Any registered educational consultant can administer the SSAT privately. It costs anywhere from $150 to $300 or more, depending on the area. The registration fee that you pay to the SSAT is in addition.
Thanks @GoatMama
The more I read and ask, the dumber I feel…
Our learnings:1) first and even second impressions are’t necessarily indicative of a school. It takes something meaningful to alter our gut feelings. First impressions are powerful psychologically. It is impossible to un-know and un-see anything. Perceptions can evolve and opinions an be illuminated but first impressions usually stick and tend to be refreshed with a lower threshold of information and experiences than they might be otherwise. Whereas a positive first impression is validated with almost no new information.
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Grades do not matter nearly as much as people think they do. The SSAT/ISEE really really matters: it validates innate intelligence and aptitude as well as instilling confidence in the schools that the student will do well on the SAT/ACT and can do the work.
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Well roundedness is absolutely critical.
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Having a legitimate HOOK trumps everything. There are few things that qualify as legitimate hooks: they are being an URM, being a legacy, being a prodigy at something the schools care about OR being really rich.
@Center I am not sure if that is true. My son is an URM with a SSAT score in the mid 90’s. He was waitlisted or rejected at almost all of the schools he applied to. Some of the feedback his school counselor received was that his grades were not as high as they expected relative to his SSAT score. Grades do matter and being an URM does not trump everything.
While I don’t think URM “trumps everything”, URM is nonetheless a big hook for elite school admission. (Just look at the few kids who were admitted to all 8 Ivies as is publicized on media) what schools did your son applied to? How bad were his grades?
If being a URM mattered much, there would be a lot more non-white faces at a lot more schools.
Then they wouldn’t be URM any more 
I said legitimate hook --not just the URM category. Okay so not always… And yes across the country all of the kids trumpeted for all Ivy admission were black. I was summarizing not writing a dissertation. Its definitely a three dimensional algorithm: I didn’t mean to infer that grades don’t matter. In fact what I wrote was: “Grades do not matter nearly as much as people think they do.”
There are more URM at many of these schools than they are a percentage of our population…
See I think the SSAT scores are not as important as other aspects of the application such as recommendations, true blind ones. I believe that once a student hits a threshold in the SSAT, it becomes a box that’s ticked. Interviews must also serve an important part as the AO can see if the applicant has the right fit for the environment.
@MAandMEmom Just based on our personal experience, I would agree. A kid who: communicates well (either by spoken or written word), demonstrates commitment in 2-3 non-academic pursuits, is at the top of her class, and is well-liked/respected by those writing the recommendations, is in a strong position for admissions as long as the school’s baseline SSAT is met. Because they are quantitative by their nature, I don’t think that near-perfect SSAT scores are very interesting to admissions. It’s the qualitative measures that paint the picture of the applicant and show how the student is unique from all the others. However, I suspect that very good essays can help an applicant that perhaps is not as strong in the interviews. DC had a really bad interview experience, but because of that, very special care was taken with the essays in terms of conveying voice and confidence. To our surprise, DC received an offer of admission from that school. Although we didn’t plan things this way, we found that it was a good thing that DC did not write most of the essays until after the interviews. When it was time to write, DC thought about how the choice of subject might enhance what was or was not shared in the interviews. For another school, there was a very important experience that was never talked about, and so the essay for that school was all about the significant experience. Conversely, at the school where DC was wait listed (and your own DC was admitted ;
), DC thought it was the best interview of the lot. I don’t think for a second that the lack of a 99% SSAT was what “caused” that result; DC’s “picture” just wasn’t what they were looking for.
These many contrary and anecdotal viewpoints reflects one of the most important “lessons”–there is randomness with the kid, with the school, with the year.
A “low” SSAT might not prevent admission, “high grades” might not be enough for another applicant to succeed. Sure, it’d be great to have perfect grades, scores, hooks, and be representative of a group which is historically under–represented. Oh, and also be rich and not require financial aid. But virtually no one checks all of those boxes–but by the same token, virtually no one starting this process checks none of these boxes. Most are somewhere in the middle.
This is the why the advice of not focusing on a single school or a single characteristic is so critical for families entering this process. Be thoughtful about a range of realistic alternatives and don’t apply to anywhere that you wouldn’t be happy to have as the final outcome.
There is a reason why certain subgroups are categorized as “underrepresented”. It means schools are seeking to make them less underrepresented. However, we are taking about a general trend instead of an individual case analysis. If one believes in the power of hooks in admission (which not every one agree or at least agree on the extent of the power), then they should know that URM is at least more powerful a hook than legacy status.
@panpacific I would agree that URM is stronger than legacy; and also stronger than impact athlete. URM is more universally sought; the impact athlete only matters if a school is looking for that particular sport.
But development admit is probably the biggie. They are the rare whale!
I’d put a TRUE impact athlete above all else. Often here, when we see kids getting into top tier BS across the board - not rejections - its athletes.
@Mr.Wendal Even “casting a wide net” is not a panacea. We’ve seen a few from the small sample on CC who cast a wide net but ended up no admission in March. It may sound like a slap in the face of those who think fit is everything, but in reality schools are often times seeking similar qualities from applicants, which is why we see so many winners taking all/more cases. It would be more striking if it were not for schools’ consideration of yield.
@doschicos Isn’t it hard for us to know if the athletes represented here are TRUE impact athletes as opposed to being simply strong or committed athletes? It seems to me that there are a lot of kids that are active in sports, and thus the chances are quite high that the successful multi-admit applicants also happen to have a sport as one their EC’s.
I think high impact athletes know from the amount of attention they get from coaches. If you are of the caliber that you are likely to be a starter on a varsity team as an upperclassman or even a freshman who will see significant varsity game time, that is different, in my opinion, than being a good athlete.
^^ you mean underclassman right @doschicos right?
Nope, @MAandMEmom . I mean upperclassman as a starter on varsity. I don’t think freshman even need to be starters on varsity to be considered recruitable, impact players. If you are 14 and can make the varsity hockey team, as an example, and are good enough to be seen as someone who will get substantial playing time, even without starting, I think you are a recruitable athlete with a solid hook. You are that backbone for the team in a year or two, future captain material. I mention upperclassman to differentiate between what a highly desired athlete would be for different age groups.