Will you share your child's score?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What was your child's ISEE or SSAT % if your child was accepted to GDS or Maret? I'm trying to get a feel for if we are at all qualified. We're worried about our son's score and wondering if we should scrap the applications. We hate to have him visit and get his hopes up if he will be out of the running.

It pains me every time I read a post like this. As a parent with a child in a private school for many years now, trust me, the test score is NOT the decider. Atleast, not at the vast majority of private schools. Are you full pay ? Do you have a high profile in DC? Might the development team at the school consider your family an asset ? If so, your child's score does not matter even if they have an LD.

The question isn't what score . The question is can you pay 40K a year plus donate about 10K a year/ per enrolled child to the annual fund?

If your child gets rejected, please , please do not think it was because other kids were so much smarter or better in some way. Do NOT think that ! At 99% of schools , it does not matter what score a kid gets. I can ony think of one or two that will say "no" for academic reasons because they reallly don't need your or anyone's money. ( huge endowment and ability to keep it that way)

I know, it seems that some people have this weird idea that all kids in private schools are geniuses or something. It really is not like that folks.

[Anonymous]

This is all so ancecdotal. We applied several years ago (granted, for K admission) for our older child who scored 99% on the wppssi - we would have been a full pay family, and he is a sweet boy who has always gotten along nicely with other kids and teachers. We do not have connections, both of us (parents) are big las attorneys (run of the mill here in DC). DS was rejected from two "big 3" schools and one other private, got into one private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is all so ancecdotal. We applied several years ago (granted, for K admission) for our older child who scored 99% on the wppssi - we would have been a full pay family, and he is a sweet boy who has always gotten along nicely with other kids and teachers. We do not have connections, both of us (parents) are big las attorneys (run of the mill here in DC). DS was rejected from two "big 3" schools and one other private, got into one private.

This was our exact situation with our oldest child as well. Years later, understanding admissions better, I can see that the schools were probably hesitant to take a chance on our unknown, ordinary (for DC) family.

[Anonymous]

99% on wppssi does not equate with 60-70% on SSAT although you may like to pat yourself on the back. Some students that score in that range as preschoolers score less than 50% on the SSAT, others score 60-70% and a few score higher. They test different things. A preschooler who goes to a preschool who prepares them for the wppssi should score that high - I was one.

[Anonymous]

Ds was 96 percentile and got in to GDS and waitlisted at Sidwell and Maret. Very happy at GDS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ds was 96 percentile and got in to GDS and waitlisted at Sidwell and Maret. Very happy at GDS.

Great!

[Anonymous]

My 11th grade kid did 209 on first PSAT-- no pressure, no practice and just moved junior year to DCPS. Proud of not pressuring !!

[Anonymous]

The SSAT is not that big a deal for high school admissions. There are students in the 60th percentile range at all the selective privates. The typical 9th grade admit scores in the upper 80s or 90s, but the range is wide. There is almost no benefit in doing lots of test prep to try and move from 85th to 95th percentile, because the schools just don't care. Grades and teacher recommendations are going to be far more important once the SSAT scores are in the ballpark.

If your child tests below the 50th percentile and those scores are in line with ERBs or other standardized testing, the odds of admission are pretty low and prepping will likely not make much of a difference.

[Anonymous]

generally above 80% is what they are looking for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The SSAT is not that big a deal for high school admissions. There are students in the 60th percentile range at all the selective privates. The typical 9th grade admit scores in the upper 80s or 90s, but the range is wide. There is almost no benefit in doing lots of test prep to try and move from 85th to 95th percentile, because the schools just don't care. Grades and teacher recommendations are going to be far more important once the SSAT scores are in the ballpark.

If your child tests below the 50th percentile and those scores are in line with ERBs or other standardized testing, the odds of admission are pretty low and prepping will likely not make much of a difference.

Prepping makes a HUGE difference. That is how the game works. If you learn how to puzzle out the questions and how to eliminate one or more options in each question you can do much better. You can also take the SSAT practically as many times as you like. It is big money for the test company if you do. It is really pretty shameful. Those that can afford to take the test over and over again get better scores. I think that is why some schools are moving away from weighing it very heavily.