<p>Hey. I'm a current 9th grader in Korea attending an international school. I've been living in California until 7th grade, but came out to Korea starting in 9th grade.I am applying for 10th grade at boarding school. I'm Korean too by the way.My ssat score is horrible.......but I have pretty good ecs and gpa. Please tell me if I have a chance. I'm taking my ssat again but I dont think theres going to much of a difference. </p>
<p>SSAT score: Verbal-59% Math-44% Reading-78% Total-61%
I got a perfect score on the TOEFL though. </p>
<p>GPA: 3.9/4.3 (4.3- A plus, 4.0- A, 3.7-A minus, 3.3 B plus, etc.)
School doesn't really rank, but if did would probably be 1 or 2. </p>
<p>EC'S:
1. Part of the Student Representive Council. I am the Sports chair(very big position-hard to get). I organize all the sport games and everything.
2. Participated in SEOMUN (Seoul MUN) and had resolution submitted.
3. Participated in Speech and Debate and got up to third place.
4. Am the captain of the varsity basketball team at my school.
5. Was the captain of my American travel basketball team. (AAU)
6. Basketball team went to Las Vegas for the national tournament and ranked 3rd.
7. Football captain of my old school in America.
8. Won the speech fair of my school in 8th grade.
9. Basketball captain of my old school in America.
10. Made all-stars both in football and basketball in America.
11. Play the cello and have some awards in it. </p>
<p>-My school doesnt have NJHS. </p>
<p>-The interviews went absolutely great. All three of my interviewers really liked me and our interview lasted for over an hour each. </p>
<p>-I write great essays and give great speeches.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The teacher recs. should be awesome. Couln't get better. I have a A+ in english, spanish and an A- in geometry. All my teachers love me and always tell me that I am a born leader and have influence on others. </p></li>
<li><p>I am applying to St.Marks, Taft, and Lawrenceville. </p></li>
<li><p>I also do have legacy. I have a sister in 11th grade that attends St. Marks.</p></li>
<li><p>Do not need financial aid.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>So tell me do I have a chance? Please be brutually honest. I know my SSAT scores SUCK. Sorry for such a long post. Thanks for reading.</p>
<p>Tom -- I think you have a chance because everything else sounds great. However, a chance doesn't mean it's a sure thing that you are in when they have many qualified applicants. If you have your heart set on boarding school in the US for next year, it would be wise to add perhaps 2 more schools with competitive basketball teams and average ssat scores of around 60%. When you write your applications, you might want to emphasize your leadership skills. Your SSAT scores do not suck; they are well above the national norms. Please consider additional schools.</p>
<p>The math score does seem a bit low for somebody who is already taking geometry in 9th grade. I think it should rise with a retake. You might want to analyze your test taking strategy as usually one of the answers available for math questions is designed to trap a student who makes a common mistake due to their hurry to answer.</p>
<p>That being said, not everyone looks good on standardized tests. My daughter didn't, but is doing great at her school. The good news is that the real world is not a multiple choice question and your other achievement speaks volumes to that.</p>
<p>As to your strategy for schools, only you can answer whether you should broaden your set of schools to ensure acceptance. If the name of the school is critical and you'd rather stay put than broaden your selection, that is a valid choice. Sometimes what you have is fine, but you are just trying to make the big step up. </p>
<p>However, if you feel that you will outgrow your current situation, it probably becomes more critical that you expand your school choice to ensure admittance.</p>
<p>I'm not sure what your priorities are with regards to which academic programs are important vs which sports and extracurricular activities are important vs social environment. My daughter's school is never mentioned on this board, but I feel the small class (9-10) size and other personal attention she gets is better for her than she could get at many other places. The school also has had a strong basketball program (if that is what your favorite sport is) and also has a significant Korean student population (I'm not sure if that is of interest to you living in Korea - and I'm assuming you have Korean background based upon taking the TOEFL). You can PM me for details as I don't make it a habit of disclosing my D's school publically.</p>
<p>Don't dwell on the test scores as that won't help you get to your goals. You'll get in someplace that will get you a good education.</p>
<p>Your grades, sports and ECs are fine -- and, you say you had great interviews -- that is extremely important! If they like you it goes a long way to getting you in.</p>
<p>As mentioned, your ssat scores are not "horrible" and are well above the national standard. Don't worry too much about them. I am guessing that you will have a good shot at getting in at the schools you applied to. Similar top schools have accepted applicants with your scores -- that is a fact!</p>
<p>If you get into all three just make sure you choose the one where you FEEL most comfortable with its academic demands -- that is imperative!</p>
<p>I think that you do have a chance, considering you do have so many other things going for you. It is a shame, but your scores could have an impact on your application. They do not "suck"; as said, they are above the national norms, but you aren't competing with kids who are the national norm. It could be a factor, but as long as you try your hardest, short from obsessing over it and hiring about twenty private tutors and studying five hours a night (which is just insane), there's not much you can do. Some people have to learn how to take standardized testing over many years; my uncle did (he ended up scoringing in the 99th percentile on his LSATs). Good luck with your applications.</p>
<p>Agree with other posters that your scores are not fatal. IMHO SSATs are only tie breaks for the top 5% of schools with extremely intense competition for school spots. </p>
<p>Remember you have scored in the 61st percentile of only students taking the SSAT exam. You scored better than half of mostly smart kids. </p>
<p>Did you have a bad day? Maybe a retake would help raise the Math.
Sounds like you are a lock to join your sister if you choose. A cello playing basketball player is pretty special in my book.</p>
<p>Looking at your resume I see other outstanding qualities that can render a 3 hour test not so important. By the way isn't AAU club ball? If so and you are the captain it says alot about your leadership among other things. In summation it appears that your scores do not reflect your ability and I'm sure they'll know this when you tell them your story with your apps. 3 years of success will win out over 3 hours of testing imo. Good luck to you one final note, consider adding a few more schools</p>
<p>What activities are you interested in pursuing at bs? Contact the coach
(basketball, debate, etc.) and let them know that you want to attend their school. Send them a resume and/or video. They usually have some pull with admissions.</p>
<p>I agree with annazct. The SSAT score is quite low and it would certainly help if your retake shows improvement. With my own experience, SSAT scores do not play a major role in the application process but a higher one would definitely help.</p>
<p>bump. I recieved my December SSAT scores. They went up but not a lot.
Verbal-64%
Math-55%
Reading-86%
Total-73%</p>
<p>Do you think I have a better chance now? or not really? Also for ECS, I recieved two awards. One in science as the most hardworking and one in PE as the best athlete. I know my math score is still low......any opinions would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>That's not bad, and you should be proud; you moved up over ten percentile points. Well done! :) I think that should increase your chances some. St. Mark's average is 77th percentile, so you're within their range, at least. I think you have a better shot now.</p>
<p>You sound like a pretty good candidate for any of those schools and you new sat score is much better, especially in reading! I agree with loophole, definetly email the basketball and tell him about your team and your leadership on your team, also include something about how you would love to go to that school and playing for the basketball team would be amazing. Perhaps, if its at all possible, take one more ssat test. I have found that the tests can vary in difficulty, last year when applying to private day schools I took it 3 times and got a difference of 12 percent between them with out studying at all. If you take the ssat again and the score is worse then the 73 percentile, then you can always just send that score..no harm done.</p>