<p>After one of her interviews I asked the admissions officer the question that they hear all the time probably - what do they look at or what’s most important - SSAT, essays, interviews etc.
She said that they look at everything but what’s most important is whether or not everything makes sense and all pieces are consistant. For example, if a straight As student gets extremely low SSAT - that’s a red flag. If the SSAT essay sounds way too different than the application essays, may be the candidate had a little bit too much help preparing their application.
I guess we’ll wait and see…</p>
<p>Does anyone know how ISEE or SSAT scores compare to the ERB’s?</p>
<p>Periwinkle,
It’s funny that you asked that. My daughter had to take the CTP-4 (I think it’s what some call the ERBs) last month and she scored 86th percentile on math and 99th percentiles on verbal and reading.
Knowing that she had to take the ISEE this month I had my hopes up but I also e-mailed ERB to ask that exact question. They pretty much responded that you can’t compare the two test at all - apples and oranges, because one is an achivement test (CTP-4) and the ISEE is ability test.</p>
<p>They are also normed with different cohorts.</p>
<p>Genchedi, thank you for your answer–but “rats!” for the answer! For our second kid, that means I’ll have to wait. I hate waiting. It’s a miracle the entire family do not yet know what they’re getting for Christmas.</p>
<p>Yes, it’s the CTP-4. I’ve filed away the report we just received, but it’s administered by the Educational Records Board, so I suppose that’s why it’s referred to as the ERBs.</p>
<p>Neatoburrito, the CTP-4 report give three cohorts for the scores: national, public suburban, & independent school. (I’m too lazy to retrieve the paper, but I’m pretty sure those are the categories.) They report percentage and stanine for each cohort. I would guess that the independent school cohort would resemble the cohorts which take the SSATs and ISEEs.</p>
<p>You’re correct, they have different percentile for each category as you listed. my daughter’s percentiles I listed for CTP-4 were against the independent schools’ test takers.
I wouldn’t automatically conlude that a 99th percentile on the CTP4 equates to 80-ish percentile on the ISEE or SSAT.
I would be curois to see if anyone else’s kids have taken both and if so how their scores stack up.</p>
<p>Do you think that a high 90 score does have a positive impact on admission in comparison to a high 80s score? Or once it hits a certain point within the range is it the same?</p>
<p>Do you think that a high 90 score does have a positive impact on admission in comparison to a high 80s score? Or once it hits a certain point within the range is it the same?</p>
<p>Of course it does! It’s simply a question of how much of an impact. That will vary from school to school (depending how much weight they place on standardized tests) and student to student (depending on how the score fits with the particular student profile).</p>
<p>The thing about the admissions process (and take my opinions with a grain of salt since I am not nor have ever been an admissions officer) is that it’s still not an exact science. There’s still a lot of “artwork” involved in the process to end up with the desired composition of the school’s student body.</p>
<p>Thanks. My cousin goes to Yale and I was telling him long before I took my SSAT about people who scored in the 99th not getting in. I’m inclined to also take his opinion with a grain of salt as he has no first hand BS experience but he said with a score like that, one would have to be highly lacking in another area. Here though people seem to not value the SSAT particularly highly. Is he somewhat correct or not? Obviously I wish him to be now that I scored highly on the SSAT!</p>
<p>hey guys, i heard the ssat is harder than the isee? true?</p>
<p>Well, he’s right in that with a 99% in SSAT, you will be taken seriously by any school. However, there are other things more important than test scores. For example, first, your grades although chances are if you can score 99% in SSAT your grades shouldn’t be bad; secondly, personality as shown in the interview and teachers’ recommendations. This is probably more important to boarding schools than to colleges. Last but not least, whether you need financial aid or how much you need. Last year, Exeter had to decline quite a few applicants they rated as “A1” because of their financial need.</p>
<p>Thanks. I need FA, although whenever I feel annoyed at that, i remember how amazing it is that thy offer FA at all. Where I come from if you can’t pay than you don’t have any chance till colege. Andover is supposedly “need blind” but do they actually follow this? What does need blind mean? Does it mean that if you meet the requirements they’ll admit you regardless of financial aid. Ah I’m sorry to the OP for hijaking the thread.</p>
<p>Your understanding of the need-blind policy is essentially correct, but note that only a few international students are admitted to the top schools each year, and it seems that they don’t have a problem finding qualified full pay international students. Sorry if this sounds discouraging. Most international students I know or have heard of are full pay, but I know someone who have dual citizenship but applied from a foreign country got FA.</p>
<p>Sorry for diverting the topic, but Benley what is A1?</p>
<p>I live in the US though, so does that make me more likely to be eligible for FA? I only need about 15k FA and unlike a lot of International applicants I speak english natively while providing diverist. Probably doesn’t help but I’m trying to make myself feel better. I know what your saying though, I got depressed about that but at the moment I’m blatantly ignoring the fact that I likely won’t get in for FA reasons…Otherwise, I can’t focus on my apps and worrying about it isn’t doing me any favours.</p>
<p>PM’ed you before taking this thread too far away. :)</p>
<p>It appears to be the opinion of the board that SSAT scores have next to no relevance in the admission process.</p>
<p>I don’t think your daughter’s 80th percentile score will be looked upon negatively. </p>
<p>That said, does anybody have an idea of how much sway a high SSAT score will have on the application? I received my scores back in November and I’m quite pleased with my 99th percentile. My grades, however, may have slipped from there former 4.0. Will the high percentile cover for my grade slip?</p>
<p>Do you go to a tough private school? I go to a public school and I read through all my classes, skip homework and generally dpn’t put any effort into it and I get a 4.0. So if you come from a public school anything like mine, I’d say they’d be wondering why you don’t have brilliant grades. I don’t think one B or something is going to matter though. Congrats on the brilliant score!</p>
<p>I’m afraid I go to a rather challenging international school. I suspect a large part of the challenge is the lack of capable teachers rather than incredibly difficult material. My school doesn’t rank, but I am sure I’m ranked first currently. (students compare scores privately)</p>
<p>I took the SSAT with next to no prep and under less than optimal conditions. I had an ABRSM piano test the day before at 8. I then had to take a plane at 9 to Shanghai (I live in Beijing), I arrived there at midnight and by the time I checked into my hotel it was 2 in the morning. I woke up at 8 the next morning and took the test.</p>
<p>I didn’t prep either except for 1 prac test and I got a 98… People seem to really stress about the SSAT and preparing but in my very biased opinion I think you’ve either got it or you don’t. Not that much point spending months revising. I do realise this is rather easy for me to say seeing as I naturally do well.</p>