While there are certainly students that don’t perform well on standardized tests, if a boarding school has had few if any applicants from your child’s school, then they may weigh the grades your child received at that school less, and the more standardized aspects of your child’s application more. This would not have helped your daughter, if indeed, she got a total score in the 70th percentile, which, as others have already pointed out, is well below profile for the schools you mentioned (Andover’s median score is 94%). Especially if one of the subject areas was even lower than that.
They may also weigh the writing she submitted more. And while you may think it was good, remember that her writing is being compared with the writing of kids from the best schools all over the world, and with the writing expected of kids already in tenth grade at Andover, Choate, and St. Paul’s. These three send more than a third of their graduates to ivy league schools, so presumably their essay writing skills are top-notch.
And finally they may rely more on just what her teachers said in their recommendations. Since presumably you haven’t seen those, you can’t know if there was any kind of even yellow, let alone red, flag those raised.
I think I recall reading/hearing/learning somewhere that Andover has some 200 applicants for 10 or so 11th grade girl spots. So your daughter’s credentials had to be better than those of 190 others. That is a tall order for anyone, which is why SevenDad and others here rightly suggest casting a much wider net, and carefully evauating which schools are likely, which are reaches, and which are lovely dreams but truly unlikely.
One last thing: please believe me that you would not want your child to go to one of these schools if the admission office did not think he or she was ready to. These schools are true pressure cookers. Very very challenging for even exceptionally gifted kids. Nothing like most Catholic or public schools in terms of workload or expected performance, or expected pace. I have one child at Andover and one at a very highly ranked public school. The difference in what is expected of them is dramatic.
@Korab1 – what if I just had a bad round one day and shot a 90 instead of my typical golfgr8 score in the sweet range? Would you chalk it up to score inflation on the part of my Donald Ross course? We all have a bad round (or test score) now & then. Thank goodness the HCP index is based on multiple scores ;)!!
@Golfgr8 - there is certainly the possibility of a “bad day” but you would expect someone with those grades to be scoring in the mid to high 90’s minimum on the SSAT, especially since she is already at the very high end of the age range for that test. Scoring 25 points below the expected range is far more than a bad day, it’s the golf equivalent of drinking 3 sand wedges before teeing off, having a six pack on the front nine, eating a bacon double cheesburger and two more beers while wearing your golf glove at the turn, drinking another six pack on the back nine, and getting high in the porta john at the 16th green.
If the 70% was truly a bad day, then a second test to prove it would have been a great idea.
@Korab1 Grade inflation is not the only explanation for high grades and low standardized test scores. One can be off-the-charts brilliant and not do well on standardized tests due to test anxiety, slow processing speed, and other issues. It also could reflect lack of tutoring and test prep. Being good at timed, multiple choice tests is not a marketable skill, alas, or I would be very wealthy!
@SevenDad - amazing scenery- we have only played Mauna Kea in HI…(tip: play twilight or super twilight for best rates in Hawaii)…but to support my friend @Korab1 point, our HCP is fairly consistent around the world… You should be able to play with anyone & anywhere…like having a good education…interesting metaphore for testing & schools. But, I’m playing from a different tee box than most of you guys ;)!..so there is some advantage for me.
I do want to put in a word of caution here however. While financial aid, significant financial aid, and full ride can be offered at (theoretically) any school including the ones with smaller endowment and even inadequate enrollment, significant financial need becomes more of an issue to many schools outside the group of schools known for their robust FA programs. It’s particularly difficult to get fully funded at this point of time, when the limited FA budget of most schools for the year has been depleted.
You should’ve come on this forum sooner. For people who have not experienced the selective school admission processes, the first thing they would pick up from here is just how unpredictable the outcomes can be when you apply to schools with super low admit rates even without the heavy financial need as you do, which I agree with other posters unlikely to be THE reason for the rejections you received, but also know that in most cases applicants who need FA do need to stand out even more than others to be competitive.
And perhaps users can stop speculating as to why the OP’s kid scored the way she did, at least until such time as the OP shares. It would also be helpful here, and on other threads, if users who are expressing an opinion use qualifiers like IMO, instead of making blanket statements regarding grade inflation. Just sayin’…
Anywho, this thread should never be construed as an unnecessary piling-on one family–I don’t think it has been…
There is lots of good stuff here for future reference because this sort of situation is so very, very hard: FA, 11th grade, the most selective schools. Lightning does strike somewhere every day, but your chances of catching it in a bottle are pretty darn low.
And regarding SSAT scores: when most people talk about averages for this school or that school, they are really talking about applicants for ninth grade. Ideally, your scores should go up–a lot–year over year. I stipulate that there are candidates who (say that they ) get accepted for 10th at the same school where they got rejected for 9th with essentially the same score, but I sometimes wonder if they were overstating the original scores.
If you are applying for 11th grade, taking the same test as 8th graders, ~70% on the SSAT is deadly.
In many ways it is best to cast a wide net for 9th, love the school that loves you, and be satisfied because each subsequent year the admissions are more competitive in every way.
If the OP is serious about boarding school, I agree that calls should be made this week. Obviously it is way easier to make quick visits and whatnot if you live in the prime boarding school region.
Or possibly depending on the kids age, maybe a repeat 11th next year might be appropriate. If so, start the test prep today.
everything on the internet is an opinion. Just sayin’
@GnarWhail picked up on what I was putting down - it isn’t just the score, its the score and the grade it was achieved in. This isn’t piling on anyone. Its a lesson in how not to approach the process. If you need significant aid it is a good idea to apply to schools where your standardized scores are competitive . Has anyone said cast a wide net in thread yet? If not, then casting a wide net would also be a good idea.
*The views expressed in the above post are the opinion of an anonymous person on the internet. Feel free to disregard them if they conflict with your pre-conceived notions.
What I realized by the casting of the wide net was applying to several of these top/most mentioned schools is NOT casting a wide net. We applied to 11 schools…they all tended to fall under the two known acronyms. I now know that we needed to have cast a wide net in more than one area of the ocean…so to speak. Those hidden gems need to be dug up…I wish I had found CC earlier in our process…I learned too lot, but too late.
@buuzn03 Of course, I agree that casting a wide net is to include schools of varying selectivity to increase your odds of getting in at least one of them. But out of curiosity, what’s your personal “regret”? Would you rather attend a different school in another “area of the sea” than the one your child has committed to?
@buuzn03 There is more than one family who learned that lesson, came back the following year with a different approach and was ultimately successful. There is no one “right” way to do this. If it were, everyone would get into their top choices. The biggest lesson CC has to offer is that no matter what anyone tells you, the “top” 20 schools are NOT the “right” school for everyone. Many other schools offer a rigorous, quality education and many of those kids go to the same colleges. Each family needs to do what is best for them. Not “best” defined by random strangers. Do your research, put your best foot forward, keep an open mind, and love the school that loves you.
Side note: waitlists are a reality for this process. I, for one, treat all waitlists as rejections. If a spot opens up, great and you can decide then. But, holding out for a waitlist spot means you are considering any actual offers of admission. That goes for college admissions as well, BTW.
"If you need significant aid it is a good idea to apply to schools where your standardized scores are competitive "
Do Korab1 and I actually agree on something for once!?! because I certainly advised the OP to cast a wide net (as I do just about all prospective applicants).
I would further refine Korab1’s statement above by saying that if you need significant aid and going to BS (and not just one of the most selective/popular/famous ones) is important to you…then apply to where your hard numbers like grades and scores are not just “competitive” (which to me merely means you are admissible) but at the high end of the range for that school.
@panpacific No…my takeaway from this experience is not knowing there were other options out there that may have yielded him a varied selection. I am very happy he ended up where he did, but now realize how similar the schools we applied to are…in many ways. I don’t necessarily have regrets…did I say I did? If so, I misspoke. I do wish I had been better armed with knowledge and other options, and especially what to expect from M10, because the sting from that slap lingered for almost the entire month. And the fact that we were one school away from having to scramble for a plan B still haunts me, even though we don’t need to go down that path…
My main goal is to help others realize how much research and preparation is needed for this process. And what a fountain of knowledge and wisdom can be found with everyone here that cannot be gleaned from simple internet searches. Buuznkid2 will definitely benefit from all I’ve learned in the last 2-3 months and multiple ponds will be dipped into…and more schools that will not pop up on the simple internet search but are mentioned here by many.
So short answer…we are thrilled that St Marks sees the potential in buuznkid1 and can’t wait for his journey with them to start. Hindsight is 20/20, but ecstatic that things worked out despite my ignorance.
70% is probably too low for those schools, even with the athletic hook, and requiring FA. But I’ve seen a few posters remarking that the SSAT score should go “up” from 9th to 10th to 11th grades, because the student is getting older and has more academics under his or her belt.
That doesn’t seem right to me. The percentile is a ranking that is normed against a specific grade. Applicants to 9th through 11th grades take the same test (Upper Level SSAT), but the raw and scaled scores that the student receives will be judged only against that group that is applying to the same grade. So, for instance (and I am just making these numbers up for illustration), a 2300 score might be a 98% overall for 9th grade admission, 95% for 10th and 92% for 11th.
Oops. Just saw my typo too late to correct. What I was saying in post # 33 is that if you are holding out for a waitlist spot, it prevents you from seriously evaluating any offers you do have. Let all waitlists go… move to actual offers and decide on any waitlist offer only if you receive one.
@SatchelSF Yes, they are scaled against your grade. I’m not sure that 11th graders take that test - the schools certainly dont want SSAT scores from 11th graders - they want PSAT or SAT scores. 10th grade is at the upper end of the age group the test is designed for. We dont have the OP’s daughter’s raw scores - if he or she provides them we can parse them. The point has been made that because there are so few openings for 10th, and even fewer for 11th grade, that mean scores in those applicant classes would need to be even higher to be competitive.
@SatchelSF It’s the same test. Every year older you are, the admissions staff at the competitive schools–and many/most others–expect that you will do that much better every year. The applicant is a year older, more experienced, has taken more tests, should be maturing as a student and a person. If they can’t it looks bad. If you need boocoo FA, it’s worse.
You are correct that you are not exactly competing against yourself from last year when you apply again for the next grade, but if you want to get into a tip top school after ninth grade with lots of FA and you can’t be in the legitimate top of your cohort taking the test, you are dead meat. The expectations have changed. A 12 yo old 8th grader might be able to explain away a terrible (or less than outstanding) test due to nerves or lack of experience if it was the first one they ever took one like that, but a 16 yo 10th grader can’t get away with it. For financial aid and 10th grade or higher at the most competitive schools, the ostentatious test score is vital. The goal should be to comfortably exceed any published, rumored, supposed, hearsay averages.
If for some reason you are sure that is not going to happen, then finding the (somewhat, depending) less-competitive school where your grades and your hook and your people skills will make you a star is your only path forward. In my opinion. And experience. But as always…