page) links to a formula list to memorize (no formula sheet is provided) and a physics (and math) concept guide: http://www.erikthered.com/tutor/
    • Various SAT II: Physics review books exist and can be purchased or checked out of libraries; these are probably helpful, but I do not have specific recommendations. 
    Content Outline (from College Board site listed above): 
     

    Mechanics

    • Kinematics, such as velocity, acceleration, motion in one dimension, and motion of projectiles
    • Dynamics, such as force, Newton’s laws, statics, and friction
    • Energy and momentum, such as potential and kinetic energy, work, power, impulse, and conservation laws
    • Circular motion, such as uniform circular motion and centripetal force
    • Simple harmonic motion, such as mass on a spring and the pendulum
    • Gravity, such as the law of gravitation, orbits, and Kepler’s laws
    		 36%-42%

    Electricity and magnetism

    • Electric fields, forces, and potentials, such as Coulomb’s law, induced charge, field and potential of groups of point charges, and charged particles in electric fields
    • Capacitance, such as parallel-plate capacitors and time-varying behavior in charging/ discharging
    • Circuit elements and DC circuits, such as resistors, light bulbs, series and parallel networks, Ohm’s law, and Joule’s law
    • Magnetism, such as permanent magnets, fields caused by currents, particles in magnetic fields, Faraday’s law, and Lenz’s law
    		 18%–24%

    Waves and optics

    • General wave properties, such as wave speed, frequency, wavelength, superposition, standing wave diffraction, and Doppler effect
    • Reflection and refraction, such as Snell’s law and changes in wavelength and speed
    • Ray optics, such as image formation using pinholes, mirrors, and lenses
    • Physical optics, such as single-slit diffraction, double-slit interference, polarization, and color
    		 15%–19%

    Heat and thermodynamics

    • Thermal properties, such as temperature, heat transfer, specific and latent heats, and thermal expansions
    • Laws of thermodynamics, such as first and second laws, internal energy, entropy, and heat engine efficiency
      		 6%–11%

      Modern physics

      • Quantum phenomena, such as photons and photoelectric effect
      • Atomic, such as the Rutherford and Bohr models, atomic energy levels, and atomic spectra
      • Nuclear and particle physics, such as radioactivity, nuclear reactions, and fundamental particles
      • Relativity, such as time dilation, length contraction, and mass-energy equivalence
      		 6%–11%

      Miscellaneous

      • General, such as history of physics and general questions that overlap several major topics
      • Analytical skills, such as graphical analysis, measurement, and math skills
      • Contemporary physics, such as astrophysics, superconductivity, and chaos theory