I recently took the SSAT and had my scores back. I got a 61% and hope to apply to Exeter or Cranbrook.
Achievments:
-Honor Society 2 times in a row
-Current Student Council member
-Doing an internship with an affiliate marketing program
-Created my own fundraisers
-Earned several awards
-Will go to Advanced class next year
-Taking classes in coding (Python)
-3.7-3.9 GPA
-All As at least. A minuses are a rare commodity
-Active in community service
-Will participate in most sports next year (8th grade)
-Fluent in 4 languages (Bengali, English, French and Hindi) Learning Russian and Japanese
Persona:
I am an ambitious person who has wild interests in political science, philanthropy, and Astronomy (Astrophysics). I catch up VERY quickly in a classroom environment, and will plan on ambitious projects. I dream BIG, one of my hopes and dreams are to be the first female UN General Secretary, and young self-made millionaire. I am good with money and have several investment accounts. I will start making large commissions as soon as I finish up the internship. I take interest in Politics and are a great public speaker. I come out of elite families in my home country. I currently live in the US. I want to leave an impact on this world, a good impact and provide for the ones that are needy. I donate large amounts to water deprived areas and research environmental science.
Extra:
-I will write all my essays in story format
-I will get recommendations from:
-My math teacher
-English teacher
-Dean
-previous math and English teacher
-Homeroom teacher
-Social Sciences teacher
-My business coach
I really want to know my chances just for reassurance, especially to Exeter. I know I didn’t perform my best, but I do not want to retake the SSAT. Thank you.
I don’t usually do chances, because for the most part, they are pointless. I will say, though, that the odds, with your stats, for Exeter are slim. You might want to expand your search.
But I will give you a couple of tips, all of which fall under the category of “follow the instructions.”
Think twice about that. Unless the prompt is “Tell me a story,” just answer the prompt without trying to be cute.
Nobody asks for (or wants) 8 recs. More does not equal better. There’s an old adage: the thicker the file, the thicker the kid.
Thank you for the advice. Also, would you recommend for me to be retaking the SSAF next year?
I would definitely recommend retaking the SSAT. A 61 is not likely to get you into Exeter. Study for it as much as you can because top schools generally look for students in the high eighties or nineties. Aside from your SSAT score, I think your biography is pretty qualified for most schools.
I also strongly urge widening your net of schools. Applying to only two schools is not a very great idea, especially when one is an elite reach like Exeter. Schools like Mercersburg and NMH are less selective but still high quality schools, as well as schools like Asheville, McCallie, and Baylor which have significantly higher acceptance rates.
I wish you the best of luck!
You should consider girls’ schools like Emma Willard, Miss Porter’s, Chatham Hall, Ethel Walker, Westover, and Santa Catalina.
thanks i am goingto retake the ssat nextyear. i wasn’tpreparedforthisone. als, is the upper levelharderthan this themiddle level or is it near to identical?
The Upper Level is designed to compare high school students whereas Middle Level is for middle school students. So yes, upper is harder.
yeah, for that reason, I made an intensive prep program for myself. Which over the summer I will take 16 different Upper level practice test and try to ace them. Using other times as the means of studying the concepts I’m struggling in and then retaking said sample again until I truly ace it.
Also, b4 any standardized test, I usually prep myself. Even if it’s a day b4 the test, but for this one, I didnt even have time to look back at any content. Plus, even if I don’t study at all for a standardized test, I’m usually confident when I take it, and my results end up being the best in my grade, but for this one, I was too nervous and stressed to even focus properly. But thank goodness I took the lower level and got such a low score. IT served as a pretty good practice run and helped me nail down my weaknesses. Which will be a HUGE benefit for when I actually retake the test.
Looking up some SSAT tips, tricks and strategies and really looking into what is on the test could benefit you a lot more than taking 16 practice tests. As with most standardized tests, there are nuances to the test and how it is scored that could benefit you a lot, such as knowing whether or not skipping questions is okay.
I definitely didn’t study that hard (although I didn’t do as well as I wish either). I agree with @iamveryconfused - studying tricks is often more important than anything else. Have you scheduled your test yet?
Im not gonna take those tests out of quantity, but rather use different variations of the test and compare my performance. A common comparison of data from a wide range, will help me determine the areas with my greatest weaknesses. And I will take breaks and break down my study times to 1 hour or 30 mins a day. And will only cover things I need.
And I will use study tricks and testing tricks as well.
@woodcal3 - I took the test last November for the 2017-2018 admission cycle
Hey, I’m a returning senior at Exeter. I suggest emphasizing you internship at the affiliate marketing program and the fact that you speak so many languages. In my experience, a lot of students accepted at Exeter happen to speak multiple languages, so that detail seems to fit with you. Definitely raise your SSAT score, because unless you’re a sports recruit or legacy, I recommend that your score is 90 or above. I know people who have had 80s or even 70s, but they have all been recruits/legacies