SSAT opinion needed from seasoned parents

<p>My D has a mental block with SSAT math sections. She does well in school (honors math) but has gotten crushed in the SSAt math section the first 2x she's taken the test....She is definitely a liberal arts focused kid....she scores in the 90's in V and R, but her terrible math score drags her total avg into the high 60/low 70's.</p>

<p>Should I address this head on with AO's in emails when we submit her scores? I know she belongs and will flourish at BS, but i'm afraid that math will kill her chances, even at 2nd tier schools.</p>

<p>Any parents have experience in this situation?</p>

<p>Those scores won’t prevent her from getting into all prep schools. If you have the tippy top schools (admit-wise) in mind, I’d just get her to take the math section again. Have you looked at the Kaplan study guide? It’s very helpful in terms of explaining how to approach the problems and what students are doing wrong on particular problems. For my kid, learning to do stuff like solve the algebra problems by back filling from the possible answers was key to doing better in math.</p>

<p>My advice would always be: listen to the questions and then talk (do not offer any potentially damaging information or the one that might open Pandora Box of issues). They might look at the marks and the test and make their own conclusions. AOs know that different kids do differently on the tests.
If you have not done your parents statements, it could be an opportunity to address the “weaknesses” of your child without bringing the attention directly to this issue. For example, you can mention that she gets stressed with the tests and learns how to control her emotions, etc. IMHO.</p>

<p>Sent you a PM.</p>

<p>Generally speaking I would NOT address with an AO, except perhaps in the context of a question: “What kind of scores do you like to see, and do you care if one score is lower but the overall --ile is still strong?”</p>

<p>There are SSAT math tutors. Consider trying one (we found a good one thru our local Kaplan). Lots of practice may help considerably. With those high verbal scores it seems like some work on math may pay off.</p>

<p>I would also not draw attention to any area of weakness, instead focus on strengths.</p>

<p>As I noted in my PM, my gut says DON’T have your daughter take the test again…it’s just another thing to stress about, with no guarantee that she’ll do better.</p>

<p>If you decide to take the test again, then prep for the math with a study guide book. Rather than just do general studying for the math, I would do something more fit-for-purpose: focus on reading & understanding the “answers” of the practice test math questions, as the answers in the study books have an explanation on HOW to solve the math problem. When you shop for books, go straight to the section where it explains the math answers.</p>

<p>I concur w 7Dad on not drawing attention to negatives, w the AOs. </p>

<p>If you decide not to retake the SSAT, then there are many well-regarded schools where a 70’s SSAT would keep her squarely in the running:</p>

<p>81% St. George’s School
80% Hill School
80% Midland School
80% The Madeira School
80% Verde Valley School
79% Loomis Chaffee
78% Linden Hall
75% The Governor’s Academy
75% Blair Academy
74% Peddie School
70% Westminster School
70% Episcopal High
68% Cranbrook Schools
68% Kent School
68% Stevenson School
68% Miss Porter’s School
67% Northfield Mount Hermon
67% Tabor Academy
67% Westtown School
66% Emma Willard School
66% Miss Hall’s School
66% Stoneleigh-Burnham
65% Brooks School
65% Berkshire School
65% Millbrook School
65% Holderness School
65% Lawrence Academy
65% Ethel Walker
62% Pomfret School
62% Portsmouth Abbey
61% Williston Northampton
61% Westover School
58% Dana Hall School
55% Suffield Academy</p>

<p>When one score is much lower, the AOs will look closely at the grades in that subject area and the level of difficulty of the child’s class to see if they should be concerned. Since your daughter is doing well in an honors math class, I doubt her low ssat will be a big issue. Students are rarely equally talented across all subject areas. As long as the AOs can have confidence that she can handle the work at their school, you will be fine - and the verbal scores are a big plus. </p>

<p>Chimneykid had pretty much this exact same scenario score wise (verbal in the 90s and math very very low) but with the added challenge of having a C in math. We chose to address it head on with AOs (usually in the form of a question like “Are we screwed?” lol). Chimneykid struggles significantly with math but if she had been in honors math with an A or a B I don’t think I would have brought it up. </p>

<p>Chimneykid is at one of the schools listed above and was WL at another. We applied for FA and had zero “hooks.” We didn’t apply to any HADES but every school we visited including some “tippy tops” told us that a low math test score would not be a deciding factor. If you test again and get the same SSAT result a 3rd time, I think that math score might become a red flag as it will be harder to explain away - I’d let it go and maybe mention in your parent statement that you believe it was just nerves. But don’t invent a weakness to explain a low score, that just creates a new problem for the AOs to worry over. </p>

<p>If the math teacher has not already written recommendations, you could give him/her a heads up re the low SSAT and ask them to add a few extra lines as well if you feel it would be positive. We also submitted Chimneykid’s state standardized test scores in addition to the SSATs because we felt they provided additional proof that she could handle the work. The AOs get many applications with wonky scores every year (They got one from me in the 1980s) and for nice well-rounded kids with strong grades, IMHO it is never a big deal. Hope this helps.</p>

<p>Aginkid also tanked on practice SSAT Math tests. We found a tutor who focused on test taking tactics, i.e., not guessing, skipping over some hard Qs, etc. Said tutor, not affiliated with one of the major, higher priced companies, also id’ed specific math area weaknesses, based on test results. These remedies resulted in major score improvements. </p>

<p>You don’t offer more details about your daughter’s status- is she applying as a 9th grader or above? One option might be to go through the application process, see what happens. If the results aren’t favorable, perhaps spend the following year developing her math skills and then have her re-apply as a repeat 9th grader.</p>

<p>I’ve pm’d you. I completely forgot how skewed the SSAT percentile scores are in math. Focus on the overall percentile; if it’s in the range of the schools you’re looking at, don’t give it another thought.</p>

<p>74% Peddie School
70% Westminster School</p>

<p>Where you get that info? I think SSAT avg for Peddie is 70% and Wesminster is 84%</p>

<p>Boardingschoolreview.com has
Peddie 74%
Westminster 70%</p>