<p>Hi, I know this question may sound a bit weird, but could the AO possibly think negatively of a student because they have high SSATs? I've heard so many people get 97s and higher who have been rejected. I understand that the SSAT is not all that matters, but the student as a whole like their interview, grades, ecs, etc. They won't automatically think the applicant is snobby or anything because of a high SSAT, right?</p>
<p>Not to brag or anything, but I somehow, (after my third SSAT try, don't be mean) got a 99%. My interview went really well, I have all A grades at school and have good ecs. Not amazing math competition or musical trophies like that, but I do participate in sports and etc. My dad thinks Ill definitely get in with a 99, but I know that schools could like Andover could fill all their spots with 99s if they wanted to.</p>
<p>P.S I'd go on full FA.</p>
<p>So, what constitutes a possible future student at those top schools?</p>
<p>The conventional wisdom on these boards, and I think it holds up for most admission committees too, is that after a certain percentile, say 83-90 for a lot of “top” schools, the SSATs are not a big deal. That is, an 88, for example, tells the school you can do the work and getting a 94 a month later doesn’t change anything from the school’s viewpoint. (Though the kid or parents think this improvement is a big deal, usually.) </p>
<p>The school is much more interested in the other things it can find out about you now that the SSAT is a moot point. Are you ready for and eager to board? What do you think is good about their school for you? How are you going to help to make the school a better learning community? What is your character like? </p>
<p>A 99 needing FA has somewhat worse odds than a 99 at FP. 99s get turned down because the school can’t answer one of the above questions satisfactorily, or it can’t find the money for the FA after all else has been taken into consideration. (It’s possible for the school to prefer two 85s with partial FA each and great recs + ec over the 99 with or without other stellar achievements, but full FA. You just can’t know these things, and it’s out of your control. BTW, a 99 at FP can be turned down too, because the other stuff just isn’t good enough.)</p>
<p>Bottom line: nobody is a sure thing just because of a 99, and you’re right that Andover will turn down some with 90s in favor of others with 80s or 70s who bring more of what Andover needs or wants. That’s justified in the application of a “holistic” approach to admissions. A high SSAT in itself is NOT bad, but not always what some crack it up to be.</p>
<p>It will never be seen as a bad thing. However, as you’ve (hopefully) read on these boards a thousand times, we all personally know kids who scored int he 99th percentile who didn’t get in (as well as kids with that score who DID get in). SSAT scores DO NOT GUARANTEE admission-- but it’s never a negative to have a high score. There are 2 cases in which these scores can raise eyebrows: first, if you took the test several times and always scored well, but kept taking it (as in-- you scored in the 94th or 96th percentile and still took it again), which might indicate pushy helicopter parents or over-stressed kids, or second, if you have poor grades and high scores, which either indicates underachievers or kids who don’t work. Otherwise, high scores and high grades are good-- they’re just not a guarantee in and of themselves.</p>
<p>janeli42300 and Graduate2018…your Dads are wrong.</p>
<p>I’ve mentioned this before but my older daughter was a 99-99-99 (99 overall) and literally one question away from a perfect score and she was REJECTED by Choate the same application cycle she was accepted by SAS and SPS. Strong grades, plays an instrument, did sports, etc. If she can get rejected by one of the super selectives, I think anyone can get rejected. Which is why I encourage everyone to step off the “prestige” train and really look at your fit/suitability for any particular school.</p>
<p>The only negative that I can think of, and it’s kind of a stretch, is that a school may think you’ll be accepted at a more elite school and WL you because they think you’re using them as a backup option.</p>
<p>‘Fit’ and class profile are the schools’ goal of any application cycle.</p>
<p>‘Fit’ includes academic competence (grades, scores, recs), special talents and/or interests (extra-academic activities and special talents), and personality (recs and essays). </p>
<p>Class profile means that schools also consider how their class would look. That includes student demographics (gender, geography and race) and financial situation. All of those mentioned above contribute to a final decision. </p>
<p>Students with a very high SSAT score can get denied not because of academic competence but because the school feels a student A (with 85% SSAT) has a better fit than a student B (with 99% SSAT) or if the school finds a better candidate for its class profile. It means that student B could have been accepted had he/she applied in a different application cycle. That is how it works. </p>
<p>That’s why it would be natural for anyone to be accepted by more selective schools and denied by less because of the fit and class build-up.</p>
<p>Schools are keen on their average SSAT score of those accepted and as such, having a good scores is not negative. But again, it will be interpreted in the context of class profile and fit.</p>
<p>Remember the high SSATs and GPAs open the door, but they won’t get you through. You’d be better off if you also have significant music talent, or play an odd instrument, are legacy, are from South Dakota, or play 3 Varsity sports, or better yet a combo of any 2.</p>
<p>You need to look at test scores as simply as tickets to get by the gatekeepers. Top scores get you invited to the party, but just because you get into the party does not mean you become friends with the people there and start hanging out with them. You will get looked at because you passed the gatekeeper (congrats on the score, btw), but after that, it is everything else that matters. Scores such as yours matter for about 1 minute, so I recommend stop focusing on them. You got that part of the application covered.</p>
<p>In our Exeter interview, they said they frowned on kids who took the test more than one time because everyone’s scores are much higher with each test. They see how many times you took it. You might want to change your login name since you have posted your old scores, your middle tier NYC school name, and your desire to get into Exeter.</p>
<p>From what I can tell (in my limited experience thus far) the SSAT is simply a means for judging the level of academic and intellectual curriculum a student can handle without having to research each individual middle school and find out the academic level of each course a student took. I honestly believe it becomes one item on the AO’s check list. Like a pass or fail item. Like many probably know that a student getting below a 36 raw score (86th percentile?) for example, on the Math SSAT won’t be able to keep up with their lowest level math course and therefore won’t be successful. But I honestly believe that 86 vs a 96 doesn’t matter in this situation.</p>
<p>If a school has a lower average SSAT, say 55-65% I suppose it could be a hook to admit students with higher SSAT, should they apply, as a method of raising their average? That’s just a random theory. I don’t really know if it works that way.</p>
<p>@ViolaMom: It’s my understanding that the report that schools get from SSAT says that the student has multiple scores on file if the student took the test more than once, but it does not say how many times the test was taken. That’s what the SSAT people told me.</p>
<p>I agree that a high score is merely a gating item once you get above 85 or 90%, but after that it plays very little part in the admissions decision. Schools would much rather have a well rounded student body than just looking for kids with 99% on the test.</p>
:)</p>
Hopefully, there’ll be good news this time… Really!</p>