<p>I don't know what happened with math; I honestly thought I did okay, at LEAST 60th, but I scored worse than on the practice test which I thought was harder!! (I got a little over 700 on the practice test; I think 725). I knew I should have left more questions blank. </p>
<p>Aside from this being a crushing blow to my (admittedly somewhat inflated) ego (I always thought I was good at math and was considering a career in math-based science), it makes me look horribly lopsided... Do I still have a chance for admission to schools with less than a 20% acceptance rate?? :(</p>
<p>you haven’t completely <em>annihilated</em> your chances, just hurt them. besides your overall percentile is still fantastic… keep in mind a 695 in reading would be like ~70-80 percentile, math scores are pretty skewed and i think schools are aware of that.</p>
<p>don’t fret about things that are beyond your control, just get a glowing rec from your math teacher and work super hard on your essays!
best of luck!</p>
<p>Really, don’t fret. There’s no point in doing that, you can’t change anything at this point. You really excell in the other catigories, as shown by your scores, and schools will understand that maybe it was just a bad test day. A bad score doesn’t make you a bad math student. I agree with those above. Work on getting a nice math recomendation and keep your grades up and that score will mean less.</p>
<p>I think that the math percentiles are kind of screwed up just because they expect so many people to be good at math…my scaled math score was literally only a few points lower than my reading score, and the percentile difference was huge. Hopefully, the schools will look at your actual scores rather than percentiles because I think at this point the percentiles are getting more and more meaningless.<br>
Yeah, you have decreased your chances a little bit. But annihilate? Of course not! The SSATS are just a small part in a big equation. Congrats on that verbal score, by the way.</p>
<p>@heps,
You got a 99% on verbal and a 96% on reading. You have definitely hurt your chances for admission, but not killed them. If you can’t afford a retake, contact the schools your applying to and ask for a stipend.</p>
<p>A different perspective from a parent whose child has been there…Answering one or two answers differently means a huge percentage leap in math. Your score is almost 700, which shows you’re where you need to be to succeed at prep school, and your overall percentage is above 90%. That’s what schools care about. IMO, you haven’t hurt your chances for admission in any significant way AT ALL.</p>
<p>An 800 verbal is much more unusual than an 800 math, and those strong English skills will serve you well when it comes to writing those essays. </p>
<p>So don’t worry about it. I realize that it’s easy to obsess about SSAT scores because they’re the most concrete thing in the whole admissions process, but they just don’t matter that match. If they did, my kid, who was a 99 percenter, would have gotten in everywhere he applied, right?..and he was waitlisted twice.</p>
<p>i think the math scores are so skewed because more and more asian students are taking the ssats (i know A LOT of chinese students are taking it), and they all pretty much get 800’s easily on the math section. however, i got a 790 on the math section, and i was still in the 99th percentile, so i dont know how skewed it is.</p>
<p>Relatively speaking, that is. I’m not applying to top tier schools, but I was equally shocked by one score, a 29% in RC. I knew I didn’t do well, but I can’t believe it’s that low. I got an 86% in math (very happy with that) and a 65% in verbal (ok with that). The schools I’m applying to range from 60-80 averages. Mine is 64%. </p>
<p>The nat’l %iles though, are right in line with how I do on standardized tests (99 math, 91 verbal, 85 reading). So, maybe I am where I should be. I don’t know.
Should retake to try to bring up RC? I feel like I could do better (maybe no poems next time), but I definitely don’t want my math or even verbal to be lowered and I need to spend vacation writing my essays:( Ugh.</p>
<p>I’m an A/B student and have a significant athletic hook, great recs, good ECs & decent community service. And, for what’s worth, I’m a black girl. But, I do need FA.</p>
<p>I know everyone here is in a different league than I (gradewise, scorewise, and therefore, schoolwise), but advice?</p>
<p>Well I guess some people have to get bad percentiles otherwise no one would get good ones… Maybe it was a mistake?? When I get home (I’m on vacation and my grandparents told me the scores over the phone) I’m going to check the number I got wrong/omitted and see if it matches up with the scaled score… Wouldn’t it be ironic (though highly unlikely) if the machine got the math wrong or made a typo ._.</p>
<p>swissbrit- A 67%?! With a 743? I think I got a 743 on reading and I got a 96th… This is so not fair; they need to have a separate test or something for math prodigies :P</p>
<p>Yes. Schools know the math scores (and sometimes reading/verbal) are skewed by international scores and national schools that make test prep a regular practice. So scores are just an initial consideration. Students have good test days and bad test days. Not everyone does well on standardized exams.</p>
<p>Don’t sweat it. Concentrate on the rest of your application. Your score isn’t an automatic eliminator - especially since your other scores are high.</p>
<p>we’re in the same boat, heps. I did stellar on one section and bombed the other two. my overall score is above 85 though so I hope that’s sufficient :(</p>
<p>I think I figured out my problem… I missed 15 questions and omitted one. But because of the freaking penalty it’s 20 ._. Should have just left more blank instead of eliminating and such… </p>
<p>Maybe I can turn this whole mess into an essay topic</p>
<p>I don’t really think that international students cause the curve in the math scores just because they are international. THERE ARE REASONS FOR WHY A MAJORITY OF THEM ARE EDUCATED. I say this as an American-born daughter of Indian parents (born in India). I have seen the role education plays in both cultures, and let me just say that the test scores offer a great insight. I’m sorry if I am seeming accusatory because I truly do not want to seem confrontational, but I do feel a little peeved that a good number of you are claiming that how high your test scores are a function of the numbers of Asian kids taking the SSAT. In the case of standardized testing, the race of the test taker is an indicator of work ethic and standards.</p>
Maybe it was a mistake?? When I get home (I’m on vacation and my grandparents told me the scores over the phone) I’m going to check the number I got wrong/omitted and see if it matches up with the scaled score… Wouldn’t it be ironic (though highly unlikely) if the machine got the math wrong or made a typo ._.</p>