I took the SSAT for the first time.

Altras
Sun, 17 Feb 2019 20:12:52 +0000

Well, I’ll start by giving you two kudos: (1) you’re ambitious and actually thinking about and planning for your future as a 6th grader, and (2) buried in poorly worded comments was a sense of humility (“I don’t really feel qualified though, as everyone around me, is either just as smart as me or smarter.”) Both of those are mature traits and will serve you well if you decide to push forward, learn what boarding school is really about and strive to be a contributing part of such a community.

What you should consider over the next 2 years…

First, unless you are planning to go to a junior BS, don’t take the SSAT or ISEE again until 8th grade. Your middle level score is meaningless for the purposes of eventually applying to be accepted in 9th grade. The upper level test is supposed to be more difficult and it is a much larger and competitive group of kids.

Second, please never again use the term “high class academies”. If all you want is prestige, there are tons of threads and posts on this website about the folly in that reasoning…so do your research. If you decide you want to go to BS for the right reasons, then you will look back on that term and cringe (and hopefully laugh too).

Third, and most important, whether or not you decide to pursue BS…you are NOT just a collection of numbers. You are a person (hopefully), with interests, experiences, dreams, a community, etc. Similarly, BSs (and down the road, colleges) are not looking to fill their open seats with little cyborgs that can post the highest test scores and get perfect A+s in every class. They are building communities of people (as above), who are inevitably imperfect. Do yourself a favor - get immersed in one or two activities that you really enjoy…and get a B in something (maybe PE). You’ll realize that you are a much happier and better person for it and, ironically, you will be a far stronger applicant to BS in two years.