<p>I'm taking the SSAT on December 8th, and I was wondering how hard the upper level test is. I'm in 9th grade currently and have been studying for a couple months... But for those who have taken it recently, how hard would you say it was?</p>
<p>Last year it was quite easy. Refresh your math skills as they ask you a wide variety of things that you might have forgotten. But the most important thing is learn vocabulary. If you get a 99 in vocab, that will boost up all your other scores, and it’s easy to learn.</p>
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<p>If you scored well on it, then it’s not hard for you.
If you scored poorly on it, then it’s hard for you.</p>
<p>How long is a piece of string?</p>
<p>Lol! Nice, @GMTplus7 :)</p>
<p>To be honest, don’t worry about it. SSAT is the least important piece in the admissions process. At my boarding school (which is fairly selective- 28% acceptance this year) There are kids who got 50’s, and there are kid’s who got 99’s. As long as you don’t bomb it, don’t stress. Applicants (myself included) overestimate the impact of standardized testing by a long shot. It’s really going to be your grades, essays, and EC’s that get you into a school, the SSAT is just there to see how you test.</p>
<p>My daughter has straight As, high honors and efforts, team captain for hockey, color officer, proctor, head ambassador and a diversity leader. She also had fantastic interviews and has been told from 3 different schools that she would be a great fit and stood out from many others at their interviews. We are also not from the East Coast, which is a plus. BUT, her SSAT scores were not great. She is applying to Choate, Lawrenceville, Williston Northampton, Groton, Brooks, St. Georges and Loomis. Are the SSATS going to kill her chances? She is retaking the test. I have heard that the SSAT is a mere part of what the AOs look at, but is that really true at the very competitive schools?</p>
<p>I forgot to mention, oddly enough; she did poorly on geometry, but she received a 98% as her final trimester grade at her jr. boarding school this year along with phenomenal comments. Clearly, the knows her math but didn’t test well.</p>
<p>The SSAT isn’t that hard if you put in a reasonable amount of studying. Memorize the Princeton Review’s Hit List for vocab, read a few books to brush up on reading skills, and do some math practice problems. Nbd.</p>
<p>[SSAT</a> Hit List flashcards | Quizlet](<a href=“http://quizlet.com/14447666/ssat-hit-list-flash-cards/]SSAT”>http://quizlet.com/14447666/ssat-hit-list-flash-cards/)</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, I was just a bit worried that it was a really hard test. But I’m not too concerned about it now. (Hopefully I do well though…)</p>
<p>It isn’t always a matter of “studying”. Sometimes it’s that bright students just don’t test well, but do well in class. That is why a lot of schools are starting to look beyond the test to determine student ability.</p>
<p>Yes - study, and try to work under pressure (one minute per question is a good pace). But truly - not all gifted or bright students process and regurgitate information the same way - and certainly not with a clock ticking and a 30 second time limit. So do the best you can, but don’t see a less than perfect score as an indictment or a failure.</p>