My friend is an 8th grader applying to private schools in NYC. Dalton School has been on the top of his list. Last year he took the Upper Level SSAT, just for fun (with very little to no test prep), and scored in the high 99th percentile, with perfect scores in both Verbal and Math.
He’d already begun his essays and taken an interview at Dalton when he realized Dalton would not accept his SSAT score, because he took it late in the previous year- in April or May I think- not part of their ‘testing range’.
He and his parents have both reached out but Dalton won’t budge. I don’t get why they won’t accept his score. Meanwhile his school has a new admissions person who is no help whatsoever.
He’s super busy with school work and an enormous extracurricular load, and really doesn’t want to retake the SSAT (it doesn’t seem other schools make him take the SSAT twice- or do they?? Is this a common phenomenon??)
It seems really weird to me that a school would force a student to take a test twice. The Upper Level SSAT isn’t a test that changes on a grade by grade basis. When taking it as a 7th or 8th grader, you’re automatically judged for it as if you were a 9th grader. In other words, it is exactly the same test this year as last year, and there is absolutely no reason I can see to take it again.
Are you familiar with this happening in other schools? Is the inconvenience too great, from your experience, to proceed with the admissions process?
I’m allowing the question as general interest. If your friend wants to know what he should do, he needs to ask his own questions as asking for a friend posts are generally not allowed
I know of some one who had to retake the test for similar reasons for a different school and he did retake it and scored higher. In your friend’s case it may not be possible to get a higher score but it should be rather easy to retake it, if he so interested in this school.
Dalton has plenty of qualified applicants and the last thing they would want is an applicant pushing back on their policies even before enrollment. This is their policy - either the family accepts it and the student retests or they move on to other schools that may be more flexible on testing timing. It doesn’t matter what other schools do or don’t do.
Schools do have test date ranges based on our experience. In terms of getting them to waive it, I would say it seems like they are holding firm. I don’t have any advice on how to convince them otherwise. Sorry.
It doesn’t matter really matter why they have the policy. Everyone is busy, lots of people have old score that are good, or different equiv., or Tuesday tests and they only take Wednesday. Generally they like to see how students are doing scored on the same cycle and although stressful the kid can probably take the test again. Some schools will bend. Some won’t. What matters right now is these people are starting to look like a hassle and they haven’t even applied.
If the student wants to attend the Dalton School, then retake the SSAT.
If a student took the SSAT “just for fun” and aced it, then he should have no problem sitting for the exam again. Just make sure they remind him that his just doing again “for fun,” in the event that the lack of ramifications relaxed him enough to crush the test.
Remind them that regardless of the exam result, other schools would be thrilled to have a student of his caliber. Make sure that he knows that he has options.
Lack of willingness to make an exception (or explain the “why”) also speaks to the culture /norms of the school IMO, This could be good, or bad, depending on your view, which is also something to consider.
Dalton isn’t flexible. They do things their way for better or worse.