Is it possible to get into selective schools with low SSAT scores?

<p>My daughter recently took the SSATs and scored very high on the verbal - 98%, in fact. However, her reading was low 80s and her math was an astonishing low 60s when compared with other females in her grade, and high 50s when compared with all students in her grade. Although her grades are all As, A+s, her extracurriculars are few, and she is not particularly athletic. However, she is a very talented writer, very independent, and is adored by her teachers. Her choice schools are very selective, such as Taft, Loomis, Kent, and Choate. Is there any way she could make her choice schools?</p>

<p>I just got my daughter’s November 2014 SSAT.<br>
8th grade female</p>

<p>Composite: 93
V: 99
Q: 78
R: 85</p>

<p>She is looking at a selective day prep. Her math and reading came in lower than normal with her verbal a bit higher.
I know her composite is fine but I do worry about the math spread. Heard they want all 80s and above.
Also, worry she might not get an Honors placement. </p>

<p>Can’t imagine re-taking for a few simple points in math.</p>

<p>I would re-take the exam, knowing she can do better in Q and R for a selective boarding school but think OK for selective day prep.</p>

<p>We were also missing the expected SAT range and national percentiles.
I wanted to compare her SAT range with the HS averages. If she falls within their averages, I would think OK.</p>

<p>Anyone know what a 93 composite would be for SAT?</p>

<p>My DD’s are even stranger. 99% Reading, 97% Vocab, 50% Quant (not a typo!) and 93% overall. She is applying for 10th and while math has never been her strongest area, she does have an A in honors Geometry. I am thinking that she will retake it in January… she took it once in 8th and had a 73% in math…I am not sure if they will superscore with a test from the year before. Either way…I guess she can only go up and the verbal scores are great!</p>

<p>All, I read that re. SSAT percentile Nov 2014, international students are not included in the sample. Do anyone know what that means? </p>

<p>Up until a couple of years ago, international students were included in determining the percentiles. Apparently it pushed math percentiles way down (so even missing a couple of problems would result in a fairly low percentile), and skewed verbal/reading percentages up (so you could miss several answers but still be in a high percentile). Now they don’t include international students in determining the percentiles, so scores on the different parts of the test are somewhat more similar in terms of percentiles (they’re skewed less). In other words, international students (overall) were better at math and worse at vocab/ reading than American students, so the results were getting skewed and were harder for schools to interpret. I was told this by the head of placement at a JBS.</p>

<p>So international students are not included in determining the percentiles? That’s a bit unfair…</p>

<p>@saylty, Percentiles are 3-year running averages. If you want to compare yourself to an average American, averaging international data into the baseline would not be helpful. Most SSAT-accepting schools are recruiting principally from the US. Comparing a US student to someone for whom English is a second language would skew the US-born and raised student to an unfairly higher score compared to the average. Similarly, comparing a US-schooled 8th grader to an international whose standard math progression does not track with the US system may not give useful data to the private schools. It probably would not make much difference if the proportion of test takers roughly tracks the proportion of matriculated students (domestic/international).</p>

<p>@ItsJustSchool There are a lot of kids who live outside the US whose first language was English. I personally think that there shouldn’t be a problem comparing a US student to an international one. You’re also implying that international applicants are stronger at math, which is not entirely true. </p>

<p>@saylty, I am not implying that internationals are stronger at math, just that the order of acquiring math skills may be different than what the test designers anticipated. Similarly, for English skills- they are different than US applicants. Therefore, they may have been exposed to different concepts in a different order than US students. As the numbers of non-US test-takers become significant, the test baseline (being a 3-year moving average) may not reflect the baseline of students at the private schools, which remain predominantly of US origin. Thus, the test takes on less value as a predictive tool if the full cohort, rather than the US cohort, is used as the basis.</p>

<p>^^^And that’s exactly why they changed it.</p>