<p>Lemmings, I’m surprised this needs to be mentioned, but your application isn’t a precious Ming dynasty vase.</p>
<p>Hey Tom it may not be no “Ming dynasty vase” but there is 5 years of hard-work in it, i dont know whats worth more?</p>
<p>I received the 84th percentile when I was in 7th grade and was accepted to Deerfield and Exeter. My friend received the 83rd percentile and wasn’t accepted to any HADES schools. So in essence, it’s more your SSAT essay, application and interview that count towards whether or not you get accepted.</p>
<p>what do you mean ssat essay? you mean your application essays?</p>
<p>Pretty much anything over 80 percentile and your good( at a hades). The ssat is not an aptitude test people. If anything take the SSAT and a WISC 4 or Woodcock Johnson psycho-educational test. The ssat does not measure intelligence, I say take the ssat get atleast 80 percent ( if your applying to a hades school), take the WISC 4 or Woodcock Johnson( to back up your application), have stellar ec’s, have kick ass interviews, and write down to earth essays that are from your heart and honest.</p>
<p>You have to write an essay when you take the SSAT. I remember doing that…</p>
<p>the essay on the ssat is complete – i never even bothered to study for it, it is honestly a joke and a waste of time if you ask me, you need more than 20minutes to produce a half decent essay.</p>
<p>Woah there buddy. Try to curb your enthusiasm. You aren’t graded on the essay. The schools read it and judge your ability to write under time pressure. If you can spit out 3-5 decent paragraphs in 20 minutes, then that’s a decent essay.</p>
<p>I’m guessing that many schools also use that essay to compare a controlled writing sample with the essays you turn in on the application–to be sure you’re doing your own writing. If the voice or style is way off, it might set off red flags.</p>
<p>And I agree with Dude (and I’m a writing teacher)–it’s possible to put together a decent essay in 20 minutes, and it’s an important skill. Think about all those essay exams in your future…</p>
<p>Ming dynasty vase…umm…I admire Andover now for teaching Chinese history…well am I right? LOL</p>
<p>Either that or TomtheCat is a fan of old Pink Panther movies.</p>
<p>I think they get more and more important because they increase every year for top tiers, so the competition for a better SSAT increases.</p>
<p>Lemmings, I don’t wish to push the subject, but I’m just not sure what damage you think was caused to your application by having it sit on the very clean floor of the admissions office here at Andover <em>where all the other applications sat as well.</em> Read the name of the article - there was no table large enough for the apps. Your hard work wasn’t being somehow tainted by being on the floor. This is a complete non issue. I detect resentment.</p>
<p>^ LOL, who knows, there might be bugs on the floor and god forbid those touch my application! >8(</p>
<p>hahaha, i didn’t even FINISH my SSAT essay. it was 5 (well, supposed to be, anyways) paragraphs long but i got stopped in the middle of my conclusion… they didn’t give us any time warning! it was like “bla bla bla, the obstacles that one might have to endure often make us stronger as a person, bla bla bla, in conclusion, i would-”
… hmmmm.</p>
<p>i wonder how important (weighed) the SSAT essays are. i hope they don’t count for too much 
!</p>
<p>The ssat essay is a complete joke they put up the most obvious topics and they are over-kill easy. my topic was " can it be difficult to turn a dream into a reality" i was like wow when i saw it.</p>
<p>well if they are easy topics, why can’t you find the time to write a “decent” essay in 20 minutes?</p>
<p>in case you people havent noticed there is a thing called a 4 paragraph essay which if you are a half decent writer on an easy topics(like the ones on SSAT) turning an okay to pretty good essay is really not very difficult</p>
<p>I think the ssats are vary important to alot of people. I t shows alot.</p>
<p>I took a WISC 4 test.</p>
<p>Well, if you got into Middlesex, you should be happy rather than resentful and rude about other schools. You represent neither your school nor yourself well with your posts. Consider how you make you and your future school look. The Internet is public as are your posts, and nobody here knows who you truly are - all we have to go by are your posts, and if they’re unattractive, you make yourself look unsavory.</p>