How important is your SSAT score?

cassat
Sun, 15 Nov 2015 18:16:46 +0000

If I remember correctly, the most important part is your percentage overall score. I’m not talking about the national percentage, but rather the average of all three of your scores. I wouldn’t know how competitive a 2070 is. So, for example, I got something like 75% Reading, 75% Math, 99% Verbal, which doesn’t sound great on its own, but gave me a cumulative score of around 93% somehow.

That number will tell you how competitive your score is among other applicants. Andover’s average is a 93, so I wasn’t in a bad position because I matched the average. I would say if you’re within 5 points of the average, you shouldn’t worry–at a certain point I think they just want to keep their average the same as its been, so it’s just a box to check off.

If you’re significantly below the average of the schools you’re trying to get into, I would consider retaking the test. Schools care about the average SSAT score that they put on brochures, so that may be a concern. I would focus on hitting the average–once you do, I don’t think it’s particularly important how much higher your score is than that.