How important are SSAT scores versus application essays.

ChoatieMom
Sat, 09 Feb 2019 04:58:15 +0000

The buckets are self-explanatory (see list above). Each applicant fills one or more buckets. If a school says they admit 200 freshmen in a given year, your child does not have a chance at 200 slots. Chromosomes split those slots in half, then the other buckets/institutional needs come into play. For example, our son was an unhooked, no-sport, non-legacy, full-pay, domestic, male, out-of-state, border. The year he entered Choate, he was actually vying for fewer than 20 seats that were allotted to the profile I listed (based on the admissions presentation given on revisit days). SSAT scores don’t even come in to play after they indicate that the student can handle the academics for that school. And hooks are not something you wonder about. If you aren’t sure your child has a hook, s/he doesn’t. A hook looks like this:

Olympic level/nationally ranked athlete

Music prodigy (or plays instrument desperately needed by the orchestra next year)

Recognizable last name (or inscribed on campus buildings)

Movie star

Resident of homeless shelter with perfect SAT score--in 7th grade

Full-pay student from the Sudan

Highly qualified, single applicant from a state/country with no representation at that school

Family on the Forbes 50 list

Parent is a monarch/president/emperor

You, the student, are able to write that tuition check from the proceeds of your wildly-successful web business

THOSE are examples of hooks. Niceness, top grades, stellar test scores, amazing LORs, outstanding interviews, hundreds of hours of community service (U.S. and third world countries) and most of the rest are what everyone else is bringing to the table, too.

You can’t control these things at this point, so stop worrying about them. Applications are in and done. You will have your results on M10. Until then, don’t waste a single minute second guessing or trying to read signals that aren’t there. Enjoy this time with your family and child because, if your child does end up at BS in the fall, you will regret any minute you spent otherwise.

Good luck to everyone. Go out and play.