Reply to Average SSAT needed for GP, SJ, and Gonz

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Understanding Admissions —- to the degree it’s possible —- requires you to look at this from the perspective of the school.

On any campus, there are different constituencies that Admissions has to serve. The CFO wants full classes and the tuition revenue associated with that. The coaches want athletes. The Drama department wants people interested in Theater. The faculty wants smart, hard-working kids. The Alumni want their kids and their friends admitted. And the list of constituencies goes on.

Above all, they don’t want problem kids or problem parents. They are expected to screen these out.

Admissions has to serve all these constituencies. and they have to maintain relationships over a period
Of years with schools that supply them applicants.

Admissions is going to be judged based on the satisfying the needs of almost everyone on campus.

From the outside the process looks capricious and unfair. But to the school, it’s rational. [/quote]

Well said.  To make it through the first "round" with Admissions, your child needs to be in the right pile.  Usually a score in the +60% range will do that.  After that all of the other factors stated above come into play.  Sometimes a kid may not even tick any other boxes but something makes him stand out.

Our oldest son was accepted at his first choice school, one of the three listed.  He was not a shoe-in.  His background was a non-stellar performance at his parochial school and while he is an athlete now in college, he wasn't anyone's idea of an athletic superstar in middle school.  He tried hard but his grades were all over the place and his test score was in the 60% range.  What made him stand out though was his essay.  It resonated with the Admissions Committee/AD and we know this because someone told us.  He didn't write about curing cancer and he never rescued anyone from a burning building and he didn't fund an orphanage in Africa but apparently his essay, about some personal challenges and his perspective on those, made a positive impression on his first choice school. [b]He worked for perhaps 2 or 3 MONTHS (I kid you not) with his Grandpa on the essay and wrote from the heart.  It worked and we are forever grateful for that.[/b]

I guess my advice is to not get too hung up on the score.  Encourage your son to try his best to be ready for the test, and to do a good job on his application, including the essay.  And go from there.

Good luck, OP, to your son that he lands at the right school for him.[/quote]

Um, did his Grandpa go to Prep? [/quote]

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