Chance me. Applying to St. Pauls school, Choate, Lawrenceville, Deerfield, Andover, and Exeter.

I’m new here but I really need help.

Chances on St. Pauls school, Choate, Lawrenceville, Deerfield, Andover, and Exeter.

My school grades are A/A+, I play american football (pretty good) and basketball (terrible but still on my school team since my school is small) for sports.

My SSAT score is:
Math-96
Reading Comprehension-86
Verbal-32… i know I’m bad
overall-80

do you think I can get in? also, recommend me some schools that would be good for my scores.
btw, I’m an asian guy in 8th grade, applying to 9th grade.

Your SSAT score (especially the verbal) might be a problem, especially because a lot of the schools you are applying to have average SSAT scores that are 90+.

When schools mention average SSAT scores, are they referring to overall scores or individual scores?

overal @goldenfygg

it’s too late to retake the SSAT since it is now january isn’t it? isn’t february too late?

If you want to find schools in your SSAT range, go to boardingschoolreview.com. There are a ton of schools there.

Don’t let SSAT swing your thoughts. Remember that SSAT is a one-time test. It doesn’t reflect how you actually are in academics. I don’t know how you did on your essays, interview, details about extracurriculars, what your teachers wrote about you, nor any of those things, so feel free to PM me if you want to discuss further.

It also matters on the grade you are applying for.

most schools will overlook your ssat score if everything else on your app is good. don’t worry too much about it

Based on your testing alone… It’s not too likely that those schools would take you.

I’m fascinated when people post things like “most schools will overlook your SSAT scores”……schools like Andover and Exeter are not just going to “overlook your SSAT scores” there is an average and yours is way below it. Does not look overly promising. Also Asian male is probably an overrepresented applicant pool even with fabulous stats. You didn’t mention if you are applying for FA but that doesn’t help. If I were you I would add some less selective schools to your list, you are literally nay applying to the most competitive schools and your SSATs are a lot lower than the average.

@LifeLongNYer, definitely agree wholeheartedly. Asian male is ORM and playing a few sports (football basketball) will probably not be enough to balance that out. Also, what other extracurriculars do you do? If sports are your life then certainly you should take that passion elsewhere as well. Schools are looking for well rounded kids too.

@LifeLongNYer: I agree. If the schools are just going to “overlook” the SSAT, why would they bother having each applicant take the test?

The test is in a way, supposed to measure your academic abilities (SSAT also boasts about being pretty accurate in this in their Official Guide). Each school that applicants come from may have different ways of calculating grades. For all we know, one applicant could have slept his way through all of his classes, did AMAZING on his midterm/final exams, and gotten an A. The SSAT is kind of a way to “confirm” those grades, in a sense and to “confirm” those academic abilities.

@thelittleswimmer I agree. The grade thing works both ways. If a school or a teacher is a particularly difficult grader or gives out inaccurate grades, then the SSAT shows how well you really do in certain academic areas.

I recommend Kent school for a great prep school with a lower SSAT requirement and lots of sports @lukejeong9‌