<p>wavyboy2017 I don’t think the thread would make people think they shouldn’t worry about SSAT scores, but instead just show them that its not the end of the world if you don’t do as well as you planned. Either way I think cameo might have been joking just as I was.</p>
<p>UKgirl23 I don’t think the op was trying to say the schools don’t know what they’re doing. Instead I believe she was just saying because schools are trying to build a class, you never know where you’ll be accepted, rejected, or waitlisted. Hence the “random” notion.</p>
<p>wavyboy: yes, I was indeed just joking about starting a new thread.</p>
<p>UKGirl: I meant ‘random’, as in, that’s how it seems to those of us on the outside – I believe the schools know exactly what they are doing, and each school has different reasons for the choices they make.</p>
<p>Sorry if my meaning wasn’t too clear…
Thanks, confusedonhades. I guess we are on the same page!</p>
<p>Several of the AOs I talked to at Lawrenceville said that they recognized that a standardized test is not telling of a student’s academic capabilities, and as long as their overall grades showed that they were a smart and dedicated student, they would overlook the SSAT scores.</p>
<p>Think of it as being blind and feeling a part of an elephant-- each person might not know what it is–but from a higher altitude, the shape becomes quite clear-- that is what is going on-- to each of us who are applicants or parents and only sensing our small part of the whole, the decision making seems odd, but the Committee who is attempting to build an elephant knows that it needs feet and eyes and tusks etc to make the complete animal. Too many of one part doesn’t make the elephant.</p>
<p>I got 85% on my SSAT, and although I know that isn’t bad now, when I read all of the “chance me” threads, I was incredibly discouraged. I got in to 4 out of 5 schools that I applied to though (w/l at 5th) and it showed me that there is more to a candidate than test scores. To all future applicants: don’t worry about test scores; just be yourself and let the admissions committee see the real you.</p>
<p>Just to illustrate-I got a 95 percentile on my SSAT, yet only got accepted to one out of the four schools I was applying to. Statistics aren’t everything. :)</p>
<p>no, actually, it isn’t. it just isn’t a process of giving gold stars for some objective data set-- rather it is a subject set of judgements on who will blossom best in that school’s particular microclimate, and in “building a class.”</p>
<p>don’t confuse subjective with random. If you did that on the SSAT it would be marked as an incorrect analogy.</p>
<p>however, if it makes you feel better, then go ahead–it isn’t the case–but why not?</p>
<p>I believe that the ssat is given so they can have a starting point for applicants. All applicants come from different backgrounds, so some grades can differ at each school. The SSAT just is a way to compare applicants side by side.</p>
<p>I had to retake the SSAT’s. I had a 38th percentile in math, at best! But you know what, I got into all three schools I applied to! APPLY TO HIDDEN GEMS they are most likely to look more at the whole student than the scores.</p>
<p>You wrote exactly what I wanted to say. Very well said. I absolutely agree with your points. Parents and prospective candidates should not rely too much on ‘chance me’ postings. Just because your numbers are not the most attractive and you were waitlisted at ‘safety’ doesn’t mean you will be rejected by ‘reach’ schools. The fact that your daughter got into top schools means that she has a lot of ‘attractiveness’ that pulled her in and that is exactly what the schools are looking for. I am very happy for your daughter!</p>
<p>A couple years ago, the daughter of a friend’s friend had a few admission offers, along with a number of rejections and waitlists. Just throw it out here, not sure if her case truly illustrates the randomness or not:</p>
<p>Admitted by Blair, Westtown, Exeter and Choate
Rejected by Peddie, Lawrenceville, Westminster and St George
Waitlisted at NMH, Hotchkiss, Hill and St Mark</p>
Were they waitlists or rejections? If they were waitlists, I fervently hope you get off them!</p>