Hello,
Wondering what my daughters chances are for Overlake, Lakeside and Eastide Prep. Overall SSAT 83; V98; M 74 & R 64? ISEE is a bit better V 98, M 90, R 75
Might be a bit low for Lakeside, but fine for the other two schools.
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Thank you!
You may find this to be of interest:
Come on. How would you know if “it may be a bit low”?
Adults without specific knowledge should not be passing on such advice or “insight”.
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Your daughter’s scores are low for all 3 schools and the essays, teacher eval and student visit are quite important and will need to go above and beyond. What grade ? 5th is the most competitive for all 3 schools with a big sibling hook applicant pool.
If 6th or 9th - why not Saas, Uprep etc and just these 3 ?
Not a lot of similarities between the 3 you are looking at for your daughter and these schools care about student and family fit.
Also your daughter’s elementary school will play a role too - what is the history with previous applicants attending these schools?
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Thank you being so honest. She goes to a private elementary school on the eastside, has great academics. We live on the eastside so not considering Seattle except Lakeside
If she attends one of the for profit schools
like BCA or Basis - both schools have limited acceptances to these schools with large % of students applying out esp grade 5 - so it is even harder. All you can do is your best and hopefully articulated clearly in your visits the “why” beyond prestige and maybe your child has a hook that is valued/needed for the incoming class.
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(I hope you don’t mind, I added to your subject line so people outside the region wouldn’t be confused)
I agree with @coffeeat3 about the three schools you mentioned, especially with the Reading score, and really the primary similarity is perceived academic rigor - the cultures are especially different between both and Lakeside. Lakeside only accepts the SSAT, so the better ISEE doesn’t help there. If you were going to consider the Seattle side, I think SAAS and Bush would be reasonable targets. (I think UPrep would be difficult as well without a sibling.)
FWIW, if your daughter is in elementary school, I think there are a number of ways in the area to get a very strong middle school education without attending the schools with attached high schools.
Good luck!
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Actually, an SSAT score of 82 is low for Lakeside. Admission to Lakeside is quite competitive. The article below claims that admission to Lakeside is more competitive than Andover, Exeter, or St. Paul’s School.
Are you sure ? What is your source ?
Clearly, an 82 is low for Lakeside, but probably fine for Overlake & Eastside.
I know the market very well. Those scores are not competitive unless the student has a sought after hook. EPS is highly competitive with accepted applicants picking it over Lakeside (one example - Bill Gates son) depending on students interests. Only a small amount of Seattle area independent schools are requiring test scores this year. Uprep begins at 6th - others mentioned at 5th. The independent school market is strong in this area across K-12. Like previously mentioned, all the other parts of the app matter including the elementary school attended by the applicant.
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Thanks everyone. This is all incredibly helpful. Wanted to run a strategy by you all and looking for guidance. Sounds like Lakeside is far-fetched and this may not work since they don’t accept ISEE scores. We had also given a SSAT test back in November (barely any prep) and my daughter’s percentile was 77 (Math 80, Reading 91 and Verbal 54). How about we send this SSAT set along with ISEE (verbal 98, Math 84 & 90, Reading 75). The pro IMO is that they will see that the child is capable of scoring in 90’s in reading math is consistent (80-90) and verbal is 98 (hoping they look at ISEE). Con is that it may appear that the child is inconsistent with scores. Do you advise we send both or stick to one (leaning towards ISEE) Overall, her school transcripts (that are very detailed as she attends an independent school, and she has consistently been in mid-high 90s across all subjects.
If she attends a PSIS member school, your current school should be helping you with your applications and the AOs from the member schools have strong relationships. They are the ones to advise you on what scores to submit. Again, the test score is one piece and what about the rest of your application? Your current school
should be your resource and advocate.
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Yes, current school is PSIS and head of school has been very helpful. We have written to him but was also looking for feedback from this group.
As I wrote above, an SSAT score of 82 is fine for Eastside Prep, but low for Lakeside. No need to send any additional, lower test scores. Apparently, an SSAT score of 82 is also low for Overlake.
However, the same source indicates that an SSAT score of 82 is low for Overlake (the source indicates that an SSAT score of 89 or above is in the very competitive range for Overlake).
Seattle is a highly competitive market with lots of very intelligent applicants.
And, as noted, standardized test scores are just one part of an application, but a very important part.
P.S. I think that @coffeeat3 is offering solid advice when stating that an SSAT score of 82 is low for all 3 schools even though the test prep center stats show that 80 & above is highly competitive for Eastside Prep. Seattle is competitive.
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I personally knew several kids with 70 something SSAT scores getting in these schools in recent years. They do not have family connections. It is really hard to say without knowing your child. In my observation, SSAT is not a big factor during admissions. What matters more seems to be your identity - race/ethnicity background (very sad, you can’t change this), and the type of activities you do. They seem to have very specific goal for certain type of kids. If your child’s profile doesn’t align with their preferences, then you are competing with other dozens if not hundreds of near perfect kids for the leftover spots. What you really need is the luck!
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Do you know students who were admitted to Lakeside with an SSAT score in the 70s ?
If yes, what was the student’s hook ?
Yes. Family from Ukraine.
With respect to some of the folks involved, I would treat those articles as SEO bait for their test preparation services, not as reliable sources.
AFAIK, none of these schools have a hard cutoff, and will make more thoughtful choices than just purely test results - but (with no assumption about your child) it’s also important to them that students get through their demanding curricula without an unusual amount of support, which is less true at some of the other schools.
Your private school counselor/leadership should have guidance around this. Ours, for example, had charts with percentiles on the SSAT v. acceptance rates: some acceptance rates fell off to approximately 0 below 90%, others were close to flat down to 60%.
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