<p>Im a junior applying for a repeat junior year, I have been taking practice SSATs and been scoring in the low 90's. Is this a good enough score to get me into Hotchkiss or Taft if I have good enough grades and play 3 sports, 2 of which I excel in?</p>
<p>yes–your SSAT scores will be fine. Focus on the interview and essays.</p>
<p>The SSAT hysteria begins again.</p>
<p>Look, if you want to do well on the SSAT, answer as many of the questions correctly as you are capable of. That’s all anyone can do. If you are shooting for a 99th percentile, get all your maths and no less than 10 verbals wrong and that should do the trick.</p>
<p>Sorry if I sound snippy, but it’s just tiresome. There is no “good enough” score. I’m sure that some schools have scores they would consider unacceptable, but no one here knows what that would be and it would probably be different for every applicant, dependent of the rest of the application.</p>
<p>Try not to worry too much about it. With my kids, verbal and reading weren’t an issue. They had to do some practise tests on the math so that they would know what approach to take. I’m sure you’ll be fine. Your application is just so much more than that score. It will not be tossed into the fire pit if it falls below 90th percentile so don’t worry. I think it’s safe to say that for the top schools, they like to see all sections above the 80th. Beyond that, it probably doesn’t matter so much because there just isn’t that much difference between an 85 and a 90. Furthermore, I find it highly unlikely that any self-respecting admissions committee would come to the conclusion that candidate A should be admitted over Candidate B because A got 2 more math questions right on the SSAT and therefore had a ranking of 90 instead of 82. But what do I know? I’ve never sat at that table. I just know that I wouldn’t want to send my kids to a school that made decisions that way.</p>
<p>/end rant</p>
<p>Youngstoke,
The testing requirements for new juniors can be very different depending on the school. Make sure the schools you are applying to accept SSAT’s for repeat juniors instead of PSAT’s or SAT’s. I’m not sure of the details but just wanted to make sure you’re preparing the correct tests for the schools you’re applying to.</p>
<p>@neato: I for one, appreciate your passion on this topic. One could say the same for virtually every “What do I have to do to get into School X?” question…</p>
<p>It’s interesting because just about all parents on the board (with either kids in BS or in application mode) seem to agree: There is no magic bullet. But yet people still want to believe there is…</p>
<p>[And don’t get me started on the inanity of the “Chance Me” threads…]</p>
<p>:-)</p>
<p>I guess people are looking for some “magic bean” that will let them rest easy.</p>
<p>Lower scores are not automatic eliminators.
Perfect scores don’t guarantee admission</p>
<p>For BS or College.</p>
<p>It’s the student’s entire portfolio that will make or break the application - and how that person “fits” within the student body that exists at that single moment of time. All schools try to “balance” with a range of experiences and interests among students capable of doing the work. They take into account that some students score well on standardized exams but are lousy students (or have little outside of academics) and others freak out and do poorly on timed standardized exams but are outstanding in other aspects of their lives.</p>
<p>Said a local psychologist to a particularly vapid private school here in our town “Are you testing kids to see how fast they can regurgitate a fact within a timeframe, or are you testing to determine if they know the material - an exam doesn’t always test for the same things.”</p>
<p>So - for those asking the question ad naseum - it’s like dating. Find the school that is “into you” not your test score.</p>
<p>If there ia a “magic bean”, I think that the applicant should have, in addition to top grades, SSAT scores, rec, EC’s, etc., a compelling story of overcoming some major setback or hurdle in his/her young life in order to achieve success in some important endeavor. Such is the stuff that life is made of.</p>
<p>Perhaps,</p>
<p>But some kids take it to the extreme so humility is key.</p>
<p>Also, since so many schools emphasize public service, it helps if some of that is in the background.</p>
<p>On the other hand, there are some schools looking for a different kind of magic bean to maintain their allure - you know - those odd experiences that many adults also have never achieved (ex: played solo at Lincoln Center for president, brokered world peace in the middle east, all while raising a litter of abandoned puppies). :-)</p>
<p>The schools I am applying to accept either the ssat or the psat, well I have a good public service record coaching basketball and being a member of the boys and girls club of new york city, which I do work for every other weekend.</p>
<p>Humility is often praised but rarely seen. If an applicant feints humility, a BS may buy this pose and find that he/she has much to be humble about. Also, if an applicant plays solo at Lincoln Center for the President, any humility assumed by the applicant would most probably reak of insincerity… an app killer for sure.</p>