I just got my SSAT score back and I got an 80th percentile. I’m only applying to test-optional top schools and was wondering if I should submit them or take the test again.
What were the subsection scores?
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Math-92
Reading-79
Verbal-71
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It depends on what you mean by “top” and on the rest of your application.
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I think you’d have to give use more information about your profile and the schools to which you are applying. “Top” schools is really an unhelpful description.
Take the test again if you can. Most people who I know of in the top 5 schools tend to be 97% or above - I’m in a “tier 3 school” (concord academy) and I was 97%.
As a slight aside, has anyone had to wait over two weeks to get their in-person paper scores back? At day 17 over here and not so patiently waiting! 
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Pre-test optional, Hotchkiss’ ssat average was in the 86th percentile. So no, the “top 5” schools do not have a 97th percentile average or above. Also, their Dean of Admission told me that he realizes there’s little actual difference between a score in, say, the 80th percentile and the 89th percentile.
That said, I don’t know if you should submit, OP. If your current school has a secondary school advisor they would know best.
Did you do a lot of test prep? If not, and you can study, I probably would retake. But if this is likely to be your best score then I wouldn’t.
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While I have no reason to doubt this, I do think a competitive SSAT score depends on the grouping of the applicant. For example, for a legacy two-varsity-sport athlete, maybe an 80 is plenty good enough. But, writing frankly, if one is an “unhooked” Asian student attempting to gain admittance primarily on academic strength, for example, an 80 might put him/her at a significant disadvantage.
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Depends on how dull the other candidates are personality-wise, though, too. And that is speaking for any race. Anyone can be an overachiever on paper but for some of these overachievers, when you sit down and try to converse with them, it’s like trying to breathe underwater. There is a little thing called personality that may define a person more so than a long list of trumped up accomplishments.
There are a wide array of factors going into admissions decisions. No “grouping” is homogeneous so you can’t, as you say, group all Asians and pit their academics against each other. There is far more to it than ethnicity and grades/test score.
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Parents might not do this but schools definitely put kids into buckets and then pit their academics, and other traits, “against each other.”
School admission is definitely a competition and most definitely a competition against the people most like you. The good news is there are lots of schools so if kids put together a good list most will end up pretty happy.
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IMO keep taking it until you get the score your want. You only report the score you want to report.
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