<p>Ever since the boarding school application season started and SSAT results have started coming in, the forum as been FILLED with people panicking about low SSAT scores. Reading some of these posts, I see a lot of replies that are along the lines of
"I've seen a lot of kids get in with low scores and do well in boarding schools, and kids with perfect scores who don't."
I managed to do okay on the SSATs, and I was wondering if well scoring students were maybe at a disadvantage? Because they seem to be more intensely observed for social skills at interviews and perhaps, the schools anticipate them not being able to stand the rigor and don't accept them in the first place.
I apologize if this is just worry-induced paranoia, but as a student anxiously hoping for an acceptance, I can't really help it.
Thanks!</p>
<p>It is not uncommon for the interviewer NOT to know what the SSAT scores are, either because the student has not taken the test yet or the interviewer is not privy to them (i.e. an alum interviewer).</p>
<p>I can’t see any negatives w having a high score. Have you bought into the stereotype that high scoring kids must be robots?</p>
<p>SSATs are but a single component to what becomes a gestalt of the applicant. People get hung up on them as if they are the Holy Grail, because they are the only measure than can be analysed cross schools and “objectively.” </p>
<p>But the schools do not look at a candidate objectively. They look at him or her as an 8th/9th/10th grader in totality–looking for who will fit together as a class and who will thrive in their environment.</p>
<p>looking back I sound a bit hysterical…
thanks anyway for your help</p>
<p>First of all, you are the first student who did well on the ssat and was humble enough not to actually post the score. That alone says good things about you. Don’t worry. a good ssat score is not everything, but it’s better than a bad ssat score. If you are applying to the top schools and are above 80% you should just relax and let the process play out.</p>