So I’m a 9th grader from China applying for 9th grade in US boarding school. I posted a CHANCE ME thread sometime in August and as Jan 15 is quickly approaching there has been some changes in my application process. (Pardon me for the messy writing since it’s like, really late as I’m writing this).
My first score on the SSAT (November) was something between 85 ~86 %. I know, I know. That was probably because I was too anxious preparing for the TOEFL test in October but mostly it’s because I was super unprepared (especially with the vocab part).
I later prepared for the SSAT for almost a month until I got really sick five days before the SSAT in December. 
This is when I realized that I need to hurry up working on my ECs. So on the SSAT in January, which was last Saturday, I would say I was prepared but I could’ve definitely worked harder prior. My estimated percentile for the latest test is 90%-95%. Unless something horrible happens it shouldn’t be lower than 90%. If I didn’t make too many mistakes it might be a 95%. The thing is I have no clue how many questions I actually got wrong…I literally found out that I filled in 5 consecutive bubbles wrong for the vocab section like 2 minutes before time’s up. The writing section was good enough compared to my previous ones, though.
Suppose I get a 92% this time. I’m really freaking out because most of the other applicants from my country have received like 98%s and 99%s (I mean, seriously) which is freaking me out even more. I’m really scared that I get rejected from all the school I’m applying to because my scores are too low compared to other students from my pole, not to say the other students probably have way fancier ECs and I’m not even sure if I CAN get a 92% percentile (suppose something went horribly wrong).
I’ve heard of people with a 2350+ ssat score being rejected from all GLADCHEMMS, but I’ve never heard of anyone in my country who got in a top 30 school with something lower than 95%. Or maybe it’s because all information the I know of comes from websites and posts drafted by consultant/test-prep agencies.
And for anyone who saw my previous thread, I crossed out 3 GLADCHEMMS, and added Hill and Governor’s.
Why worry about what you can’t control ?
Have plan B and you’ll be fine. Life isn’t over if you don’t get into X school.
Having a 92% or 95% won’t make any difference in your acceptance from what I’ve read in previous posts (I might be wrong though). If I were you, I would focus on essays and everything else since there’s nothing you can do.
I think the main thing BS are looking for in foreign applicants is English proficiency. So if your highest score is in the reading section you’re good. If not and your score is not above 80%, best take it again IMO. Most schools superscore, so you can combine SSATs for the highest possible score. Good luck!
Just saying SSAT score isn’t going to get you in neither is it going to get you rejected. Its more of a cutoff score, if you reach the min score they want they’ll look at the rest of your applications (Or thats what I understand from what some of the AOs told me).
Test scores don’t hold a whole lot of weight in admissions. A 92% and a 98% will probably be viewed as the same during admissions.
If you get a 28% you won’t get much further in the process, but someone with a 98% and someone with a 92% will be considered equally regardless of test score.
I’ve also heard of people in the 70s percentiles getting into top boarding schools
We went to one of the US boarding school fairs that many schools came and hosted the event together to talk to the AOs and the alumni. We talked to one guy who was Peddie’s alum and asked him about the SSAT score threshold. He said that his score was horrible, and didn’t even want to mention it but he’s sure that he got in because of the ECs and essays. He also got offers from Andover and Groton but eventually decide to commit to Peddie instead.
So I think from what I heard and read so far, of course, the standardized scores do carry the weight, but it’s not everything that AO is looking for. If you have something else to offer that matches what they want for this coming class, then you have a chance to be in.
Besides, just like @tsbna44 mentioned exactly, why worry about something that you cannot control now?
Good luck to everyone.
I think you’ll be fine. The SSAT is just a way for schools to understand if an applicant can handle the academics. They care more about ecs, passions, interviews, essays, etc. Good luck!
Thank you all so much for the advice! It really helped!