My child received a 39% for her score. Her tutor says she should be getting a 55%. What are some tricks for her to get. 80%
I might use her current scores as a guide to helping shape the list of “apply to” schools at the same time she is working on raising her scores. Additionally, I would be very careful about chasing some arbitrary target score. Finally, keep in mind that if your kid is more of a 39-55% scorer, that attending a school with an average SSAT score of 80% may be a rough ride.
My son also had dissapointing SSAT scores, so he will be taking it again in January. He does well in his private school (almost all A’s but often has one B or B+ each semester) so I was surprised by the score. He’s not looking at HADES schools, but I’m still concerned that a score hovering around 50% will hurt his applications. Are there schools in the mid Atlantic region that people would suggest for a score in that range?
@dramakid2, is one score higher than the other? And what are his interests outside the classroom?
He’s really into theatre, he had his drama teacher write the extra recommendation for his applications. Our private school is strong in the arts so he’s been in several performances since 5th grade. He plays clarinet and just started guitar this year. Very athletic but not to the degree that he would be a recruited athlete for a particular sport. His main sport and interest outside of school has been 14 Fall and Spring seasons of flag football. Tackle football is not even a consideration, so those skills are not of particular use, other than he’s a skilled overall competitor and a great teammate. He interviewed very well (based on what AOs told me). Overall I think he’s well rounded but I don’t know what those scores will do if they don’t go up much. We’re applying for FA and I’m not done with the app yet. However I expect that our EFC will be high and it may even suggest FP.
Forgot to add Math is higher, vocabulary is a weakness. He is taking Alg 2 as an 8th grader with an A. He also plays soccer and basketball for his school
My child just got her updated score for her most recent test in October. She received a 68%. I was very surprised and proud. She has high honors and straight A’s , what schools would be good for her?
Have you parents seen a trend with this most recent round of scores being lower or more split? I have been hearing from others that the reading passages were longer than on practice tests- also math had some things not covered for a while so need to review 7th grade math also to prep. The verbal can be tricky. For example a “ supple” might be an item on the synonym section. Answer options may include two tricky options of limber and soft. In the practice book, the correct answer is “limber”. Very difficult for typical 8th grader IMO. I know someone on here will respond by saying if your applying to BS you’re not typical :">
In terms of targeting, schools…IIRC, some schools post what the average SSAT percentiles are for admitted students. If not, AOs were always open about it, in our experience.
To the OP: Glad the latest round of results was more in line with what you both were hoping.
My 8th grader took the November 11 test and the reading, according to her, was very hard. Her math score was much higher than verbal which was much higher than reading.
My son took a full practice test earlier this year with no prep and scored higher than one the real one he just took in November. Very frustrating, especially since he’s been doing a prep program. He’s working on even more prep now and hoping for the best in January.
Most schools will accept results from the Feb 3 SSAT.
Schools that support learning differences will weight SSAT less.
In our experience ome AO’s now ask if the child has taken a prep course but we have no idea if that is included in the decision cycle