What are some techniques/ ways to improve your SSAT score? Also, does anyone know the raw score needed for a 9th grade girl to receive a 90%-tile? Thanks!~
Hey there,
For me, my first percentile for reading was 50%, even though my average was 75%.
To help you with your SSAT, do LOTS of practice tests.
Buy yourself a practice SSAT book, I’ve got Kaplan, and “900 Practice Questions for the Upper Level SSAT & ISEE” by the Princeton Review. Pick these up from your local bookstore.
I HIGHLY recommend the 900 practice questions book, there are many chapters inside of it that go through math, reading ,and vocab basics. While I was a beginning thought that I already knew everything about math, I didn’t go through the chapters and got 88%.
Then, I did rigorous studying on the the math skills- and found out there were skills on the areas of spheres and cones that I had not known of!
Basically, WORK YOUR BUTT OFF.
Since my first score was so bad, I missed birthday parties, gatherings and other events with friends to practice and practice my SSAT skills. I knew it was gonna be worth it in the end. Just a few days/weeks of hard work would pay off for 4 years in a great boarding school.
- Go through all the skills in reading, math, and vocab and analogies
- Do practice tests
- Go over your weak points in skills or the problems you got wrong.
- Work again and again.
I got up to the point where each time I took a practice test, my score went from 40/50 to 50/50.
In the end, my SSAT score (first compared to last)
81% to 96%
A lot of the thanks is to working hard, and just talking about your feelings in case it is too stressful. Believe me, I didn’t want to work very hard- but I knew it would benefit me in the end.
Goodluck! x
Congrats on your hard work, glad it paid off. You are in a better position for those PSAT and SAT tests coming down the road.
@ofjennifers That was an amazing story! Way to stay determinated 
Also, what were your raw scores in each subject? Thanks!
I agree with @ofjennifers, I will try to write more later but I am a GMAT prep teacher for a large test prep company, and here is what I recommend. I just coached my daughter into a 99th %ile with an 800 on Math. Now, as I said, I will try to write more but I recently read a book by a woman who took the SAT (not SSAT but principles are the same) 7 times in a year to try to help her son get ready for his SAT. It is kind of a funny book. Everything she learned about DIY test prep is in that book. I agree with all of it including some unkind words about big prep companies. It is called the perfect score project and if you are really committed to a top score, I highly recommend it.
My daughter had an overall of 83 percentile with 2 weeks of prep in December, to a 94 percentile in January. The difference from Dec to Jan, was she took 5 or so practice tests, and spent about 12 hours with a test prep tutor. The $250 we spent on the tutor was well worth it. Well, we hope so anyway. We’ll see in March.
The main things I would recommend are, in addition to the books mentioned above:
- The basics of Math should be pure muscle memory. You should never have to think about roots, exponents, formulas for area, etc. First, it is good for your confidence on the test, confidence will make (or break) you. @ofjennifers advice on hard work is good for a variety of reasons, not least of which is the confidence it gives you. For building that level of skill, we used Math Workbook for ISEE, SSAT, & HSPT Prep by Allen Koh, 2nd Ed. According to reviews on Amazon, the 3rd Ed is buggy with many errors. No explanations, just lots and lots of practice. It worked for us because I could help. If no one in your home is good with math, then I would recommend using Khan Academy to build up the Math Skills.
- Once you have built up your skills then start doing problems under the clock. Once you have gotten your mind used to the timing, only then start using practice tests.
- Save the official material for last. There are sample problems and 2 practice tests in the official book. These are written by the writers of the test, so they should be the last thing you use before going into the test. You want their style of question writing fresh in your mind.
- On reading comp, do not look at the questions until you do the following. As you are reading, in your own words (important to paraphrase, not copy) write down the topic of the passage (very general), the scope of the topic (more specific), and the authors purpose (argue, inform, advocate, etc) This dramatically focuses your reading and helps understanding. You will actually feel yourself working harder as you read. This is probably the most painful thing to study, so make it a priority!
- On Verbal Questions, try to make a prediction before looking at the answer choices. The answer choices are there to get you second guessing yourself. Don't start just blindly scanning the choices.
- On Math questions, as your timing gets better, remember to save 10 seconds on each question to verify that you answered the CORRECT question. For instance you may be all excited that you just worked through the algebra and solved for x, but you forgot that the question asked for the value of 2x (that one got me while helping my daughter).
- If you can afford a tutor, I agree with @SimpleSimon that it is well worth it. My daughter had a live-in test tutor in the form of her Dad, that is a luxury most do not have. If you get really stuck on a problem, hit me up on here and I will try to help, but that is a poor substitute for a few hours with a tutor. That book I recommended, the perfect score project, has some good tips. Another good resource is Khan Academy, there are 10 minute free videos and exercises on every math topic you can imagine, and he is a very gifted teacher. In addition, he works through an entire SAT test, question by question. It is not SSAT, but would help with the general skills.
- For a specific shortcoming, I can probably offer some specific resources (not from my company, I am not selling anything, plus the big companies are usually not the answer), just let me know if anything is really hurting you and I will see what I can figure out.
Good Luck!
@ajsmiles12 Thank you!
My first test:
Reading: 24/40 - 50%
Quantitive: 38/50 - 88%
Vocabulary 39/60 - 86%
Second test:
Reading: 28/40 - 75%
Quantitive: 36/50 - 86%
Vocabulary: 43/60 - 88%
Third test:
Reading: 36/40 - 94%
Quantitive: 48/50 - 99%
Vocabulary: 42/60 - 85%