<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I was wondering if the SSAT still takes off 1/4 of a point for each wrong answer. I could not find an answer on the website anywhere.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>It still does. 1/4 a point for a wrong answer, 1 point for a right answer, and 0 for an omitted answer.</p>
<p>We are taking the SSAT soon. It sounds as if DC really doesn’t know the answer, it might be best to omit the answer rather than penalized 1/4 point for a wrong answer. I’m not sure but it sounds as if enough 1/4 points are subtracted, it could substantially impact your percentile.</p>
<p>I’m confused. Perhaps the 1/4 point off is old info? Here’s what the SSAT website says today (directly cut and pasted below)…</p>
<p>"Should my child guess if he/she doesn’t know the answer?</p>
<p>Encourage your child to try to answer every question, making his/her best guesses about the questions of which he/she is unsure. There are no penalties for wrong answers."
and
"Your child’s Elementary SSAT score report will contain the following information:</p>
<p>Number of Items: The number of items in the content sections and subsections.</p>
<p>Number Correct: The number of correct answers for the content sections and subsections.</p>
<p>Percent Correct: The percentage of correct answers for the content sections and subsections.</p>
<p>Scale Score: A score which has a range of values from 300 to 600. The mean value of the content sections’ scale scores is 450."</p>
<p>I’m wondering b/c I’m trying to figure out if it’s better for to guess or not (I mean, obviously, that’s not the best strategy - in cases she can’t eliminate options, etc.)</p>
<p>If anything, make an educated guess. Don’t randomly pick an answer, unless if you have some idea of what the answer is.</p>
<p>If what I’m reading is true… My concern that I emphatically complained about regarding the SSAT ( and the SAT for that matter) has been heard! I felt the 1/4 pt penalty for an incorrect answer was extremely unfair. As of earlier this year the 1/4 penalty was still in force. I really hope this policy has been omitted!</p>
<p>The info you cut and pasted is from the elementary level test. It is scored differently from the middle- and upper level tests. See</p>
<p>[SSAT</a> - Taking the SSAT: About Your SSAT Scores](<a href=“http://www.ssat.org/ssat/test/test-scores-about.html]SSAT”>http://www.ssat.org/ssat/test/test-scores-about.html)</p>
<p>I also could not find anything on the site about points off for wrong answers. A friend whose kids took the November test said there were points off for wrong answers.</p>
<p>The Elementary SSAT is for children currently in grades 3 and 4!</p>
<p>I went to the SSAT site and found it odd that there really is no advice about guessing and penalties for the middle school/high school test, even though the sort of headline to the section “About the SSAT” mentions “advice about guessing.” I sure couldn’t find any.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is stated in the FAQ page. For sure they deduct 1/4 point for every wrong answer. ISEE questions have four choices and don’t penalize for wrong answers.</p>
<p>Statistically speaking, if a student has no clue about a question, it’s best to leave it unanswered. If he can eliminate one false choice, he evens out over many questions, so there’s no harm for guessing. If he can eliminate two or more, he should definitely guess!</p>
<p>Sharing, can you post the link for me and others? I was all over the SSAT site and opened all the FAQ sections, but didn’t see it. Maybe I need to break out those reading glasses!</p>
<p>@girlgeekmom and others,
I made a mistake and referred to elementary FAQ. My apologies. </p>
<p>Scoring method for middle and upper level can be found in the official [SSAT</a> Study Guide](<a href=“http://www.ssat.org/ssat/test/test-prep-orderguide.html"]SSAT”>http://www.ssat.org/ssat/test/test-prep-orderguide.html) or many other prep books. Or in the [SSAT</a> Student Registration Guide.](<a href=“http://www.ssat.org/files/FormStudentGuide/StudentGuide1112.pdf"]SSAT”>http://www.ssat.org/files/FormStudentGuide/StudentGuide1112.pdf) It’s last year’s but still the same. The answer to this specific question can be found in p. 6 under the heading, " Should You Guess?" It will also answer many other questions that CC folks might have.</p>
<p>As a token of my apology, you might want to take a look at this slide set, titled [“SSATB</a> Member Services Training.”](<a href=“http://www.ssat.org/membersite.nsf/AllDocs/Form-AM08-G-4/$File/SSATBServicesTraining.pdf"]"SSATB”>http://www.ssat.org/membersite.nsf/AllDocs/Form-AM08-G-4/$File/SSATBServicesTraining.pdf) I’m not sure whether it was meant for public consumption, but it’s posted on WWW without access control, so I think it’s a fair game to share:). Not only it explains how scores are calculated but also provides a glimpse into how member schools interpret and use SSAT scores. One suspicion of mine got confirmed:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>(*Bold face is my rendering.)</p>
<p>This tells you that if your SSAT scores are above a certain threshold, you don’t get much more benefits. It’s a tool to “differentiate among those” who are “very able prospective students.”</p>
<p>Thanks for the clarification, Sharing. I was beginning to think I was losing my mind (which may be true, too, but not for this reason ;-))!</p>
<p>I recall the 1/4 point info from last year’s guide. And the prep guides like Princeton Review and Kaplan’s explain it and include the metric in their sample test scoring sheets. Just didn’t know if it was still true for this year, since we’re not so much in the loop, having finished with standardized testing for the moment, at least.</p>
<p>Thanks for the other resources… very handy!</p>
<p>I can tell you from experience that it’s still true this year.
I actually don’t expect that they will change it anytime soon. Not sure if any of your children took SAT, but it uses basically the same method.</p>
<p>oops, sorry everyone for quoting the wrong section! The Princeton guide says if you can eliminate just one answer choice, you should guess. The SSAT people say if you can eliminate two or more, you might want to guess. So I guess it’s a matter of how much you want to risk losing that 1/4 point.
thanks for the help!</p>
<p>ps here’s the section that SharingGift was referring to
“Should You Guess?
All questions on the SSAT are equal in value, and scores are based on the number of questions you answer correctly minus one-quarter point for each question you answer incorrectly. You may only give one re- sponse to each question. Although no points are awarded or deducted for questions left unanswered, you will be penalized for questions answered incorrectly or with more than one response.
While educated guessing is encouraged, random guessing is discour- aged. If you know enough about a question to eliminate two or more answer choices as incorrect, you might try to answer it; the more choices you can eliminate, the better your chances are for answer- ing correctly. However, if you know nothing about a question, leave it blank and move on to others. It is unlikely that random guessing will improve your score significantly, and it may actually lower your score. Remember, though, the more questions you answer, the higher your potential score.”</p>
<p>And of course for every one guessed question right, that’s one less omitted or wrong… a few guesses based on elimination can really help, it would seem, quite a bit.</p>
<p>Or not, if they’re all still wrong!</p>