<p>First off, sorry if this is in the wrong section. I just started this account. </p>
<p>Anyway, I took the SSAT in February and was applying for 9th grade. I scored really low ( 38%) and I was stunned. So I got a tutor for 5 months and retook the test in June. I scored even lower! (34%) i feel so stupid now. I was very sick when taking the test. I don't know if that distracted me from the test. I always get nervous during these tests. :/ I have straight A's at my current school. And people think I'm one of the nicest guys they've ever met.
I just don't understand why I score so low! I'll be applying to schools in the fall for 10th and probably get more tutoring.
Any ideas for how I can score extremely high on these tests? On all the practice tests I scored above 80% on everything also.</p>
<p>I can’t tell you how to score higher except for using the usual books, practice tests, and methods.</p>
<p>I will say that you should try to take all practice tests under test day conditions…in the same timeframe, distraction free environment, etc. After an initial run-through one just to get acquainted with the questions, that’s all my daughter did (in terms of practice test taking). FWIW, her practice test scores were lower than her official test scores. She recommends “Up Your Score” for tips on test day strategy (mostly about time management).</p>
<p>Here’s my advice: Instead of worrying too much about how to raise your scores, use your scores to help shape your “apply to list” more carefully. Include schools with a broader/lower range of SSAT scores.</p>
<p>Here’s the SSAT-sorted list from Boarding School Review:</p>
<p>If you really want to get in to a school, I would advise you to stay away from the schools with SSAT averages above 80%. Is it possible to get in with 30%-ile scores? Sure. But not probable.</p>
<p>I agree with SevenDad. Do the usual books, like Princeton Review, and just look around for what’s difficult. And don’t take it sick! Reschedule!! So many kids goof up because they are afraid to just reschedule!</p>
<p>Once you figure what the problem section or questions are, go over them. For example, if vocab gets to you, take any word you don’t know and make it a point to learn it. Go to m-w.com and take a few word quizzes. If Math confuses you, rework the problem, get it right, then make up a new problem of the same sort and solve that one too. Trust me, it works.</p>
<p>But SSAT is just a factor. Essays, interview, and letting them know how bad you want in are easily more important. And if your scores aren’t stellar, only finish apps to schools you have a chance at (Or retake). Either way, SevenDad is right. Do your best, then choose the best fit.</p>
<p>To add to the advice already given, getting your private tutor back is probably not a bad idea. If you are scoring 80% on the practice tests and they are timed, I cannot see why your scores are so drastically different.</p>
<p>Something to think about, once per testing year, (which starts in August), you are allowed to take the SSAT privately. Yes, there is an added cost which would be the cost of the educational consultant on top of the cost of the test. Perhaps taking it privately you would feel more relaxed, not be distracted by people and noise around you. The SSAT website has a list of consultants that administer the test. Maybe contact a few in your area and see if that would work for you. I know of some that will even come to your house to administer the test.</p>
<p>MEMORIZE VOCAB…For Math you need to be fast and accurate. CR well not to sure haha. Plus there is A LOT of variability on SSAT’s. Summer before 8th grade I received a 65%tile and November 11 Test Date I got 91%tile overall and I didn’t do any more studying.</p>
<p>@prep Q will: try the ISEE which may be easier for you. The SSAT is flawed on two levels ( one which is not shared by the SAT and one they have in common):
Although many will tout you are merely being compared to your own peer level, many of your peers ( especially internationals who have been preparing since being in-utero) may have had and know the advanced work an 8th grader (applying for ninth grade) may not have been exposed. Hence answering an extra 10 questions out of fifty (in math as an example) really throws off the %tile. It is like extra credit which you do not get and are harmed! Many of the AO at these prep schools( not all) in their infinite wisdom haven’t yet realized how unfair and NOT indicative ( as parents on this forum incorrectly on numerous occasions) of the ability to handle the work at a fine prep school!
The second ( albeit possibly understandable in math but not reading) inequity is the penalty of a 1/4 pt for each incorrect answer under the guise to “discourage guessing”! This is archaic and unfair to the student who is reading a passage and to the best of his/her ability is attempting to answer the questions with critical thought! No one in their right mind ( unlike math) really knows when they DO NOT HAVE THE FAINTEST IDEA of the answer in the critical reading section! Often the question asks for the best answer and another answer may be plausible but not the best. If you are “tricked or choose incorrectly based on your opinion, not only do you not get the credit but are “rewarded” for your best effort ( very little guessing on this section) for critical thought ( albeit wrong) ! The test is flawed! it’s irrelevant if it’s under the guise it’s like that for all students! That’s being sanctimonious. Some students who may be slightly less proficient at some of the more difficult CR questions now demonstrate a larger disparity from their " superior” colleagues. This is ludicrous by both the SSAT & SAT especially in CR! At least the college board came to it’s senses several years ago and stopped this archaic and grossly unfair practice on the AP exams!
The practice of penalizing for a wrong answer MUST BE STOPPED NOW!!!</p>
<p>Admissions officers use the SSAT because it gives them an “apples-to-apples” comparison of potential students coming in from all sorts of different schools. Test scores give the schools an idea of your potential to do well and keep up at a school with a rigorous college-prep curriculum. SevenDad’s advice was right on target - you should look carefully at the statistics showing the average SSAT score at different schools, and that should greatly influence your list of schools to which you might apply.</p>
<p>You stated that you have straight As at your current school, and although that is important, what it shows is that you have the ability to work hard and meet the requirements <em>of your current school</em>. The question is - what kind of requirements might those be? Do you currently attend a highly-rated, rigorous private or public school? Or do you attend a public school with poor ratings that offers less-challenging coursework?</p>
<p>If it’s the former - maybe you have test anxiety, and taking the SSAT in a private setting will help you improve your scores. But if it’s the latter - perhaps the schooling you’ve had up to this point has not prepared you well for the rigors of a super-selective prep school like Andover, and you have major gaps in your knowledge. </p>
<p>I am not a big fan of endless test prep. Yes, I think you should take practice tests, and get familiar with the format of the tests. You definitely want to give it your best effort, and demonstrate your abilities in the best way possible. But I think it’s counterproductive to spend endless hours drilling math problems or memorizing vocabulary words. </p>
<p>Ultimately, the SSAT is a screening tool for a reason - try to get the best score you can, but also be realistic, and choose schools where your score is in the range of “average” or even “above average."</p>
<p>Yes, my school is awful in terms of teaching, my tutor has talked to me about how I have had major gaps in my knowledge from historical information as well as all other subjects.</p>
<p>You could try taking it at a private location? Maybe extra time might help? I took my first test with no extra time and at a regular testing center and scored in the 60th%, a month and a half later (with a new tutor) i scored in the high 80th%. If your applying for 2012/2013 school year, don’t worry, you still have plenty of time. I didn’t even take the SSAT for the first time until December 2011.</p>
<p>PrepQWill - please don’t denigrate yourself that way. The SSAT test measures a very specific set of “knowledge” - and I expect there may be lots of people who score well on the SSAT who may lack other very important attributes: compassion, kindness, curiosity, and determination, to name just a few.</p>
<p>The dictionary defines “stupid” as “showing a lack of sense or intelligence.” I don’t know you, but I doubt that definition fits you.</p>
<p>Keep working to improve your skills and increase your knowledge base. Those are good things to do to help you become the best person you can be - no matter how you might score on an achievement test like the SSAT.</p>
<p>Yes but your elite schools, that you all have attended have prepared you for the SSAT throughout your education! ( so you can say you studies your two weeks and bekiece it if you like) Actually I only wish public schools in the US made the test like the SSAT mandatory in 5-7 ( lower test) and upper test for higher grades! It certainly would help students not only be better prepared to possibly apply to prep school but also to take the SAT later! Then the % would be more in line as to what all students should know! If for one second one believes that those students, who are attending private high schools or elite international schools, are NOT being prepped for testing, interviews, and applications etc then I believe there’s a bridge in Brooklyn I may,perhaps, interest one in purchasing! Now stop this nonsense denial and own up to these facts! Just look at the guidance recommendations of The Foote School (as an example ). those students are being lead by the hand like a hired College Counselor by their very well informed guidance department ( but for application to prep school not college). For us common folks of the public variety, where perhaps one student every few years takes the SSAT, this is not so! Hence stop stating that the incredibly obvious is untrue! Common on ! As J. Lennon said: the people in the cheap seats clap, the rest of you can just rattle your jewelry !</p>
<p>Oura54, I assure you that in their former int’l school, my kids never even heard of the SSAT, nor were they “prepped for testing, interviews, and applications etc”.</p>
<p>There is no need to invent an “int’l student” boogeyman to rationalize your SSAT performance</p>
<p>Our kids were never prepped for the SSAT, or any other achievement test, for that matter. They did, however, take nationally-normed achievement tests a minimum of every two years starting in 3rd grade, because our state requires that of homeschoolers. (In our state, public school kids take state-normed achievement tests every year from 3rd through 11th grade.)</p>
<p>I think it does a disservice to other parents on this board to make broad, sweeping statements about applicants to prep schools. They come from elite feeder schools, public schools that range from fantastic to abysmal, home schools, and just about everything else in between.</p>
<p>Ultimately, schools want to create a community. Different schools value different things in their potential students. At some schools, you might need to have a SSAT score at the 80th percentile or above to have a decent shot of acceptance. At other schools, that may not be the case at all - perhaps they’re more interested in the “character” they perceive an applicant possesses, as demonstrated by their interview, their essays and their recommendations. Some schools accept applicants with lower test scores, believing that they can help the right student blossom and grow and achieve their potential.</p>
<p>The SSAT score is just one part of a pretty complicated admissions process. Do the best you can, and move on from there.</p>
<p>I know you were asking about 9th grade percentiles, but this was the best info I could find with a quick search.</p>
<p>Some advice, especially since it seems you’ve had some experiences in the past where your practice test scores were way off from your actual test scores: schedule the SSAT pretty early in the admissions cycle (Sept. or Oct.) so you have time to retake it if you need/want to. Everyone has an “off” day now and then (I call it “brain freeze”), sometimes you get sick, etc. Don’t wait until the last minute (Dec/Jan) when your options for re-testing can be pretty limited.</p>