Is an 85th percentile SSAT score good enough for GLADCHEMM and other boarding schools?
There are certainly kids at GLADCHEMMS schools with test scores in the 80s (and lower). There are also many kids at these schools with perfect test scores. And more recently, there are kids at these schools who did not submit any test scores.
In all cases, there is so much more to each student than their score on a standardized test. None of the kids with perfect test scores got admitted to their school BECAUSE of their test score.
In your application you will need to show what else you can bring to the BS community. What else makes you you?
Share your talents, passions, hobbies and achievements so that admissions staff can see how you will add to the incoming class that they are creating.
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You could submit it if you want to, but I don’t think it would help you much.
Last I knew that was about Hotchkiss’ average, so yes, I would submit. It is an excellent score, well done.
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Yes, an 85 is adequate, but if you are confident that you can improve your score, then consider sitting for the SSAT again as a higher score should increase your odds for acceptance.
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It probably is fine. Just before the pandemic, an admissions dean at one of the “top” BSs told me that in the 80s and above is fine.
With TO these days, I’m not so sure what’s happened. I suppose that applicants are only submitting scores that they think are excellent. While schools say they are TO, I can’t help but wonder whether human nature of AOs will cause them to wonder why a particular applicant didn’t submit scores, since 2021 was a somewhat better year for test-giving than 2020. So, for those reasons, I think an 85th percentile SSAT is fine.
That being said, IF you have the time and ability, it might not hurt to take it again with some prep. The prep work will probably help you in school anyway. But again, re-take it only IF it suits you.
My 2 cents worth…
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I think it’s a very good score that you should proudly submit. if you don’t submit a score they may wonder if it would have been actually lower. There were few barriers for most test takers this year, so submitting anything 80+ to top schools is worth it in my opinion. Lower than 80 and I might not.
If you don’t get into your school of choice, it probably wouldn’t be for the test score. Give them all the info you have and if it’s the right fit, you have a chance.
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Do schools also look at SSATs from past years? I know they’re not supposed to but on my Exeter Applicant Portal, it says they downloaded 2 SSATs from December 2020 and December 2021 so both this year and last year. I don’t know why they would have two, but that’s what it says on the Applicant Portal. Both were very good scores, but I’m worrying that something went wrong