<p>Hi, I am applying to NMH, Kent, Taft, Loomis, Milton, Williston, Deerfield, and St. Pauls.
I scored in the 52nd percentile :(. I will retake in January.
How much will this hurt my chances????</p>
<p>I am a 10th grade student from Northern California. I am applying to boarding schools as a repeat sophomore for the fall of 2013. I play extremely competitive hockey, and have spoken with all of the coaches at the schools I am applying to. I play JV lacrosse as well. I do community service work, and will have 60 hours by the end of the school year. I work with elementary school kids in East Oakland, that will give me 50 hours. Plus I volunteered at a dementia center will elderly citizens suffering from dementia for 10 hours. My father passed away 4 years ago, so I went through a bit of a dark period, where everything in my life suffered, especially school. Anyway, My overall freshman gpa was 3.38, I know, very low. This semester I will finish with a 3.5 or a little better, or a little better. I have interviewed with all the schools except for Williston, and have done extremely well. I am a very friendly, talkative, and nice person (not to sound cocky). My teacher recommendations will be good, and so will my school counselor rec. I will be applying for F/A as well.</p>
<p>I’m not too sure about the others, but to be perfectly honest, I think it (the SSAT) will probably hurt your chances for Deerfield (as it is very academic). However, based off your other stuff, it seems as if you are a friendly person with a good social and athletic life. This should boost your chances to get into the other schools.</p>
<p>I’m not too familiar with how each individual studies either, but I find the best way (if I may say) is to do plenty of practice tests and then go over each mistake you made and see how you can improve. Also, for reading and vocabulary, pick up the newspaper or books around your house if you can. A little bit of reading each day goes a long way in the end. I only studied for two weeks and I was pretty happy with my score. But make sure to keep up the hard work in school. Knowing you have clubs and friends around you will boost your spirit and attitude, resulting in you working better. Good Luck!</p>
<p>I did awful too, retaking in January. One thing I find during the test is you get in the “zone”. This misguides some people.
For me, I’m generally great at math and concepts, but i didn’t read the questions fully and was deceived to pick the easy answers.</p>
<p>Not to be too degrading or cynical, but a 52nd percentile will probably ruin your chances completely. However, you sound like a relatively good candidate otherwise, so you might be ok if you boosted that to around an 80. What was the breakdown of your score? I personally had very, very high percentiles in two categories, but a fairly poor score in the other. I ended up with a 96th percentile… so if you can do very well in two categories you will be fine. On a side note, I was rather dissappointed with my 96 so does anyone think a retake is important? Keep up the good work in school and you have a decent chance. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>83rd in reading 55th in verbal and 27th in Math. Since getting the scores back I have studied about 3 hours a day, and am confident that my scores will improve A LOT</p>
<p>I’m sure that there are so many more important factors than the SSAT’s, since after all, some people are great students and bad test takers, as well as vice versa. Plus, I read in another forum, the test difficulty varies each time. Since you’re retaking it, I’m sure you’ll be fine. Plus, your other achievements are fairly nice.</p>
<p>Actually you do not need 80% in all three sections ! If in the 70’s and excellent stats otherwise from an American public school… A holistic approach is used and you should have no trouble gaining admission to most schools you have listed. Now one poster stated a disappointment with 96% tile… Are you kidding me! Need to get a life! These are suppose to be realistic opinions not nerdy competitive jargon. I’ve run into your types from high school through college and medical school. I do hope an interview in your quest for stardom reveals your lack of humility.</p>
<p>Actually I am plenty humble thanks… I was using the fact that I had a horrible score in one category and great in the others to show that you don’t need great scores in each. Plus, how is that “nerdy competitive jargon”? I play loads of sports and do plenty is stuff besides academics. Who are you to judge someone like you know everything through one post?</p>
<p>Stop arguing guys. CC is a place for prospective applicants to gain information not listen to people argue. And Phillipsplease you are completely incorrect. I know a student at andover who scored in the 60s and still got full financial aid. No connections or any of that stuff. I have many stories about others students I know at all the Hades who scored very low and still got accepted. TO ALL APPLICANTS, YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE “at least above an 80% in all three sections.” Many acceptances have scored much lower.</p>
<p>CHANCES threads are pointless. No one here can really predict your chances. There are kids with perfect stats & ECs who get rejected, and kids with seemingly middling resumes who get admitted.</p>
<p>If one is not prepared to receive negative feedback along with the good, then one should not be splashing their profile on CC and asking people to judge them.</p>