Getting into 9th Grade -- importance of SSAT scores

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reading this board, you would think that every other kid has 99th percentile scores. It's just too weird.

i agree! my child got an 89%... is it really bad?

[Anonymous]

+1 on the all high scorers. We did the pretest. Fairly difficult. Made 90%, 70% on the pretest -- who knows waht will happen on the real thing. Already accepted into the school, so we are practicing. YeaH the DCs really want to do this, as you can imagine.

[Anonymous]

they're important along with the rest of the package. see.. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/1414447-nov-10-ssat-what-did-you-think.html?highlight=ssat

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the best schools look at the whole child My daughter got around a 70 on the SSAT and was accepted for 9th at two of the top three privates. Why?? Terrific, smart kid in all other respects.

This post is completely BOGUS. No one gets into the top tier HSs with an SSAT of 70 when you have an overabundance of applicants with scores in the 80s and 90s along with the kid being "terrific in all other respects".

Not necesarrily bogus. If the kid has excellent grades and brings something to the table (atheletics, strong music performance, etc) that the school might be looking for, then that kid has a good chance of getting in with good grades. Schools are looking for a diversified environment and not necessarily ethnicity. An eskimo, tuba playing diver might just be what the doctor ordered.

The top tier boarding schools diligently seek out a diversified environment and while many of their candidates score in the 90+ percentile, there are many admits who do not but have a powerful hook. Again, being a minority is NOT the only type of hook if your SSAT is somewhat lower than the norm. Many privates use the same criteria.

[Anonymous]

11:45 here again. Also, top tier and any admissions officer knows that some kids just don't do well on standardized test but have consistent excellent grades. That's when the entire package comes into play.

[Anonymous]

If my kid got a 70 percentile on the SSAT, but has straight A's, lots of sports and other extracurricular activities, does he stand a chance of getting into the HADES schools.

[Anonymous]

New acronym alert!!!! What are HADES schools? The devil's playgrounds?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If my kid got a 70 percentile on the SSAT, but has straight A's, lots of sports and other extracurricular activities, does he stand a chance of getting into the HADES schools.

you should post this question on College Confidential Prep School. There is tons of feedback for your question.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-admissions/

[Anonymous]

I just can't figure out how an A student can end up with a 70 percentile on the SSAT. What is it about those standardized test? Yes, some kids with C averages end up with 99%.

Can anyone explain this SSAT business and how it impacts upper school admission? This is ridiculous that a 3-hour test tells the story of a solid academic history. Whew!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just can't figure out how an A student can end up with a 70 percentile on the SSAT. What is it about those standardized test? Yes, some kids with C averages end up with 99%.

Can anyone explain this SSAT business and how it impacts upper school admission? This is ridiculous that a 3-hour test tells the story of a solid academic history. Whew!!

It's a fairly good, but not perfect, predictor -- kids with very low scores do tend to have more difficulties -- and schools look to it because the grading standards at different places are wildly divergent. Same as the SAT for college -- you have kids with A plus averages from terrible school systems that get under 500 on the SAT verbal and/or math. The SSAT, like the SAT, is just a tool, and it's not the only tool in the toolbox, and sometimes it turns out it's not the right tool for the job. But you still want it in your toolbox.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reading this board, you would think that every other kid has 99th percentile scores. It's just too weird.

It's not so weird. The reasons are self-selection and self-reporting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just can't figure out how an A student can end up with a 70 percentile on the SSAT. What is it about those standardized test? Yes, some kids with C averages end up with 99%.

Can anyone explain this SSAT business and how it impacts upper school admission? This is ridiculous that a 3-hour test tells the story of a solid academic history. Whew!!

It's a fairly good, but not perfect, predictor -- kids with very low scores do tend to have more difficulties -- and schools look to it because the grading standards at different places are wildly divergent. Same as the SAT for college -- you have kids with A plus averages from terrible school systems that get under 500 on the SAT verbal and/or math. The SSAT, like the SAT, is just a tool, and it's not the only tool in the toolbox, and sometimes it turns out it's not the right tool for the job. But you still want it in your toolbox.

But how does this relate to students from good privates who are strong academically? I think that's where the confusion comes in where you have strong privates but students bomb out on the standardized tests. That's why so many parents and kids are so surprised when they get their results. How do you explain it other than anxiety? I know the question writers throw curves in the questions.

[Anonymous]

My kid with As and Bs did twenty points higher on the December test than on the November test. Did an in school prep class before the November test. To me this proves that the test is pretty arbitrary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid with As and Bs did twenty points higher on the December test than on the November test. Did an in school prep class before the November test. To me this proves that the test is pretty arbitrary.

20 total points? how much did that move percentiles?

[Anonymous]

20 percentile points