Good student, great kid-- YIKES on HSPT

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We will be going through this next year.

My kid is in a Catholic Middle School now and we have been told that if we apply to a school without our diocese, we have a better shot at getting in.

If we try to apply to a school that is not in our diocese, it will be more competitive.

However, we don't live in a world where everyone is in 90th percentile. You child may get in and not be taking honors classes. Wouldn't that be OK?

DD had high grades and a 97 percentile HSPT with good recommendations and she was waitlisted by Visi & accepted to SHC & many other schools (she took ssat too & did similarly). We know that girls from the bottom of the class got into Visi outright so they appear to want a range of ability levels at the school.
SJC is just very popular and there are many athletes and other applicant populations to fill out their class so I think it’s partly luck that gets a kid in there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plus straight As from public school doesn't mean much. Publics give out As like candy.

Stop saying this. It just isn't true.

--parent of an A/B student with top percentile scores.

It is true. Send your kid to a private school where they won’t be coddled. All of the retakes make it worse.

So how to explain the parents on this board trying to reconcile their private school student’s A and B grades with bad SSAT scores?

[Anonymous]

What is the cut off score for SJC and others. Do we have a chance with below 50th with good grades?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, retakes. It teaches students that you can blow off exams and assignments since you will always have another chance. It's no wonder something like 1 out of 4 college students need to take remedial classes.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/04/06/remedial-classes-have-become-a-hidden-cost-of-college/?utm_term=.1d53a3127637

Retakes are at the discretion of teachers, and my DC was never allowed a retake. You need to really bomb and make a strong case in writing that your result will be different to get a retake. And even if you really bomb, you don't always get to do a retake. The article you site does not apply to these kids who are scoring in the top percentiles on the SSAT and getting legit As and Bs without retakes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you PP. Mine DC scored horribly coming from a K-8 and applied to the same schools. A/B student with what I believe are good Recs. Good activities and sports. This gives me hope. Do you mind sharing what horrible is? Thanks again.

40s.

[Anonymous]

Thank you PP. Our kid got less than that overall. One area really dragged the score down. Most in the 50’s and the one was just terrible. I hope I can get over this sad feeling. Been praying for relief of this anxiety of where do we go from here. Our public is not very good. Thanks again for your honesty and letting folks know that it’s possible. Do you think I should reach out to the schools. Or is that obnoxious?

[Anonymous]

PP here. I did call and was reassured that the test is only one part they look at. I wish this was less stressful. I did a lot praying too and it all worked out in the end.

[Anonymous]

Very nervous.. What did the kids score that was considered low or horrible?

[Anonymous]

The test reported in graph form when we got it, and there was a band across the percentiles showing what was "Average"; that range DC's year was about 33 to 69. They had above and below average ranges, and high and low. "Low" was 10th percentile and below. Similarly, "high" was 90th and above.

[Anonymous]

This thread is 4 years old — OP’s kid is now a HS senior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The test reported in graph form when we got it, and there was a band across the percentiles showing what was "Average"; that range DC's year was about 33 to 69. They had above and below average ranges, and high and low. "Low" was 10th percentile and below. Similarly, "high" was 90th and above.

When did your kid take the test? We haven’t received scores from December yet. Thankfully, we at least know it was 95-98.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is 4 years old — OP’s kid is now a HS senior.

but 17:11 is awaiting scores.

[Anonymous]

Demantha, St. Vincent Palloti and holly cross take kids with low HSPT scores. If you have boys, you can try schools that don’t need HSPT such as Heights and Anselms.

[Anonymous]

My sons’s score was 96-9. Straight As & strong athlete (swim / tennis). He’s never missed honor roll & was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society. I hope this is enough for him to get into Gonzaga. He only applied to 2 schools; Gonzaga & BI (we’re in Alexandria & he’s @ a Catholic school).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hugs to you both. I am a Catholic school parent. The impression that I get is that to do well on this test, you really need to study hard for it. The kids in our school were encouraged to spend several hours per week preparing for it. My DD did not study for it as we are going public next year and she's either an all A or all A one B student and her HSPT scores were much lower than her normal standardized test scores. She took the HSPT just in case that public didn't work out

What is on this test and how do find materials to study for it?

I just bought a study guide from Amazon.