Standardized Testing:
I second studying and preparing for the SSAT early. I started in the spring of seventh grade because I wanted to be prepared. I started off with the usual test prep books, such as the ones from the Princeton Review and Kaplan. I found them to both be quite helpful and show me techniques that the online SSAT review did not provide. One of the most helpful books for me, as I have trouble with synonyms, is the book “1,200 Words for the SSAT and ISEE,” the book covers the most common vocab that a person will see on the test, many words from that book were actually on the SSAT test that I took. Also, for the verbal section, I suggest using Quizlet, which features many different sets of vocabulary words, some with over 500, which can be very beneficial. Lastly, for verbal, it is helpful to study prefixes, suffixes, and root words as they will be beneficial if you come across a word on the test that you are unsure the meaning of.
When scheduling your SSAT test, be sure to leave enough time in for you to take multiple exams. I had planned starting with the last possible month that I felt comfortable taking a test in, which was December, as I wanted to be able to see my scores before submitting them in. I then went back two months, so that I could safely receive my scores and apply for another test without paying a late fee if needed. These tests are non-refundable, so if you’re really frugal, like me, you want to be sure that you are only spending how much you need to to be able to achieve your target score.
Scheduling:
After you have a list of schools that you think that you want to visit and interview with, start looking at calendars, of both your life (your school, family plans, extracurriculars, sports, etc.) and all of the schools that you want to visit and interview at. Ideally, you want to find a day in which you have the day off of school, and the school you are visiting is off of school. For me, there weren’t any planned days, but I was out of school on days in which there were non-educational eighth-grade field trips to be able to interview.
I lived too far away from any of the schools that I had applied to so I had mostly done Skype interviews and off-campus if the school had offered it. Some of the schools that you are applying to may not list that they are able to accommodate any off-campus or Skype interviews, such as Groton or Thacher, but if you are set on applying to that school, don’t be afraid to email or call the admissions office to ask about having one, they want students to apply to their school.
Also, I STRONGLY suggest that you visit as many schools as possible, you truly want to get a feel for what the schools are like, what the community is like, how the people are, etc. You cannot get that from a viewbook, all of them start looking the same, and all they really can do is tell you about the programs offered at these schools. As a fellow financial aid applicant, I understand how expensive a visit to one of these schools may be, especially when you have to fly there and back and make your parents take vacation days just to do so, but it is vitally important that you enjoy where you are going to school for the next four years. Yes, it may not seem long, but high school is one of the places where a person truly develops, and you want to go to a place that makes you happy and enjoy life, not one that doesn’t.