SSAT scores VS SAT scores

Prep School Admissions Prep School Parents
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<p>DS just took SAT this morning to try and qualify for CTY summer programs next year.<br>
I was wondering if any of your kids took SAT the same time/year as SSAT and how the scores compared? I assume the SAT score was lower than the SSAT score but by how much?</p>

<p>Here are his SSAT scores: Verbal 737, Math 761, Reading 743 Total 2241<br>
Any guesses what his SAT scores will be?</p>

<p>I am kind of confused by what he needs to do CTY - I thought I saw for 8th graders it was 500 something but then another page said 600 or above to qualify in 8th grade?</p>

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<p>Hi - my daughter took SAT’s in 7th grade and SSAT in 8th - her SSAT score were all mid to high 700’s in 8th - her SAT scores were 620,620,600 (with absolutely no preparation) in 7th</p>

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<p>The program is generally referred to as Johns Hopkins CTY. However, after the SAT test, they offer 2 levels of summer camps. One is called CTY, and had a cutoff of 600 and above a few years ago. It’s probably still the same. There is another level called something like CAA which has a lower cutoff. That’s probably why you are confused.</p>

<p>My son’s SSAT report has a projected SAT score on it. However, this is the predicted high school score, not the predicted score for 7th or 8th grades, which should be lower.</p>

<p>If your son scored well into 99% on the SSAT on the national level, then he probably tested on the SAT at the CTY level. If I remember correctly, CTY is just under the top 1% , and CAA is up to the top 2 or 3%. Some students qualify for CTY in math but CAA in humanities and vice versa.</p>

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<p>Burb Parent: thanks for the information</p>

<p>Looking at his SSAT report again he scored on the national level: verbal 96%, math 99%, reading 98%. Predicted SAT for 12th grade is very broad:660-770 Verbal and 650-790 Math.</p>

<p>In retrospect maybe I should have suggested he prepare a bit for the SAT since he may be just under the cutoff? I didn’t want to pile on the pressure… it’s always so hard to balance these things.</p>

<p>cba: your daughter did awesome! I hope DS does as well! I remember thinking my own sats were good 20 years ago when they were in that range in 11th grade. ;)</p>

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<p>My memory may be off as far as the %'s. This was 5 years ago, and I may have the CTY cutoff for the state awards confused with the CTY summer camp cutoff, which is lower. Anyway, test scores can vary significantly from one administration to the other, so the strongest correlation is probably with how your son felt on Sat., rather than how he did on the SSAT. </p>

<p>If you look at the similar threads below, you will find some discussion that you might find interesting.</p>

<p>Anyway, I see from your original post that he took the test in 8th grade with the idea of going to summer camp after 9th grade. You might want to visit a CTY camp this summer before he commits to it after 9th grade. He will be on the upper end of the age range at that point in time. There are many other academic camp opportunities that will have more students in his age range. For now, you might look into the full-day seminars they offer, which are not restricted to CTY only. The science and math seminars were especially interesting a few years ago.</p>

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<p>D took SSAT and SAT in both 7th and 8th grade. SSAT grades were easily at least 30 percentage points higher the SAT at the same time. Fast forward 3 years: Junior SAT is 10 percentage points lower then SSAT percent.</p>

<p>EX: SSAT mid 90 %s
SAT in 7th 500 to 600
SAT in 11th 80-90%</p>

<p>CTY-level summer programs are super fast version of regular HS classes (chem is 6 weeks etc)</p>

<p>CAA-level, which is easier to get into, has the more interesting classes. They used to include a lot of engineering, but that seems to have faded. </p>

<p>After freshman year, the programs constraints are too tight for high schoolers (only leave dorm hall with an RA etc), particularly for Prep/boarding school kids.</p>

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<p>My son went to CTY camp last year and will go again this year. He was registered to take the SAT in 7th but then an amazing hockey opportunity came up and we switched to have him take the ACT because it was the last possible date for either test that would still allow him to qualify for CTY. </p>

<p>I believe that the cutoff score changes depending on your age which may be why you are getting a different answer this year than you did last year. Other explanation is CTY vs CAA as other posters mentioned. </p>

<p>The oldest kid on his hall was 16… the rest were 13-14. Other halls had more 15 year olds and since the halls were arranged by course, I would think the average age on each hall would vary depending on your course selection too. My son went to Baltimore, but there are a couple of other sites that seem to inspire kids to return and return and return.</p>

<p>CTY camp is what made my son decide he wanted to seriously consider boarding school. I don’t think it will be at all the same but he felt independent and serious while having a good time. He came away saying “I wish school could be like that all the time”.</p>

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<p>Thanks everyone- great info- I am going to contact CTY on Monday to try and get more information about doing some things this summer if he qualifies- like maybe a one day course or an online course if he finds something interesting. I know we missed the official talent search deadline though… so we’ll see what they say.</p>

<p>As far as how he felt after the tests here’s what he told me:</p>

<p>SSAT 5 or 6 on scale of 1-10 difficulty
SAT 6 or 7 on scale of 1-10 difficulty</p>

<p>So we will see…</p>

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<p>PA-C,</p>

<p>It’s only too late to qualify for the awards ceremony. If your son wants just academic challenge this summer, he could do one of the online intensive summer courses. I would recommend the first writing course, “Crafting the Essay”, as it might give him an edge once he hits Exeter in the fall or one of the problem solving math courses - as that seems to be the approach Exeter uses…but call Exeter and find out what they think! </p>

<p>My son took the SAT in December as a young 7th grader and did well enough for state honours, but he took it again Saturday because he wants to go for national honours (the “supernerd” award, as we affectionately refer to it). He said he also wanted to redeem himself on the math. When he took it in December, he had no algebra experience and has completed an idependent study since then. He will be substituting two of the online writing courses for 8th grade English next year (one after the other) in school. He is in a 7-12 building so he’ll have access to math up to AP Calc, but they don’t really offer anything like the kind of feedback a kid gets with the CTY writing series.</p>

<p>He would have LOVED to do CTY this summer but we just couldn’t afford it. But…he has some cool history projects in the works with a previous teacher.</p>

<p>Call the CTY people. They are very helpful. My daughter will be taking it next year and I have no idea whether she will be treated as an 8th grader or a 7th grader.</p>

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<p>PA-C, you son should be fine if you are concerned if he’ll be eligible for summer courses. He needs to score 560 in CR for humanities/writing courses, and 630 in Math for math/science courses. As long as he didn’t burn out seriously on the test day, with his SSAT scores, he should be able to get those scores in SAT.</p>

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<p>Looks like lots of open courses: <a href=“https://ctyjhu.org/summer/osopencourselist.cfm[/url]”>https://ctyjhu.org/summer/osopencourselist.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>For some unofficial views of CTY see this web site: [Main</a> Page - RealCTY](<a href=“http://www.realcty.org%5DMain”>http://www.realcty.org)</p>

<p>Other CTY type programs:
[Summer</a> Program :: Summer Program](<a href=“http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/summer/]Summer”>Summer Programs | Northwestern Center for Talent Development)
[Duke</a> TIP Summer Programs](<a href=“http://www.tip.duke.edu/summer_programs/]Duke”>http://www.tip.duke.edu/summer_programs/)
[Summer</a> Programmes](<a href=“http://www.dcu.ie/ctyi/summer/general/sumprogs.htm]Summer”>http://www.dcu.ie/ctyi/summer/general/sumprogs.htm)</p>

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<p>received this response from CTY:</p>

<p>Thank you for contacting us. The late deadline to register for session two of our 2009 Summer Program is June 27. Once you receive the scores, you can check the open course list here ([Summer</a> Programs](<a href=“http://cty.jhu.edu/summer/opencourse.html]Summer”>http://cty.jhu.edu/summer/opencourse.html) ) and contact the Registration department (<a href=“mailto:ctyreg@jhu.edu”>ctyreg@jhu.edu</a> or 410-735-6108) to confirm you can still apply.</p>

<p>Best wishes,</p>

<p>CTY Communications/M.H.</p>

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<p>The June SAT score reports have a scheduled release date of June 25th. Sounds like tight timing. I would check with the Duke and Northwestern programs to see what they can do. If it is an option for your family, I recomend looking at the Dublin program.</p>

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<p>Thanks bostondad2 I will check out the other links!</p>

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<p>I could be wrong but when we originally looked into CTY, TIP etc., I thought that they were basically the same model but you attended one or the other based on the state in which you live. Even as I type this, I feel like I must be wrong. Sorry, the prep school quest has squashed my memories of the CTY quest!</p>

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<p>From what I have seen of the three U.S. and Irish talent programs testing is by region, sessions are open to anyone who qualifies (as far as I know). I have not seen any restrictions or even preferences on where people live when it comes to program attendance.</p>

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<p>In this year’s CTY grand award ceremony, states from both coasts were well respresented but other parts of the country not so much. I’ve heard people in the south like to attend Duke’s talent search program, but we did see a few students from NC among the grand award receipients.</p>

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<p>Duke University Talent Identification Program, tip.duke.edu
Programs available in AL, AR, FL, GA, IA, KS, KY, LA, MO, MS, NE, NC, OK, SC, TN, and TX</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth, cty.jhu.edu
Programs available in AK, AZ, CA, CT, DE, DC, HI, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, OR, PA, RI, VA, VT, WA, and WV</p>

<p>Northwestern University Center for Talent Development, ctd.northwestern.edu
Programs available in IL, IN, MI, MN, ND, OH, SD, and WI</p>

<p>University of Denver Center for Innovative and Talented Youth, du.edu/city
Programs available in CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, UT, and WY</p>

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<p>Are you saying only residents from those states can participate CTY? We did see some from states like IL, KY etc. though not many.</p>

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<p>You can participate in the CTY talent search from any state - they only have award ceremonies in the states with the highest participation which are the states that Bostondad2 listed</p>