<p>@baystateresident -
No, I don’t know exactly how many Americans are at Ridley - my guess is it’s around 5% or less, but that’s just a guess.</p>
<p>Here are some stats on the student body at Ridley:
apprx 450 kids, 9-12, PG
35% international, 35 countries, about half of the boarders are international
67% boarders total</p>
<p>It’s a very “English” style boarding school - think of Hogwarts: Houses, formal dress (coat and tie with the Ridley crest for boys and girls), lots of tradition, you expect the people in the portraits in the Great Hall to wave at you and flit from frame to frame!</p>
<p>@collegecookie
I never stated there was physics or (trig for that matter) on the exam ! I am extremely familiar with the SSAT and if you re-read my post what I indicated was exactly the opposite of what you seemed to have read! I stated why not place basic physics or trig on the exam in an effort to illustrate that if indeed these topics were placed on the SSAT math section I would bet you that the over achieving prepped 8th graders of the elite middle schools ( as well as many foreign applicants) would mysteriously and in the guise of " aptitude " answer those questions correctly thus widening the % gap ! This is because they would be prepped insidiously over the previous three to four years ! Thus this exam, by placing material not familiar ( because of exposure not aptitude), is constructed to allow a skewed % to those taught geometry or reading techniques in their schools allowing them to answer those supposedly advanced questions correctly and being inappropriately judged as an individual of superior intellect being " better prepared" to handle the rigors of boarding school. Perhaps better prepared is the right word but it’s NOT APTITUDE! It’s usually just exposure and to have parents state that a child should walk in cold because this is an aptitude test measuring intelligence and thought processes is misguided and suspect advice!</p>
<p>Oura,
IMO it wouldn’t matter. Many people do extensive prep, tutoring, etc, for both the SSATs and the SATs. Those who have the money to do so, and those who believe it’s in their child’s best interests. I didn’t do this for DC1 for SAT or SSAT, nor did I do it for DC2–other than to make sure each child took a practice test to be familiar with the format. I didn’t do this because I wanted the results to reflect (as accurately as possible), the level and types of schools that would best match their needs and levels. </p>
<p>SSATs are just one piece of the application. Important? Yes. But no more important than interviews, grades, recs. </p>
<p>Have I ever felt it was unfair that some parents have the time, money, or come from schools that do extensive prepping? I guess, but ultimately, this method has worked for us, and I hope I will still feel that way once DC2 has spent some time in BS.</p>
<p>Well stated that other factors should and are given consideration. Namely citizenship, integrity, the ability to communicate and help others not just yourself. These are all evaluated through recommendations, interviews, and community service. However, to even remotely suggest, at this early level ( where exposure not aptitude play a significant role since children are being exposed at different rates depending on the type of school they are enrolled and the school’s emphasis) that the SSAT levels the playing field ( as does the SAT which generally taken by juniors who have all been exposed to the material on the exam) to asses GPA at the child’s school is erroneous for the reasons elucidated on this and previous posts. I guess we can all agree to disagree however I’ve taken many many standardized exams in my career from the PSAT to my final board certification and I must say that the SSAT is the easiest but most unfair exam because it allows for pseudo advancement in %tile for those children exposed ! And when the examiners realize this flaw hopefully they will correct it! I do not feel the AO look at which types of questions were answered correctly by which type of student ( a very arduous process ) in assessing an SSAT % therefore, it is up to the examiners to " level the playing field" which, in construction, this specific exam is skewed.</p>
<p>I don’t believe the SSAT levels the playing field, any more than the SAT does. It is what it is. I live in an area where it’s standard for 4 year olds to take IQ tests, to determine which <em>public</em> K programs they’re eligible to apply for. Talk about advantages due to exposure…</p>
<p>More and more colleges are joining the ranks of SAT optional. Perhaps some BSs will eventually do the same with the SSATs, but I doubt it. At some point, we go back to private schools being a privilege, not a right. By definition, families with access to money, time, and or knowledge of said schools will always have a leg up.</p>
<p>@123mama
Sad but unfortunately true! As the first in my family to attend college, the child of immigrant parents where English was my second language, I never heard of boarding school when attending my public high school. It is a privilege and not a right however that only goes so far as being able to afford the tuition ! It’s incumbent upon our educators to make sure that criterion for admission are not suspiciously skewed. Just like an astute college or boarding school AO will sniff out ridiculous EC (saving China by volunteering at the base of the Great Wall, Climbing Mount Mckinley etc vs the student who has to work summers at iHop to make ends meet) .</p>
<p>I attended a Pre-K-8 private school, and the material of the SSAT was not directly taught to us. Rather, we learned a few important concepts (one of which came in handy!), but our curriculum wasn’t directly associated with SSAT material.</p>
<p>Quite a few kids admitted with high scores (coached or otherwise) can’t add their way out of a paper bag. Quite a few kids with low scores (yes - admitted to top schools) go on to be top, if not the top, students at graduation because they’re finally given the right environment to grow and be nurtured.</p>
<p>But what I can not fathom is why the adults on here would allow DAndrew to slam @Starkali after she posted a gracious swam song. People pick up on that vibe, say nice things to help her heal her wounds, and the rest you pick up the DAndrew’s slam and pile on? WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THAT? This is - as @Americannigerian pointed out - a 13-14 year old. Someone who stepped up to bat and didn’t get a base but she did more than others do - which is she TRIED and lived to tell the tale.</p>
<p>She’s not some vapid teenager whining about someone getting her “spot” or kvetching about wishing she had more money or treating this like an entitlement. She tried.</p>
<p>Then to post links that lectured her was cruel and I’m embarrassed for us all that as adults we couldn’t act with more class and compassion.</p>
<p>@Starkali - I rooted for a kid just like you recently because there were extenuating circumstances and he was a stunning applicant when you looked beyond the numbers. He just emailed to say he got a spot and aid (white male for those rude enough to assume some URM, or other hooked kid).</p>
<p>This board is a microcosm of what is going on in the broader boarding school community and assuming that what goes on here represents the reality - or allowing some adult whose background is not “clear” tell you (or lecture you on) how things work is just shameful. Using it to throw additional pitchforks (after the fact) under the guise of being “helpful” or “truthful” or “realistic” is reprehensible.</p>
<p>If this is what the board is going to become, I’ll just drop out. I’ve never been more ashamed of a group of parents who themselves have been helped then now.</p>
<p>@Starkali - if you decide to apply again, PM me for some suggestions. You’ve got more class in one finger than some of those who used you as an excuse to pile on this week.</p>
And the kid had sub-20 SSATs applying to Starkli’s schools?</p>
<p>Exie, you are reading way too much into the commentary here – no one is “slamming” anyone (your own abusive word). I gather from the dialogue that (1) Starkali was hoping that certain personal characteristics or qualities would supercede sub-20’s SSAT scores and a low GPA for some fairly competitive private schools; (2) the outcome, to many here, would seem fairly predictable before the fact, and even Starkali herself was concerned, before the fact; (3) the results came back and Starkali reacts by saying that next time (if there is one) she will choose schools where academics aren’t the be-all-and-end-all; (4) posters advise her – fortunately, since she is early in her academic life at 13/14 or whatever – that academics will always matter to school and that she should count on these, rather than ECs or unique traits, to set her up for success’ (5) Starkali ends up agreeing, essentially, with this approach, noting that her own GPA has advanced from a 1.8 to a current 3.7 – an impressive growth, clearly. Moreover, she has proven her ability to see the points of view registered and to take advice (a rare adult quality, even). And, by the way, the entire board registers its agreement that Starkali is a very impressive, coherent, and lucid writer, one skilled far beyond her age.</p>
<p>I fail to see the “slam” or “pile on.” I see rather a series of interesting, well argued, reality-based posts, leavened with the usual emotion characteristic of many threads, but no-one has “slammed” anyone. I am with DAndrew on this one. And, I suspect, if Starkali were to PM you as you request her to do, you will provide her with no better advice than this board has already done, more effusive praise, either. Exie, you normally are so coherent and reasoned, I just can’t see what unnerved you here.</p>
<p>The private school some of my kids attended did not prep for the SSATs. The curriculum in many private schools is often a year ahead of the public school curriculum–but that’s not prepping. Many private schools demand the WISC for admission of younger candidates, which means they use professionally administered IQ tests as a factor in admission at young ages. If their students do well on an aptitude test years later, that doesn’t mean they’ve been prepped–they were selected on the basis of an IQ test.</p>
<p>Our kid from public school didn’t do any prep courses for the exam, yet scored in the 99th percentile.</p>
<p>Maybe I’m tired after a day of cancelled flights to Heathrow and a strike in Copenhagen - but I don’t think I misread that a girl posted a gracious note admitting she thought she could overcome her situation and didn’t succeed. </p>
<p>She tried to start a discussion. She had already learned a hard lesson. The system, for the most part, worked as predicted. I didn’t see the point of lecturing her with “I told you so’s” or links reminding her of how many times adults told her she didn’t have a prayer. Or using the thread as a cautionary tale for other lurkers when the first negative use the opportunity to slam everyone else’s attempts to be supportive. </p>
<p>I’ve posted over the last two years about stories exactly like that (rare) that succeeded. There are extenuating circumstances that will sometimes override what looks like a black and white situation and those kids work their butts off and go on to be successful. Just as it is often also clear that some students with A’s come into the school having had weak instruction or easy grading curves, and some students come in with perfect scores (having been prepped, or having had someone else take the test, or just got lucky) who can’t do the work.</p>
<p>The answer is - it depends. I did tell the young lady in an earlier thread that she needed some help and her chances of getting into a school were probably low. But I don’t see why we have to wound a kid after the verdict is in. It isn’t our job and she didn’t ask for that commentary.</p>
<p>Maybe I’m being sensitive today, but it takes courage for someone to lay their life out like that and have adults come in and pour salt into someone’s wound. We surely could have been the bigger “people” in this particular instance and just let her go forward with support and a tailwind to guide her.</p>
<p>Yep - sure looking that way. With endowments lagging because of the economy, it did seems to shift in favor of those than can pay (both tuition and for prep work). But that leaves kids who come from families like the one I grew up in (who’d never heard of a BS until a recruiter came to the school) on the outside because they don’t have years to prep, dollars to pay for consultants and tutors, and are often in school districts which have been failing to educate them for years. Doesn’t make them less “smart” or “capable.” Just puts them behind. And for years I saw schools try to help level that playing field. Certainly it’s why Exeter asked alum to start a scholarship fund specifically for middle class families that weren’t normally eligible for aid. Just harder right now for all of the schools with more and more families needing help that didn’t need it before the stock and housing markets went into the can. :(</p>
<p>For my family the SSAT definitely levels the playing field. We are currently very low income - think no car, food stamps and soup kitchen - but not racial minorities. So, no self pity but it is hard for the kids because they are dealing with constant physical hardship and obstacles and don’t have money for EC’s - everything has to be finessed - the number of scholarships and FA they have earned for different programs is staggering. The rest of the time they work for whatever it is - mucking out stalls for a lesson, offering whatever they can, or finding free or low cost lessons. One of my kids found a neighbor to teach a foreign language, took books out of the library,and watched videos with the english subtitles turned off, etc.- whatever she could do to learn the language. But living the way they do, having to do all the housework because they have one parent who’s very ill and in bed most of the time, and sometimes selling clothes or books for gas or food money makes everything so much harder, including school work, but really everything in life. </p>
<p>So the fact that they score so well on standardized test - one got almost perfect SSAT scores and another earned very high PSAT’s- offsets a lot for them. It’s hard to explain what a gift it is to our family that they have this free (almost) and fair way to demonstrate their aptitude that may not show up in other ways. My sense is that that’s what the test was designed to do, and I read here that it doesn’t work that way for some people, so it may be flawed in some ways. But for us, and for other bright low income kids without opportunities it would be sad if there wasn’t some objective measure of intellectual ability. Grades are a fine indicator - and some of my kids do exceptionally well and others only quite well - but they are so dependent on so many things - mostly the child’s individual self discipline in my opinion - but honestly, when kids aren’t eating well, or don’t have a computer at home, or are taking care of a house and siblings, or can’t afford medicine it affects their schoolwork. Granted, my kids have always had access to books and read voraciously, probably partly because of no TV, and inquiry and research are prevalent values in our home - despite a few very tough years we still haven’t sold the OED - and they listen to NPR, etc. and so home life helps their test scores in a way that may be somewhat rare in lower income homes. Nevertheless this is a long winded way to say that for some - like us - the SSAT and other standardized tests do function in a leveling way. This is an interesting article about Choate’s approach to evaluating students: <a href=“http://www.choate.edu/admission/Admission_pdfs/JEP%20Are%20SSATs%20Enough.pdf[/url]”>http://www.choate.edu/admission/Admission_pdfs/JEP%20Are%20SSATs%20Enough.pdf</a>.<br>
Of course my kids were waitlisted there so I don’t know that I’m buying the accuracy their predictive model :D</p>
<p>honeybee63 - Remarkable story . . . thank you for sharing! :)</p>
<p>As for the SSAT leveling the playing field, I remain unconvinced. But I think there’s a lesson to be learned here for any family that wants their kid to succeed on a test like this: forget the high-priced tutors - just trade the TV for an OED!!!</p>
<p>dodgersmom: it will be a remarkable story if any of my children makes it off a waitlist! On the other hand, as my oldest said tonight, she feels honored not to have been denied at any of the 7 top BS, and she did get a merit scholarship covering tuition at the best independent day school anywhere near us - about an hour away. I was very naive about the FA issue at BS. When I read on the schools’ websites that they guarantee full tuition for any family whose income is below 70K - or whatever the number is for a given school - I read that to mean needs-blind admission for all those schools! So, I thought, aha! here’s the cosmic reason behind our dire financial misfortune these past years; my children will all go to extraordinary boarding schools free! hahahaha! If only I had discovered CC before we went through the process - sigh. On the other hand I wouldn’t give up the experience for anything. It was eye opening on many levels and incredible practice and preparation for college, and I’ll know the ropes re: FA and the kids will have interview practice, etc. and writing those many essays, and all that introspection was good for all of us. (and of course re: waitlists, it’s not over till it’s over, as you well know :)!)
And CC has been an incredible resource. I’ll def come back here for the college forums next year. Good luck to your child next fall, btw!</p>
<p>Honeybee - if it is any consolation, the last few years have hit applicants hard because boarding schools took huge hits to their endowments when the economy tanked. Because tuition covers only part of the true cost - and the balance is made up by donations and draws from the endowments, the schools have had to stop being need blind. There just isn’t enough money to go around to all the families that need it. Worse - the assumption used to be that full pay families were expected to remain full pay families - but if someone is suddenly thrust out of work, or the stock market erodes their financial base - those families are now asking for aid as well. In fact, one local school saw a number of withdrawals as full pay families suddenly realized they couldn’t support the tuition anymore and the schools weren’t in a position to help with financial aid. So they sent their children to local suburban public schools.</p>
<p>So don’t feel bad - a number of parents have said privately that if they really had considered the odds of getting an award they might not have put their children through the process. But in the end, if you can get off a waitlist (it happened for several FA parents last year) it will be worth it.</p>
- and they listen to NPR, etc. and so home life helps their test scores in a way that may be somewhat rare in lower income homes. Nevertheless this is a long winded way to say that for some - like us - the SSAT and other standardized tests do function in a leveling way. This is an interesting article about Choate’s approach to evaluating students: <a href=“