An average is VERY different than a CUT OFF …
A higher or lower average is NOT an indicator of how strong an influence the SSAT score itself was on the admissions decision.
All of the AOs I’ve spoken to have indicated that it is not worth wasting time trying to get a score above the 85th percentile because once that bar is reached or exceeded, the focus is on the rest of the application. Some have even bragged about the number of 98th and 99th percentile kids they reject each year.
But y’all go ahead and keep obsessing about the need to get higher scores. I realize it is both easy and tempting to fixate on scores because it is so concrete and feels easier to improve (via test prep) than other, “squishier” and more subjective aspects of one’s file.