<p>Thanks. And yeah that’s true, thankfully. :)</p>
<p>Hey, I just received my scores, which were 99 verbal / 98 reading / 95 math.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone’s advice during the ssat process! :)</p>
<p>@intrincially,
Congrats on the great score! There’s one part of this application process behind you now!</p>
<p>Hey guys, what did you think of the actual test, compared to the OFFICIAL STUDY GUIDE? Did you think the actual test was harder, or easier? Or were they about the same?</p>
<p>BTW congrats to everybody who got such awesome scores! :D</p>
<p>I had the Princeton Review for my little sudy book. I can say, for better or worse, that I did not do much preperation for the SSAT except for reading comp, my weakness. Because my school is K-8 and they traditionally have most of the graduates go to a private secondary school, they “prepped” us in class. We do a book called “Word Within the Word”, a book written by the same person who writes our grammar textbook, The Magic Lens, and our writing book, Advanced Academic Writing. Word Within the Word is basically a compilation of stems that we have to memorize for a cumulative test each week. It certainly helped, and it also helped because they include analogies in there :). Our math program easily covers the math section, so I didn’t even bother.</p>
<p>I took the test this November with the Princeton Review book from 2009 and it helped a lot for my weak subject. I ended up getting a 91 percentile for the SSAT percentiles! The test was a lot easier than what my book said, so I was overprepared, but because of that I was confident.</p>
<p>I didn’t use the official study guide, so I can’t tell for sure, but I felt the math section on the real test was slightly harder than on the Princeton Review, if anyone’s using that.</p>
<p>just got my scores 
2319 overall= 99 percentile</p>
<p>@butterfly404 GREAT JOB! How did you study?</p>
<p>By the way, I got 95% math, 71% verbal, and 81% reading. I know these are completely awful but I didn’t study AT ALL. Obviously retaking in January.</p>
<p>@butterfly404- Congrats! What were your individual scores? What prep book did you use? How did the prep book compare to the real test?</p>
<p>My son took the Nov 13th test. He prepared with a tutor for months and did great on the practice tests but he did very badly. Just got his scores. All three sections were terrible. He is in 8th going into 9th. He got an overall score of 2004. We are not sure he will get into any of the top schools we had started applying for. Any tips from those of you who took the Nov 13 test when he retakes. We are thinking of skipping applying this year and try for 10th grade in 2012. Dont know if it will help if he retakes in January, 2011 f0r 2011 admissions.</p>
<p>You might want to have the test re-scored manually. Sometimes scoring mistakes are made.
He should re-take the test. If he cannot get a seat for the
Dec. test, can you arrange for a private administration? Have it done soon, so that you will know how he scores the second time before applications need to be submitted. Sometimes there is great variation in scores.
If his second score is in the same range as his first, you might consider other schools that have scores in that range. If he already prepared with a tutor for months, I wonder if he would do so much better next year. Did you hire a competent tutor with SSAT experience?</p>
<p>njrjsr, it sounds like he “crashed” during the actual test. Did he get a good night sleep? Was he under great pressure trying to performe well? If that’s the case, more prepration in the test may not improve his performace but rather some relaxation and perspectives would. And, I think if he can take Janurary test, the test result can still be used for 2010 admissions.</p>
<p>Hello, it seems there are so many 99% SSAT kids in CC! Congratulations! We have got our son’s SSAT score 2250, 92%. Vocabulary 89%, Reading 77%, Math 99%, just wondering if he has to retake in Dec to get Reading over 80%?</p>
<p>Could someone please clarify?
(This is a dumb question but…)
Are you guys doing the national percentile?
Or the
SSAT percentile?</p>
<p>^ The SSAT percentile. I didn’t even receive a national percentile since I’m a 10th grader</p>
<p>I think we all have to remember that the SSAT is ONE factor of the admission process, and it is not necessarily a live-or-die portion of the procedure.</p>
<p>^ I totally agree with that</p>
<p>but 85th percentile vs 99th percentile makes a significant difference</p>
<p>njrjsr: You may have seen my earlier post. My son also bombed every single section, and he’s the same grade as yours. He did not study, other than taking one practice test, on which he did quite well. I also have to tell you that three other kids who took the Nov exam whom we talked with (one in 9th applying for 10th) totally bombed as well. We will re-take, but I’m not hopeful for better outcome. Have you spoken to any admissions offices about this and what the real chances are to get in with bad exam grades, but otherwise strong credentials? (I haven’t as yet).</p>
<p>Grades and test scores often correlate. Some kids have very high test scores, very good grades, and great recs. Were they accepted because they had high test scores, or because they had good grades and recs? Who knows? </p>
<p>If you score in the 85th percentile, you’re in the game for even the most competitive schools. Feel free to take the SSAT again, but also use your time wisely. Is it better to spend lots of time studying for the SSAT, or to devote that time to your school courses and applications? In my opinion, at this point in the process, getting great grades and writing great essays are more important than trying to improve a respectable test score. Also, don’t skip sports or musical practice to cram for the SSATs. (I’m a parent, not an AO, so this is just my opinion.)</p>