In my little cohort this year, almost nobody was happy with their scores or their kids’ scores on the ye olde SSAT. This application cycle more than most seemed like the test caused trouble for the applicants. In the end, the scores ended up where I thought they would for pretty much everybody, but one kid took the test three times because the parents were freaking out, while another who was expecting very high scores decided to sit on their high 80s rather than take it again. Most years the kids seem to have less trouble and get close to their expectations early on. Not sure why this happened, but everybody was happier than usual to have the testing over and the applications filed this year. Maybe this is the new normal as application numbers go up and competition increases at all the schools.
Interesting. Did you find this true for particular sections of the SSAT or for scores overall?
Does it seem that the test has gotten harder?
I took SSATs twice last year and once this year and though I do not know whether the scaling was less forgiving this year, the test itself was not any more difficult than last year @Center
It shouldn’t matter should it? Most if not all applicants of this year submit tests taken during the same cycle. If there are fewer 99% in this year’s applicant pool, schools will just take the next best as the best.
@GoatMama I’m talking the overall scores, like when one kid asks another and gets the answer “88” or “92” or whatever. Due to where we live and the type of kids and families, there are applicants every year to boarding type schools, and every year it is a tough slog for the visits and interviews and tests and applications. Most years since I’ve been around, it seemed like the SSAT was what it was, and the kids got what they expected and that was that. This year, though, there was a ton more stress and re-takes and lower than expected scores. I have no idea why. Unrealistic expectations? Unusual planetary alignment? Random weirdness? I guess we’ll see if next year is super smooth and easy for those victims.
Interesting. I didn’t see/hear that at my kid’s school this year. I do admit we are a little less focused on school chatter with kid 2. He took October SSAT and did well, so then moved on to interviews/applications and didn’t really think about SSAT after that.
We are in a public school where there are not other families with which to compare. My child probably scored a tad below what I thought she would do but certainly in the ballpark given her schooling. The reading section in October threw her a bit though but the December test was far better. The only other personal she knows did in fact take it three times – we weren’t going for that as there was far too much work to complete the rest of the application.
My child took the SSAT in 7th grade to get a baseline and again this autumn. No big difference in score between the two.
It might be an influx of BS applicants or students improving their test-taking skills.
It seems like a lot of kids take it multiple times. Everyone I know has had their children take it two and sometimes three times. My children all just took it once. I think we assume that applicants retake if they got a 70 and what to get say a 90 but I think just as many take it who get a 90 and want a 95 …
I have not heard anything about this year’s test. However, I find it interesting that the majority of BS kids take prep classes, have tutors, and do several retakes until they (or parents) are either satisfied with results or simply give up and send the scores in. Being new to the BS process, DD did not do ANY preparation and only took it once, which was enough for admission to her first choice. If you have to prepare THAT MUCH, think of how difficult it will be to keep up academically… Would rather my kid be in a school where the chances for success are reasonable and sanity is almost a guarantee.
SculptorKid took her first SSAT last school year. Although she got low 90’s, her math was 60’s because she had barely leaned concept of Algebra. Also it seemed that FA & ORM students might want higher scores. So she retook Nov test this year. She got 80’s on math and high 90’s total. Math section was heavier on geometry than she expected. She could review geometry and retake Dec test. Luckily she focused on school works instead, because she almost got 3 B’s.
No SSAT prep here either. GoatKid took it cold in November, with just one practice test at home. Scored great on math (probably because she takes Geometry in 8th grade), OK on vocab and reading, but overall it was a good score, seriously above the average for most schools, so we called it a day and that was that. The rest of the time she worked on her essays, made sure she got only As, and juggled 999 ECs. GoatMama logged thousands of miles on her car indulging the offspring in activities to which they feel entitled, and GoatDaddy logged in as many hours on his banjo in the living room, purportedly to maintain an idyllic sense of household harmony and family happiness.
As hard as SculptorKid worked, her classes were the hardest things for her during last semester. She daily burnt midnight oil and even skipped sport practices near finals. Yet we were sure that she got at least one B and likely two more. I felt bad because I sort of talked her into over-scheduling. It took 24 agonizing days until her grades were posted as all A’s. We checked it in a hotel during her BS interview trip to East coast, and the remaining visits were more enjoyable.
It is hard for me to see how it could be a terrible thing for a 12- or 13-year-old to get Bs in college courses. It is also hard to see how it could be to her benefit to miss sleep in order to avoid the dreaded Bs.
And just for contrast, we let ChoatieKid run amuck all his life. No burning of midnight oil. No driving around to any activities. Heck, we had a “no homework” policy until middle school and even then I didn’t bother to ask or check his backpack. (Not brave enough to touch that thing.) And he turned out OK and even got into BS and college.
Yes, it a valid concern and I wrote something without thinking. But oh well. Getting B isn’t normally a terrible thing at all! I wouldn’t worry about how many B’s or even C’s SculptorKid will get at a boarding school. I am confident that she will still go to a good college.
But A’s are still more desirable if she can. I felt sorry because she would have had much easier time if I didn’t suggest her to take maximum units at her community college last Fall. We were trying to cover all rather neglected academics areas, improve essay writing skill, show her well-rounded education and impress BS that she was going to apply. I have extra responsibility as she is still technically homeschooled and I am her counselor.
Well, good thing was that she had something to write on her BS essays regarding challenges.
She is a driven kid and has a strong desire to get a good grade. I only tried to stay awake in case she bring s a hard chemistry problem to me. I often failed at even that. I don’t bother to ask or check her backpack either. We treat her like an adult, or at least a college student.
I always recommend her to choose challenging courses each semester not worrying for grade, so that she could learn the most. There have been many near B’s and it was nothing more than a pure luck that she has avoided them so far. With college courses, you often have no idea what grade you will get until weeks after the semester ends.
She’s been taking enough community college courses to transfer to a 4 years college as a junior this Fall, if she wanted. The grades will matter if she later wants to go to a law or medical school because they will mechanically combine all college credits up to the first ug degree for their own GPA, regardless of age the courses were taken.
That’s a lot of classes @SculptorDad! How old is your DD? I’ve worked at a community college for a long time and most of our dual enrollment students are homeschooled, and we especially see students for the sciences but I can say not many would hit the 60 credit mark.
@MAandMEmom, she recently turned 13 and won’t hit 60 mark until end of this semester, which is her fifth. She was admitted as a regular student at 10, after passing California’s CHSPE test and earning Certificate of Proficiency. It gives you sort of regular college access (after personal interviews with a VP), without actually graduating from K-12. There is a lot of grey area. I have been treading carefully.
I know many amazing kids taking advanced math and science courses at community college. Industriously hard working and much smarter kids than SculptorKid. They sometimes finish whole calculus and physics sequence at her age! A kid younger than Sculptor kid is now taking an upper level course at a UC campus! But I haven’t seen any hitting 60 by age 13 except her, or taking as heavy on social studies and art at her age. I am sure there are some. But they are less common than STEM kids.
She is not a brilliant genius as many STEM kids I have seen. But she is rather bright and makes up what she lacks by very hard working. I have never studied like she does entire my life, except maybe a half year when I was prepping for my college entrance exam.