<p>SevenDad - the vast majority of 12 and 13 year olds who sit for the SAT do so in order to qualify for the gifted programs that you reference. But if one were to follow the advice that I received, one would not only wonder how to present this test performance( but wonder whether it even should be presented (if he is correct about current trends). I guess I am concerned about placing my spotlight on an area that may be considered irrelevant to adcoms</p>
<p>While I agree that SSAT’s are largely used for a threshold or cut-off, I wouldn’t completely discount their importance, particularly in instances where the schools don’t know much about the school system issuing grades. And we homeschoolers have been routinely told by admissions officers at colleges (and I’m guessing that this applies to boarding schools as well) that standardized tests are very important for our kids as they verify our “mommy grades”–if we give grades (which I never did–seemed silly). Of course other stuff, like recommendations and outside grades do that too. </p>
<p>I think that any kid who can buy or interlibrary loan an SSAT study guide or two can prep him or herself as well as someone paying thousands for a personal coach–I just don’t think the test is that difficult–so I don’t think it’s all that unequal a playing field. </p>
<p>Exeter uses both SSAT scores and school grade to determine placement in math–so clearly they’re not completely discounted. And yes, there have been kids on CC who have reported that they were told they did not get into a top tier school because of a low SSAT score.</p>
<p>@Madaket: In the absence of an admission officer friend, here’s how we plan to present the SAT component: In a few weeks, we are going to our state’s JHU CTY awards ceremony (she missed the national cut-off — and for CR — by just a handful of points). She will get a certificate. We will list receipt of this certificate in the academic credentials portion of the application, along with honor roles, other prizes, etc.</p>
<p>SevenDad, but no actual scores???</p>
<p>@Madaket: Hmm. Good question. Maybe parenthetically. Ex: “Received High Honors Certificate [or whatever it’s called] in 2009-2010 JHU CTY Talent Search (CR XXX, M XXX, W XXX).” </p>
<p>I can’t see how that is dwelling on/over-emphasizing the scores. It’s not scores for scores’ sake, but as part of a talent search and recognition by a national organization. And it will be one line in just one part of the application.</p>
<p>As noted elsewhere, some of the CTY 7th grade scores are comparable to the scores of college bound seniors advertised by these same schools…so I can’t imagine that they would pay zero attention to that. After all, they keep tabs on their own students’ scores, right?</p>
<p>Perhaps if it was the only remarkable thing about a student’s app…</p>
<p>That’s all my son did, listed CTY Awards for CR and math on the space on the app that asks you to list academic awards or honors. It was somewhere between student of the month and honor rolls. I figured that with his recommendations and essays, transcripts and SSAT scores, along with very lengthy interviews, the SAT scores didn’t really add anything to his app. After a while, it just tends to get redundant. Besides, all it says is that the kid is academically advanced and I really don’t think that makes a kid stand out at a top school. Isn’t a big part of why these kids are attracted to the top school is to be around other kids like them? So yeah, most of the kids will either have taken the SAT for a talent search and done well, or it will be evident from other parts of their app that they are capable of doing so.</p>
<p>I will say that any relevant information for boarding school is helpful. If you don’t want to send it with an application, mention it to the interviewer so they can include it in the report. My oldest took ACT’s as part of Duke’s TIP as a 7th grader and we mentioned it when applying to a local private school. </p>
<p>With the second kid, we just included a college transcript and copies of certificates from her activities that indicated her performance.</p>
<p>Still, I would give the same advice as I would if applying to a top college. Most of the applicants are academically gifted so after a while seeing the same types of stats becomes redundant. So when you have to weed 90% of the the applicants who made the first cut, sometimes it’s the other stuff - unusual or stellar extracurriculars, passion for something, intangibles such as maturity and proactive involvement in something, unusual hobby or travel experience, personality match, that will tip the scales. </p>
<p>So many parents focus on stats that the lack of any other compelling narrative may be what causes the student to be overlooked in favor of another. At one school we were encouraged to supplement the app with links to local articles and videos about D’s involvement in school district politics.</p>
<p>Depends on the school. As with a resume, tailor the approach to the individual school.</p>
<p>After that, it’s up to fate (and it’s one heck of a nail biter waiting for those emails and letters.)</p>
<p>
Wow, you certainly took my comments out of context. Did I say ALLLLL 99%'s are like that? NO. </p>
<p>
First, the posters here on CC are not in ANY way, shape or form representative of the entire boarding school applicant pool. </p>
<p>Schools look at the WHOLE CHILD. I was actually personally told by a HADES school they the SSAT score would never be THE reason a student was not admitted. It is part of the puzzle. Does not get you in, and is not THE SINGLE reason for not getting in.</p>
<p>Most people ask what they can do to help their application, and yes, an answer may have been improve SSAT scores, along with other things.</p>
<p>Linda,</p>
<p>Adcom’s told me the same thing and it’s true when I’m interviewing. The scores are only glanced at and don’t override other aspects of an application.</p>
<p>Pulsar is a bitter ■■■■■ who didn’t get into any BS. We keep falling into that trap. Don’t respond. Everyone else knows what you mean and you’re right on target.</p>
<p>Exie, Give us all a break, will ya! All the parents that took your advice and applied to BS with low SSAT scores will be looking for you on March 10, 2011, the D Day. I hope you will be around to answer why they didn’t get in. Hopefully, you have enough time to find an excuse by then. BTW applicant families know a lot more than you seem to think they do. :D</p>
<p>In the experience of my son and his friends, the kids who scored 97% and above on SSAT did very well with choices, not saying it was the most important thing, but it did seem to make a difference including on whether or not they even got WL.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about BS, but I have a friend with a son who is a top athlete, excellent student, and attended junior BS as a day student. I know him pretty well, as my husband used to coach him. He’s a genuinely nice kid and I can only imagine him doing well in an interview. This young man had PERFECT (not a single error!) SSAT scores, yet was not admitted to any tier one boarding schools for high school. His family needed full financial aid, and he ended up going to a less well known school, and is apparently doing well there. I have to say, his mother was shocked that with his stats, he didn’t get into any of the top schools on his list. I don’t recall exactly how many there were, but I’d say at least 3 “top” schools turned him down.</p>
<p>Every DOA has the similar story they love to tell where they interviewed the kid who has the traits of Ronald Reagan, Robin Williams, Winston Churchill and Michael Phelps and comes from Bowbells, North Dakota but his ssat scores are the pits. The AO fights tooth and nail throughout the decision process and prevails. The kid shows up in the Fall, stumbles a few times in the beginning but you all know how the story ends.</p>
<p>I really think if you have hooks including geography, the SSATs are not a factor. If you don’t…you need to maximize everything on your app including SSATs.</p>
<p>Madaket, I think you received good advice from your friend. I’ve copied the list of categories on the Common Application’s teacher recommendation form:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The schools evaluate the applicant “as a person” and “as a student.” A high SSAT doesn’t make a student a shoo-in, and a student who scores at or above 80% on the SSAT is admissible at all the schools. A kind, organized boy who scored 82% on the SSAT and has contributed to his school community could well win admission, and a flaky student who scored 99% on the SSAT may be denied admission. </p>
<p>The SSATs get a great deal of attention from parents because they seem so objective. The subjective qualities of character and personality are just as important–but hard to quantify.</p>
<p>Ditto Periwinkle. Well said.</p>
<p>People often shape their views based on a narrow subset of students they personally know - but so many other things go into the mix (even geographic region comes into play if all things are equal). </p>
<p>So you’re post is right on target!</p>
<p>Madakat & SevenDad - Just thinking about the idea of SAT score reporting. My daughter took the SATs in 7th grade, and qualified for Duke TIP, reaching national award level. We were pretty relaxed about the whole thing - it was mainly a test to take “just because”, and we had been told it wouldn’t hurt for boarding school applications. (She did end up participating in Duke TIP for 2 summers, and adored it). When she was actually applying to boarding schools, it never crossed our minds to write anything other than “Duke Tip qualifier” or some other such thing - actually writing her strong SAT scores never dawned on us. I think that maybe we weren’t quite aggressive enough in using that “tip” - I think it seemed to be too much “showing off” - we had a lot to learn, I see!!</p>
<p>My daughter did score perfect SSAT scores, yet every single school (not all HADES) made it clear that those scores were not the one thing that was going to swing admissions one way or the other. However, at the same time, it was very clear that her SSAT scores were an important element of the application - I would be lying if I were to say that significantly lower SSATs would not have held her back somewhat. </p>
<p>Just our experience, for what it is worth. Heading back in to the process with our second daughter now…I am excited for her!</p>
<p>It’s true that there are many components of the application that are more important than the SSATs, but they do level the playing field.</p>
<p>Different schools which the applicant pool comes from are higher or lower on the “academically challenging” caliber. A student at a less challenging school with highly over-inflated grades may receive A’s and A+ averages, while one at a school with more rigorous academics might receive B+ and A- averages. Grading systems are often unreliable, which is why they need a common test to show where a student truly stands in regard to his/her peers.</p>
<p>Yes, it does make a difference when comparing applicants. This isn’t to say that if you get a significantly low ssat score admissions will dismiss your A’s as flukes (some kids simply test better than others) but it does count for something. They not only want to see your academic ability, but also your intellectual ability.</p>
<p>It may raise red flags when admissions officers are checking for discrepancies, but teacher recs and academic awards, etc. may easily remove doubt. And of course it would be foolish for admissions to base ability on simply one test.</p>