My ds is a junior this year - we haven't heard any talk of subject tests being eliminated; his counselor recommends taking 2-3, preferably in areas of interest for college study, and some colleges are asking for them. I'd recommend taking the subject test early, not because it would require review later on, but because the end of junior year is insanely busy with testing and 9 million other things going on.
Re the actual SAT, I would wait. If you want to see how she would do now, or want to give her opportunities to take it repeatedly, look for an opportunity to take a practice SAT (tutoring and home school organizations offer them for free in our area). The reason I'd wait is what you've stated above - our counselor recommends not taking the SAT more than 2 times, and only taking it the second time if you honestly think you had a bad test day or can truly improve your score. Her feeling is that universities don't look favorably on repeating it. She's also mentioned that the amount of time college admissions folks spend looking at any one application is very very extremely limited... so if you've got an application with repeated SATs where the repeats were in early grades... there's a good chance the person quickly scanning the application might not notice it.
And I have one last somewhat cynical opinion... fwiw... this might not be on the radar when you're a freshman and considering taking one or two tests.. but when you're a junior taking multiple AP tests, SAT, SAT subject tests... as a parent you're suddenly paying quite a bit of $ to one organization for testing. It starts to feel a bit more like business for profit than a meaningful tool for college admissions.
Best wishes,
polarbear
