<p>Hi this is my first time applying for private school for 2011, but Ill be applying as a 10th grader. Will that hurt my chances?
When should I take my SSATs? I know for Exeter you have to take it after September of this year, but is it like that for all schools? Also, do I have to send the score report from the testing organization? </p>
<p>Also, does it hurt your chances if you took the SSAT more than once? </p>
<p>thanks for answering :)</p>
<p>Most schools takes lots of kids to start in 10th grade.
Yes, it’s like that for all schools.
Yes, the scores have to be sent directly from the SSAT people. You do it under the manage my account tab, electronically.
No, it won’t hurt you to take it more than once. As a matter of fact, you can wait until after you see your scores to have them sent. If you take it more than once, it will just be marked as “multiple tests” but the schools will only see the scores that you choose to have sent.
The earliest you’ll be able to take the ssat for next year’s admissions cycle is in October, the latest, usually January.</p>
<p>Hope this helps and welcome to CC :)</p>
<p>@ neato:
you said ‘you can wait until after you see your scores to have them sent’</p>
<p>how do you do this? it sounds like a great idea, but i never figured out how…</p>
<p>also, wouldn’t taking it in september be a viable option as well…?</p>
<p>There is no September test (to my knowledge).</p>
<p>When you register, don’t put any school codes in. Then after you’ve seen your reports, log on to your accounts and hit click the date for the test that you like, then click “send scores” or something like that. I don’t remember exactly, but I think that’s right.</p>
<p>oh okay so they wont know exactly how many tests you took? </p>
<p>thanks btw:)</p>
<p>I was at a private school forum recently where the Director of Admissions at a St. Grottlesex school recommended students take the SSAT multiple times. S/he said they’ll look at the highest subscores on the different tests. There were nods of agreement up and down the panel.</p>
<p>^ yeah, a lot of schools superscore (highest score from each category, from different test dates)</p>
<p>oh man, that kind of puts FA kids to a disadvantage… i guess i shouldn’t be too surprised, though :(</p>
<p>okay thanks for the replies. i heard that they only see the score that you sent to them, rather than all the scores.
so this isnt true?</p>
<p>No, they only see the scores you choose to send to them. But you can choose to send them multiple scores, and the schools that superscore do so out of all the scores you sent them. </p>
<p>Hope I helped. :)</p>
<h2>oh man, that kind of puts FA kids to a disadvantage… i guess i shouldn’t be too surprised, though </h2>
<p>Yeah. To be entirely honest, the entire prep school experience tends to put FA kids at a disadvantage. Not to mention college. It stinks, but oh well.</p>
<p>About the applying as a sophomore - that shouldn’t really hurt your chances. I don’t know much about Exeter (my little sister goes there; I should ask her) but my school admitted freshman classes that were a fair deal smaller than the other classes knowing full well they would admit 20-35 people as sophomores the next year. For anyone else reading who might be in a similar situation - if you’re applying as a junior or senior (which I wouldn’t recommend as sometimes it can be hard to adjust) there might be a slight disadvantage, but nothing significant.</p>
<p>okay thanks for the help everyone 
btw… what does FA stand for xD?</p>
<p>Financial Aid</p>
<p>OHH. okay thanks. yeah i fail :)</p>
<p>to be the devils advocate here regarding the “FA kids at a disadvantage” comment – lots of time FA kids get the fees waived, they ultimately receive aid at schools, once it comes time to take the actual SAT’s and apply to colleges, the application fees are waived, the majority of private schools will provide SAT prep for free to FA students. How about the real disadvantaged kids? – the ones whose parents income puts them just on the borderline of not receiving FA? They then have to make an awful lot of very difficult personal choices if they want to give their children a private education - and from my observations, most do without a lot of things that most people would call “quality of life” in order to give to their kids. Why not think about them, rather than the usual, “of that yet again puts FA kids at a disadvantage”. Sorry for the rave I just got done dealing with an issue from just such a parent who cant afford to enroll their kid into an enrichment course, while FA kids are going for free.</p>
<p>If you argue that way, then everyone can complain lol!</p>
<p>Poor kids/FA kids can’t afford to visit schools, can’t afford consultant/tutor/test prep course, can’t afford summer programs and many other opportunities. They face being rejected right away (on the basis of FA rather than merit) in this economic climate. Many of them don’t know much about top boarding/private schools; their parents don’t encourage them to apply either. It takes a lot of self-motivation to seek info and apply at the first place.</p>
<p>Borderline kids - like you said - have certain disadvantages. But as they’re able to contribute more toward tuition, they have more chance of getting accepted and their parents have more resources to pay. </p>
<p>Rich kids say “I’m just another typical white boy from East Coast / professor’s son etc. –> There are plenty plenty of kids like me applying to top school. FA kids who have the same or less academic ability can boast about being 1st generation, overcoming socioeconomic barrier etc.” They would argue that admission is more competitive for them too. </p>
<p>Oh yeah, everyone is at disadvantage :D</p>
<p>Along that same line, one can argue that FPs are more at a disadvantage. Adcoms look at how far a student has come, what challenges/obstacles a student has had to overcome and what a student has done to seek out opportunities. FA students can tell a better story. What if a FP student is just a fantastic student, great athlete and nice person? They fall short of the mark, because they haven’t had a disadvantage to write about. </p>
<p>What about a student/family who falls into the FP applicant bin, whose not rich, but started planning early and saved every penny for umpteen years just so their kid could have a shot at a good education, something more than PS. Not everyone who is FP is rich. Some of us just worked exceptionally long hours and many years…but yet an FA kid may look more appealing to an ADCOM, they’re not seeing all those years of sacrifice just to get to the table, all they see is someone who can full pay. All fullpays are not alike …</p>
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<p>This can be called the middle class dilemma. Adcoms like filthy rich FPs with deep pockets. They love URM, FA stories of beating the odds. Adcoms don’t (have to) love middle class FPs with no deep pockets and they are between a rock and a hard place.</p>
<p>yep, you said it pulsar.</p>
<p>In an ironic twist, the best scenario for an FA Student is to a highly accomplished student with great scores and academics so that they can qualify and realistically be a good fit for the top Boarding Schools with huge healthy endowments that can afford to give the FA they need. The sad part about many URM’s is that the parents don’t have the money to get the best test prep for their kids, or the research skills to take advantage of the many different programs that offer test prep for free or at a discounted price. My D had a private tutor that did an excellent job in preparing her for the SSAT Test which put her at a tremendous advantage over bright, yet poor minority students. There are two Americas!</p>