SNP testing and genealogy

[MMaddi]

Originally Posted by TwiddlingThumbs

Right, but if only 2 other people have tested at his current terminal SNP, chances are he will not match up with anyone at the lower SNPs. So, maybe useful in the future if and when a bunch of other people test, but until then?

No one is guaranteed that they will find a match in the database. Finding a match is related to how common the haplogroup is, how many descendants are living today and, most importantly, how many descendants have tested and are in the database.

If you're looking for a quick answer, then genetic genealogy will many times disappoint you. But it does have the potential to be useful in the future. Of course, if you reject the idea of waiting for a future match and don't order the test, then there's 100% certainty that you won't find a match!

I was responding to someone who was disappointed that the SNP pack only got him down to a SNP that's over 2,000 years old. As long as he understands that Big Y will give him much younger SNPs, but that it may take a few years before someone comes along to match his private SNPs, then Big Y is probably a viable option for what he's trying to find out. There's not much doubt that, with the increasing number of men taking the Big Y test, he'll probably find matches with some of his Big Y SNPs that are around 1,000 years old.

[Ayran]

So if I am understanding right...the Big Y test covers whatever is done in your recommended SNP test packet for my haplogroup but can dig down deeper?

So If I want to know more about my ancestry and get the most specific haplogroup possible, I should go with the Big Y over the SNP packet, right?

Lastly, If I just ordered my SNP pack and it is still processing, could I cancel that test and upgrade to the Big Y instead and apply the $119 I paid for the SNP pack to the Big Y price?

Thanks!

[MMaddi]

Originally Posted by Ayran

So if I am understanding right...the Big Y test covers whatever is done in your recommended SNP test packet for my haplogroup but can dig down deeper?

To summarize what I posted in my previous post, each SNP pack is limited to about 160 known SNPs on a specific branch of the yDNA tree. The Big Y test covers about 10 million locations on the y chromosome and can find previously unknown SNPs which will be younger than the SNPs in a SNP pack, along with testing for all known SNPs. I think that answers your question.

Originally Posted by Ayran

So If I want to know more about my ancestry and get the most specific haplogroup possible, I should go with the Big Y over the SNP packet, right?

Yes.

Originally Posted by Ayran

Lastly, If I just ordered my SNP pack and it is still processing, could I cancel that test and upgrade to the Big Y instead and apply the $119 I paid for the SNP pack to the Big Y price?

Thanks!

If your order for the SNP pack has already been batched for testing, you're out of luck. FTDNA only allows changes in test orders before a test has been batched for the lab. Batching occurs every Monday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon.

This is why it's highly recommended that anyone interested in SNP testing join the appropriate haplogroup project and consult with a project administrator about what test will help him in whatever research he's doing on his paternal line. I've seen too often where members of the haplogroup project of which I'm a co-administrator have just wasted money by ordering a SNP pack that isn't even appropriate to his haplogroup/subclade or orders several single SNPs at $39 each when he could be testing for 160 SNPs on a branch for $99 or $119. He would have done better to just contribute to the project group fund and let us do the ordering for him.