<p>These are my ssat scores and right now I am in shock as to why they gave me a low percentile</p>
<p>Verbal-668/52%
Math-710/60%
Reading-725/93%
Overall-70%</p>
<p>If these scores are out of 800 how can I preform so low? I am also I grade 7 and took upper level they evaluated me as an eight grader. Please help cause I am supper stressed right now.</p>
<p>Relax @squashisawesome. It seems that you won’t be applying to schools till next year because you took the test now. Just prepare over the summer. Even though the test is out of 800 for each section most kids in math score close to an 800 which makes the percentiles vary. Just prepare. you have a long time till you need to take it for the next admissions cycle.</p>
<p>Because 30% of the test-taking population did better than you.</p>
<p>@squash
Your reading score is great! That is the hardest score to raise with study, so you are in great shape there.</p>
<p>Get some SSAT prep books, work on vocabulary and analogies over the summer (every day) and take lots of math practice tests. </p>
<p>My daughter spend a few hours a day all summer preparing for the SSAT. It is a quirky test. Studying the material in math and verbal will help a lot.</p>
<p>@2prepmom they said analogies was my downfall also I would have been the way higher if I just got a few more math questions right.</p>
<p>MBVLoveless’ reply, while terse, is spot on.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the pool of test takers skews high…these are, after all, some of the more driven, brainy, and ambitious middle schoolers in the US.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that certain editions of the test (even certain sections within a test administration) can be harder/easier than other versions…so that on “easier” versions (i.e., tests on which more people got more questions correct) even missing a few questions will result in a surprisingly lower percentile.</p>
<p>I’ll offer you another word of parental advice: disappointment is born of expectation. What were you expecting? And was that realistic?</p>
<p>If you are shooting for the most selective schools, you really need to temper your expectations. You could get 99% across the board and still get rejected.</p>
<p>A little harsh I think, MBV…I don’t blame OP for being shocked to find that a 710/800 is in the 60th percentile. We’re all used to it now, but step back a bit and ask yourself what it means that half of all students taking the SSAT as eighth graders score over 670. At what point do these tests become meaningless measures, not of intelligence, but of how well certain schools and students have learned to to game the test?</p>
<p>Squash–as 7dad points out, missing even a question or two can have a surprising effect on your score. The good news is that next time, as an experienced test taker, you’re almost certain to get a few more right, and you’ll see your percentages rise accordingly. That said, get a couple prep tests and learn all the tricks you can. Kaplan’s good for math and Princeton, we found, for English.</p>
<p>I don’t want to rain on the parade, but don’t count on your scores going up. The problem is that since getting just a more few questions right (or wrong) has a big effect on the percentile, it injects a substantial element of luck into the test. Basically you have a big pool of kids who are capable of getting all or virtually all of the questions right – that doesn’t mean they will get all the questions right, but they understand the material and “how” to take the test, so in the end, if they happen to get a couple of questions that are vocabulary words they just happened to study last week or a math problem they just did in school the other day, they might get a couple of extra questions right; if those aren’t the questions they happen to get, they might get a few more wrong. My son took the SSAT after having just done the test prep books himself, and came out in the 72d percentile in math (which has actually always been his best subject in school). We then hired a tutor, he worked extensively with the tutor, did more practice tests, etc., and when he took the SSAT again, he got the exact same score as the first time. At that point, we said to ourselves, well, that’s the score that he’s obviously meant to have, so be it.</p>
<p>I will say that one school I spoke with said that the percentiles are a bit crazy. They actually use the number score (e.g. 710/800 or whatever) as they can get a good idea from that. This particular school also took the best sub-scores from multiple tests and added them together… we found that helpful.</p>
<p>I’m probably in the minority here but I thinking practicing for the SSAT all summer is ridiculous.</p>
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<p>That point came and went a long time ago. Standarized tests have been meaningless indicators of performance for years. They can be gamed, so people game them, and that is why missing just couple of questions knocks a kid into a low percentile.</p>
<p>@Momof7thgrader: I’m with you. Practicing for any test all summer is ridiculous, but kids will do whatever it takes to get as close to that meaningless 99% as they can. Based on CC posts, kids seem to define themselves by these scores. How sad is that?</p>
<p>But ChoatieMom, if I don’t get a 99% on one test in 8th grade then I won’t get into Exoverhotchfield Hall and my Ivy League dreams will be dashed and my life will be a complete failure.</p>
<p>Or something like that…</p>
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<p>The SSAT breaks out percentiles for each gender and grade level. Older students post higher scores, as one would expect if education has any effect on knowledge: [SSAT</a> Percentiles and Scoring](<a href=“http://www.ivyglobal.ca/ssat/ssat_percentiles.asp]SSAT”>http://www.ivyglobal.ca/ssat/ssat_percentiles.asp).</p>
<p>As it’s a norm-referenced test, the SSAT could re-center the test to make the 50th percentile fall at 500. It wouldn’t change the number of questions students got right or wrong–it would just change the scale used to measure the bell curve. Whether one reports the 50th percentile as 670 or 500 doesn’t really matter. The percentile tells one much more than the score. </p>
<p>The SSAT is not affiliated with the College Board. The scores on the SSAT have no connection to the scores on the SAT. (By the way, the SAT recentered its scores in 1995, because the 50th percentile had fallen too low, particularly in verbal.)</p>
<p>710/800 being 70th percentile means that the test is too easy. There is a marked ceiling effect on this test. I thought the changes that went into effect this year would make it more difficult. My daughter took it this year as well as last and the only difference in difficulty that she found was that the math required more computations, which she said was a pain without a calculator. </p>
<p>It is difficult to design an exam as short as the SSAT is that will accurately differentiate the tail of the curve. The fewer questions, the more luck and careless mistakes come into play. </p>
<p>To the OP, I wouldn’t sweat the 70 math score. High scores don’t tend to help that much.</p>
<p>First of all, your reading score is excellent. Great job!</p>
<p>Percentages just mean that 40% of upper level test takers did better than you did in math and 3% did better than you did in Reading. That is just that.</p>
<p>SSAT runs yearly, so this score won’t be kept nor reported to the schools in the fall.</p>
<p>You can study and prepare a little bit more to improve your result in October or November.
You don’t need to study whole summer. An hour per day for a few days a week, for a few weeks will do it.</p>
<p>Now be strategic in studying for SSAT.
Review your test score report carefully. It shows test question breakdown. It shows number of questions you were right or wrong.
You can gain the most by reviewing/preparing the sections where you had the least correct answers.
In verbal, it shows synonyms and analogies scores seperately.
In math, it breaks out number concepts and algebra/geometry.
Look at where you need to improve most and only review those in the prep book.
Clearly, you do not need to review Reading and comprehension.
Note however the score fluctuates between tests. Your reading score could go down but not by much if you encounter a particularly hard text in next test but you won’t improve mun by studying R/C.</p>
<p>My son got 638 and 37% in verbal last April.
He didn’t know many vocabulary words and he did not understand what they were asking to do in analogies section.
I made him do many many sets of analogies from several SSAT books. He figured out what he needs to do to answer analogies questions but only if he knew the meanings of most words in the questions and choices.
For his vocabulary, I got many many (mostly free) SAT vocabulary apps and Quizlet apps on his iPod.
I asked him to play word games on those apps for a few minutes during car rides instead of angrybirds or etc for a few months.
He didn’t like studying and this was harder than pulling teeth.</p>
<p>In November test, he scored better and got over 80%.
His total % went from 71% to 91% with a smaller improvement in Reading.
He had 97% in math in April so he did nothing on math and got similar score in November.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Hi Squash- One of my children took the test a second time just a month later with minimal prep and one of her scores went from 25% to 87%. Not saying this happens often -or ever!- but I do know other kids as well whose scores improved very dramatically with a little practice and test prep. (see above) Regarding analogies: one trick is to use both words in a sentence - it helps you see how the two words relate, and narrow down the possible answers. We asked every school we visited how important the ssat scores were to them, and all 5 schools (including one of the very most competitive) said SSAT were the least important part of an application, and you have all summer to improve. Sure there are kids in the 99th% that get rejected but if your teachers rave about you, your grades are great, and you have a talent that the schools are seeking, you may well be the one taking that 99% kid’s spot! You are not your score.</p>
<p>SSAT prep</p>
<p>Studying for SSAT - some disagree with plan to study over the summer. For students in strong middle schools, especially pre-prep or junior prep schools, you have probably been working on this material without being aware of it for several years, and practiced writing timed essays.</p>
<p>For my D, her public school in the Midwest had not the dimmest idea of the SSAT or that prep schools even exist. So she took the SSAT practice test and did much worse than the SAT she had done for talent searches in 6th and 7th grades. </p>
<p>We knew we had a problem at that point. The SSAT vocabulary is rather uncommon, analogies are an odd concept if you have not practiced with them, and the math was unfamiliar. Essays can be intimidating and take too much time.</p>
<p>Our solution was to get the SSAT prep books together and work on math with explanations of the problems, vocab games and cards, and how to analyze analogies. 5 or 6 timed practice tests from various books took up some Saturday mornings that summer. </p>
<p>She still ran out of time on the actual SSAT, and had no idea on a few math and vocabulary questions, but got a 94%, which was good enough. </p>
<p>Our impression - SSAT is an “insiders” test, and wise to prepare for it, if you are not in a school that is used to preparing students for it.</p>
<p>As someone posted already, your score can easily vary with just a few more right/wrong answers. I would recommend you to spend some more time on prep works during the summer break. Your score will raise. It’s not a waste of time at all! </p>
<p>There are simple but effective apps on Itunes for SSAT verbal prep with quiz on analogy. Also, try to solve more math problems and once you get some testing skills, you will be able to raise your scores. My son took SSAT before the summer just to feel it and got something like 70 percent. After he spent a few hours daily in summer, his score raised to mid 90s. His score composition was like yours. Good at reading, so so in math and verbal. Reading is harder to improve and you are in that sense in a better shape than the other way around. He solved more math and verbal right and his score jumped!</p>
<p>You have ample time so don’t worry too much. Be confident about yourself and be always positive. I wish you all the best.</p>
<p>I qwouldnt necessarily study but I would acquaint myself with the test and have a nice summer but keep reading and doing all the other things you might do so that you dont turn into a vegetable. BTW, arent there two percentages one reflecting your percentage amongst the universe taking the SSAT and the other an estimated percentage based on the national student body?</p>
<p>@peteri just 1 overall and mine was sadly 70%</p>