SSAT Score Guidance

My son who is a San Francisco public school kid in 7th grade took the SSAT 2 weeks ago with no preparation or guidance. We just wanted a baseline to see where he stands. His scores came in today and he scored 2052 (62nd percentile). Verbal 674 (56th %ile); Math 686 (54th %ile), Reading 692 (75th %ile). These scores are not high and he will retake the test in Fall and we will enroll him in a SSAT prep class. While I realize that SSAT scores are not everything schools look at I had a few questions:

  • What is the baseline for schools such as Lick-Wilmerding, University, Urban, Bay and Drew, what would a strong score be for these schools and are there other specifics that he should highlight in the applications.
  • Any suggestions on starting SSAT prep in the summer - Khan Academy, SSAT practice guide, Vocabulary building lists any other sources. He is going to start his SSAT Prep classes in August but those are just 6 sessions on test taking tips. I think he needs to build up more prior to the classes. Being a public school kid all his life I am seeing massive gaps in a high achieving 4.0 San Francisco public school kid and what is required for private school admissions.

This is our first experience in the competitive school admissions process.

@CaliMex – you know some of these schools, right?

Everyone will tell you that University and Lick-Wilmerding won’t consider kids with scores below the 90th percentile. Don’t buy into it. We know kids at both schools with scores in the 70s, however, they also had strong grades, extra curriculars that the school valued, and were overall great kids.

Also: Make sure you understand how each of these schools sees themselves. You want your parent and student essays to reflect a good understanding of what makes each particular school special. They are all quite different from each other. They don’t want to feel like your back-up or second choice.

Feel free to PM me. Our daughter applied to (and was admitted to) the schools you are considering… She also attended a public middle school in SF.

BTW: There are lots of SSAT vocabulary lists on Quizlet. SSAT.org has practice tests, too. I don’t think he has to kill himself studying for the SSAT as his score is pretty strong for a 7th grader with no prep. Make sure he know to “guess” if he can eliminate at least one answer as patently false and that he should speed along answering all the easy questions first to accumulate as many points as possible early in the game.

Will you need financial aid?

@CaliMex - thanks so much, very helpful. Have heard the same from others regarding different touches for these schools, need to work on that. I think his SSAT should get into the 80’s with prep based on what I see in the report card. in the mix between unanswered and wrong. Yes, we will need financial aid.

@sfbernal Do you have a SSAT fee waiver? Because if so the official SSAT prep course on the website is free for those with a fee waiver.

Don’t stress out about the test. Scores tend to increase when kids take the SSAT the second time, even without prep.

As soon as school starts, have your son work on cultivating the English and Math teachers as well as the assigned counselor. Those recommendations are important and given how large our public middle schools are, it can be hard to stand out. Have him prepare a resume and talking points for them and let them know by November that he is applying to private HS and will need letters of recommendation.