<p>Does anyone know of any excellent or top schools which don't require SSAT test? </p>
<p>D is in one of Massachusetts highest ranked public schools ( 8th grade ). Straight A's or A+. Full workload - all classes graded - Algebra 1, Eng, SS, Sci, French , Wellness, Phys Ed, Sci Engineering and Band
1st clarinet in youth orchestra. She is attractive, well mannered, athletic, and confident. She loves to read and draw. She is organized, responsible, has many friends, and is a NICE kid. </p>
<p>When you say "bombed" twice, what scores are you talking about? Some top tier schools will not consider anyone that is not at least in the top 93%, others schools will accept top 82%. What do you consider "bombing"?</p>
<p>I don't know what level constitutes "bombing." I'm assuming that it is lower than 50%. As far as I know, prep schools require the SSAT or the ISEE. You can have her try the ISEE, but I think the 2 are similar. </p>
<p>If I were in this position, I would look at the projected SAT scores and then find schools with SATs in that range. If there are schools that you think would be a wonderful match, it would be a good idea to talk to someone in Admissions to ask them if any of their unhooked accepted students had similar SSATs. If they haven't had any over the last few years, it's probably best to look elsewhere. </p>
<p>If you can afford an educational consultant who specializes in secondary schools (not therapeutic), it would be worthwhile to have a consultation to build a list of schools. </p>
<p>Your daughter sounds like a great kid, and the kind of student who can contribute to a boarding community! I'm sure there are wonderful schools that would be thrilled to have her.</p>
<p>eyebrow -- I am not aware of any school that requires a 93% SSAT as a minimum score.</p>
<p>no decent school has a cutoff line for SSAT percentiles. however, there are averages which make it seem like you HAVE to make that average or higher, but don't confuse the two. there is never a true "minimum" unless schools decide to change policies in two days.</p>
<p>When you say that she "bombed" the test, what was her score? She sounds like a bright young lady, but if she is not doing well on standardized tests, it is better to find this out sooner than later. If it truly is a bombed test, with scores below 30%, you should have her tested for learning disabilities. </p>
<p>I have worked with MANY straight A students who bomb the SSAT and then discover a lot of interesting things about their learning styles. Better to figure it out before high school, rather than struggling later.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if your daughter scored about 60%, that is the average score for a bright, high achieving kid, so don't worry. Only a small % of kids score in the 80s and 90s.</p>
<p>Scores - verbal, math and reading - were 30, 32, and 57. New Yorker, I will have her tested further. Seems like something is not adding up. </p>
<p>I honestly don't get it. She struggles a bit with math, but get's all A's anyway, and with no extra help. Straight A's last year too, every subject. The school climbed from top 1/3 in the state to top five, so they have really been pushing the kids hard. The amount of homework is unreal. Her MCAS ( state test ) was very high.</p>
<p>There are three math classes at her school - high, regular, and slow. She placed in the regular level, like the vast majority. However, due to her good grades, she is slated for Algebra II for 9th grade, so I hardly consider it a problem. All her teachers love her. She will be in French II Honors next year as well.</p>
<p>I know first hand of kids who don't compare record wise - not the self discipline, no foreign language, mediocre grades - but went to private day school and are now in Top BS. What is the message here? </p>
<p>I think what we are going to do is wait another year. In the meantime she is going to need a math tutor and I'm giving her a reading list. (She read the current smash Twilight series in record time - like a lot of girls her age I'm sure ) - however, I don't consider those exactly literature. Problem is she has been so inundated with homework I haven't thought it fair to give her supplemental reading. She has always enjoyed reading and been in the highest reading levels at school. </p>
<p>Tomorrow I will present to her Great Expectations. No jesting ;)</p>
<p>I don't mean to come across as mean, but if she gets good grades in school but bombed the SATs , maybe she's not exceptionally "smart" so much as a hard worker. When I was in high school, I knew of many kids who worked very hard to do all the homework and study everything so they could to ace the tests. But every single one of my friends who had a higher GPA than me ended up getting a lower SAT score.</p>
<p>The SAT is a reasoning test, and you can't pass it just by memorizing things. You have to actually have a knack for problem solving, which takes a good deal of self-sufficient critical thinking.</p>
<p>That said, I notice you said she placed into Algebra II, implying that she's still in Geometry and of course hasn't taken Algebra II yet. The SAT has both Geometry and Algebra II, so I'm presuming she's taking the SAT way too early. Most people take the SATs their junior year, during which the most students will have already completed both Geometry and Algebra II (Pre-calculus isn't on the SAT). If she's in 8th grade, you should expect her to do poorly.</p>
<p>Yawn, this is an 8th grader applying to boarding school. She has taken the SSAT (Secondary School Admission Test), not the SAT.</p>
<p>Sadie2, the largest reason for the SSAT is to provide a measurement tool to permit independent schools to compare students from different schools. Schools have different grading policies. The private day students you know were graded under different standards. I know of private schools in which it is extremely difficult to get an "A". That doesn't mean the students aren't capable.</p>
<p>The SSAT has a very unforgiving curve and for many students it is their first experience with this kind of timed test. We know quite a few kids who had this kind of difficult SSAT experience. There are practice books for the SSATs that can be helpful. Our children used these and they were helpful with developing confidence and familiarity with the test formats and question types. To be most useful, you really need someone (in our house it was my husband) who can go over the answers to the practice tests and help the kids understand why the right answers were right and how to work through to the right answer. You could have your daughter work on practice tests over the winter break from school if there is a January or February SSAT test date that would still work for spring 2009 admissions. The schools your daughter is interested in applying to can tell you about deadlines for submitting scores and whether a winter test date will work.
There are also tutoring companies that specialize in SSAT prep. From what I've seen, one on one tutoring although pricey can raise SSATs scores a whole lot. Chyten is one Massachusetts company that offers this----I am sure there are others in your area. If you're going this route, you'd want a tutor with experience specifically with SSAT prep. A good tutor will teach math and reading problem solving skills that can be useful in high school classes beyond the SSATs and the strategies taught are also directly applicable to all the college admissions tests that start sophomore and junior year. The difficulty at this point is that tutoring to be effective would need to last for quite a few weeks.
Although there aren't formal cut-offs for scores and lots of schools accept students with a wide range of scores, the gap between your daughter's great grades and comparatively weak verbal and math test scores could limit some of the schools where she would be a competitive applicant. There are great schools that aren't as focused on test performance and there are schools that are so swamped with kids with stellar credentials that they might overlook someone with less than perfect scores unless it was balanced by some out of the ordinary strengths. Putting off the application process for a year might give your daughter more time to explore schools with different admissions profiles and also to prep more extensively for the SSATs if she really wants to attend a school or schools that have higher average SSAT scores.</p>
<p>Well, like Yawn said... I'm also in 8th grade, and even though I have an A in Science at the moment, it's really hard for me, and the reason that I have a high score is because I study and do the homework- even if I don't neccesarily "get it", I can memmorize the facts, etc. Maybe it's the same with your daughter in math? Thankfully science wasn't on the SSAT though, xD</p>
<p>Ya, middle school tends to be seperated into two types. Smart kids who do nothing (me back then). Then the average/smart kids who work really hard...but then again someone can argue that if you don't work hard are you really smart?</p>
<p>It was hard for me to gain a work ethic in high school</p>
<p>I know this sounds ridiculous, but perhaps her bubbling is not very good? See if you can have her next test hand-graded. It costs more, but something is not adding up here.</p>
<p>^ I agree. Usually if you are as smart as the OP's child, or even marginally smart at that, regardless of "hard worker" or "naturally gifted", SSATs shouldn't stray too far from 70s at the least. I know people in my grade who are neither of the two attribute but got 75th percentile (and that was a horrible score for them, which, if you compare to the standards in our school, I guess it is)</p>
<p>teach her some bubbling skills, no kidding. I strongly believe this was why some of my standardized test scores fluctuated (99th one year, down down down the next year. it was weird)</p>
<p>Thanks for the comments about bubbling. That has also occurred to me. If she is at all like her mother :) than it's not as far fetched as one might think. Anxiety can make it difficult to follow directions! </p>
<p>As far as getting easy A's in public school as compared to private day school in this particular case not at all. My daughter is in the top 5% of a class of 200+ students, and the children in the private day school who have been admitted to top tier schools are closely related - practically as well known to me as my own children.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, I am taking New Yorker's advice, and others, and having her tested right away for learning disabilities. I am also working on preparation plan and alternative educational plans. </p>
<p>So much for a mother to do. I am afraid I have not helped her as much as she has needed because she has been such a worry free child.</p>
<p>eyebrow274: Andover's MEDIAN SSAT score is 93%: that is not a minimum. That means half of the students who were admitted scored above 93, and half scored below 93.</p>
<p>Isn't it Andover's average score which is 93%? That's what it says on boardingschoolreview.com. And directly from the Phillips Andover website:</p>
<p>What is the average GPA/SSAT score of applicants that are offered admission to Andover?
Although the Andover admissions committee has no minimum grade or score requirements for acceptance, the average Andover student maintained an "A" average at his or her previous school and scored in the 93rd percentile on the SSATs.</p>
<p>And even though 93% is no way the cutoff SSAT score for Andover (I don't think it's that high) I think it'd be safe to aim for close or higher than that, because there are going to be a LOT of applicants who are in the 99 percentile. But even if she gets in the 80th percentile, I doubt she'll be rejected for that. Good luck to your daughter, Sadie!</p>