Hi, I’m currently an 8th grade male student applying to 7 elite prep boarding schools. I’m africa-american. My main focus is on videography
The schools I’m applying to are, Andover, Exeter, Groton, St. Paul’s, St. Mark’s, Cate, and Hotchkiss
background: I have 2 older siblings at boarding school. Applying for FA. Did track for 2 years (hurdles) and taekwondo for 3 years. played violin for 5 years and joined all county orchestra for 3 years. in clubs like green club, minority scholars, math team, MESA, Kindness club, wellness club, the gifted and talented program etc. School orchestra president. I am passionate about videography. Have a small YouTube channel focused on gaming. edit my videos, create thumbnails, etc. I have created a documentary for history fair that advanced to state competition. I take Honors Geometry at my local high school next door to my Middle School. I take all Honors Courses. Perfect GPA/Straight As. Was awarded citizenship award in elementary school, and also won 2nd place for immigration writing contest.
Testing. SSAT: Overall : 47th percentile /V 675/ Q 701/ R 617/
I am worried about my test and only submitting to Groton and Exeter
I am retaking test on February 4th so please advise so that I don’t fail again (I HAVE A WEEK TO STUDY)
Interviews : Did all interviews except for Groton. Had alumni for Andover. 2 interviews for EXETER (alumni and admissions officer). My interviews were fine for the most part except for Exeter. Sent interviewers videography portfolio by email that they did not check it…
I am sure FA also affects application
Essays great!
PLEASE ADVISE (TELL THE TRUTH) - ME
With regard to the SSAT, I would recommend studying using some test prep materials (either from the SSAT or from a place like Test Innovators). My daughter improved her percentile by over 30 on her second test and studied hard for two weeks prior to the second test using the SSAT official materials online. Also, one of her strategies the second time was to only answer questions she felt 95%+ sure on the answer. Particularly in math, which is her weakest section. She ended up scoring over 20 %ile points higher on her math section and got almost the same number of questions right - it was just that she didn’t have the points taken away for incorrect answers the second time. It can really add up!
Also, for the verbal analogies, someone told my daughter to focus on finding the relationship between the two things and putting into a sentence and then seeing which of the other two things you could say the same thing about. That made it much easier (and she scored a 95% on the verbal section).
Like if you had:
Miner is to steelworker as:
A) Driver is to pilot
B) Rancher is to butcher
C) Painter is to photographer
D) Astronomer is to physicist
E) Chef is to cashier
It might be really hard initially to understand what the correct answer is because a few of them look like good possibilities. But, if you put the original pairing into a relationship and think, “A miner gets the raw materials and a steelworker turns those into something else”, it might make it a bit clearer. Which of the other relationships has someone providing raw materials and the second person turning them into something else/different/consumer-ready? The only one that really makes sense is B) Rancher (provides cows/pigs/etc) is to butcher (turns those full animals into cuts of meat for people).
Hopefully that helps!
3 Likes
Are your two older siblings at the same boarding school and is it one of the seven to which you have applied?
I’d say you have a fair chance. Weak SSAT scores but URM (and only submitting to two schools). Teacher recs will likely be very important for you to explain the difference between the straight A’s and the weak scores.
1 Like
I appreciate the advice. I will definitely take this into account. Is there any techniques for the reading section because I left many questions unanswered. Anyways, I will keep you updated.
1 Like
I am not applying to the schools my 2 older siblings are at as I have an older sister reapplying this year and I don’t want to interfere with her chances. I think my teacher recs will all be pretty strong.
I don’t think applying to the same school with your siblings will hurts your chances. In retrospect, a school might be more hesitant to accept a sibling if another sibling isn’t accepted, but IMO I feel two siblings applying to same school would not hurt one another’s chances.
2 Likes
I suspect that you have a decent chance of acceptance to one or more of the schools to which you will not submit your SSAT scores.
However, if you believe your verbal and reading scores are approximately indicative of your ability in these areas, you should think long and hard whether or not you actually want to attend one of them. The key is not just to get in, but to thrive once you are there, and without having to devote every waking hour outside class to schoolwork.
I don’t know about Cate and St. Marks, but the other schools you mentioned likely have very tough loads when it comes to reading and writing. Even kids with reading and verbal SSATs in the 90s struggle with doing well in the humanities classes sometimes at these places.
Getting in is great, but you want to be very confident that you can do well, be happy and graduate, too.
2 Likes
I think the reason my score on the SSAT is so low is because my lack of studying. I might be wrong but I think standardized test taking is a skill that needs practice. Therefore, I don’t think my score reflects on my ability. Though, thanks for the advice!
I have questions for you. I assuming with two siblings in boarding school your family has some knowledge of the process? Are you applying through an org like ABC? Why only apply to the best known schools instead a range of schools with higher acceptance rates? Why not apply to the schools were you have siblings enrolled? If you were familiar with the SSAT why did you not prepare for it? Which of these activities occurred in middle school?
Quality of curriculum / wide spread grade inflation vs test scores makes me concerned there is a miss match with schools and your academics. I’m worried that you will struggle when you arrive. The boarding school process is a very humbling process because the applicant pool is talented and you are no longer a big fish in the environment and sometimes a very little fish. Do you have a sense how you compare academically to “regular people” like with NWEA MAP or similar? This might give you a sense of whether the testing was a fluke/failure to prepare/gaps in knowledge/need a repeat year to be competitive? Boarding school, even with financial aid, is expensive because there are a lot of added costs that don’t come with a local day school. I absolutely shudder to think about the expense of 3-4 going at a time.
1 Like
All my activities listed occurred in middle school. I did not just mindlessly choose the top schools with low acceptance rates. They were thought out with my parents for a while and expectations are high with the schools my siblings are at. I have taken the NWEA MAP test in my school many times and actually the most recent time I took it like a month ago my score was so high that the principal called me to his office to discuss with me. I think in reading I got in the 97th percentile or over for my grade in map testing. Anyways thanks for the comment and your concerns. I will take them into account.
Good. So you have the underlying skill base to help raise the score. Assume the applicant base is 95% grade level through 99% but for 2-3 grades ahead. I asked about ABC because they often offer a prep class.
I personally think that for many kids SSAT is more challenging than SAT because it requires a higher level of vocabulary and reading comprehension. So materials marketed as SAT I.e. the 7-8 SAT tests in Khahn academy are actually great resources for SSAT prep. SSAT materials that can be purchased at the same time you register are also quite good. There are free vocabulary quizlets online if you google. Power through memorizing vocabulary and use the reading section of the SAT to prep. Vocabulary is a learned skill. Reading a lot will help your vocabulary but not as much as Latin or plain old grunt work. If you haven’t done analogies before it is probably better to start with something at a lower level. My kids used to do these https://www.amazon.com/Analogies-Critical-Thinking-Grade-6/dp/1420631691/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3JBHI1PXG9XTM&keywords=Analogies+for+critical+thinking&qid=1674744831&s=books&sprefix=analogies+for+critical+thinking%2Cstripbooks%2C161&sr=1-1 I am pretty sure SSAT deducts 1/4 point if you get something wrong so you were correct to leave questions you did not know.
For math, the same types of questions show up again and again. If you can’t solve it, even when you know the answer, go on one of the free tutoring sites for help.
You know the fancy tutoring people discuss? They aren’t siphoning knowledge from the tutor’s brain into yours. They are overseeing your structured work and answering your questions. There is no substitute for the work. On the plus side, any prep work you do know will enhance your future test and comprehension abilities.
Best of luck with admissions this year. If you don’t get an offer and apply again, perhaps for a repeat year, keep in mind the following. Financial aid is basically an investment in you so you need to make the most compelling case that you are the best, most compelling case for that investment. I do think that kids with SSAT scores create fuller, rounder, and more compelling pictures.
5 Likes
One of the things I will say is that getting in is really not the issue with top schools. You will then be in a school with a bunch of kids who did grind to study for the ssat all while playing top level sports or music and maintaining straight As.
Yes there are kids with lower scores who get accepted to the top level grind schools. And I’d venture to say they sometimes decide that the grind culture is not for them.
I think the mentality behind choosing not to study is more important than the actual score when figuring out if a school is the right fit.
4 Likes
thankyou for the amazing strategies and advice!
1 Like