Hi everyone!
I was just wondering if you guys could post a few test prep tips to get into Prep schools!
I wrote a (very long) post about which books to get (âWhat are the best study guides for the Upper Level SSAT?â) below. For the upper level SSAT (the only test with which Iâm familiar), it depends on how much you want to study. Most people suggest starting with a practice test to get a baseline. Then you âll want to focus on areas where you can bring your score up. Verbal is really just vocabulary, so youâll want to learn as many words as possible from one or two of the published lists of SSAT words (some of which are free online). Youâll want to read about strategies for the reading section (from one of the study guides) and do some practice questions. Of course, youâll want to brush up on your math using one of the study guides too. Experts recommend doing lots of practice questions because you learn best by challenging yourself and making mistakes.
You are probably past the point where you can spend 6 months studying (assuming you are applying for 2026), but 1 to 3 months can give you a good score depending on your goals. Most people will recommend that you focus on studying a certain amount each day and be consistent. Itâs a great skill to develop the ability to do that. It can be helpful to get friends and or family to help. Let them know what your goals are and ask them for encouragement to study. Family and peer pressure can help you choose to study instead of, say, gaming.
Learning experts recommend that you make up your own flash cards for vocabulary or other topics. Spending time writing up each vocab card with a sentence that youâll remember may seem like a waste of time, but itâs actually part of the study process and supercharges your memory.
Iâll stop there. Good luck, and good for you for trying to get into prep school!
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Thank you so much!
Great advice here. Iâll just emphasize doing practice tests. This will not only help with content but will also help you familiarize yourself with the testâs construction.
Agreed. Also, diving into lots of practice questions is helpful. The best is 1500+ Practice Questions by The Tutorverse (2018). That seems to be the one that the consultants recommend, and my kids found it helpful. Definitely get your hands on the official practice tests if you can, too. If you are taking a computer version, skip the official practice test book and get the official online practice, if you can swing it. It has the same tests, which are all real (retired) SSAT test questions.
If youâre doing the paper test, I also recommend you look into the SSAT books review that newton posted, it is an excellent comprehensive look at several books. I bought the Kaplan SSAT and Ivy Global Math & Verbal books for all 3 of my kids (oldest just graduated, middle just started and youngest is applying to prep schools this year). If you are planning on applying this year, your timing for study is a little tight, but you can still get alot of practice done before the November & December SSAT dates. These books seem to have served my kids pretty well.
If you are taking the test online, my oldest found the online practice tests at Test Innovators quite helpful. In the end she took the paper test, but she found the online practice questions and tests helpful. I should mention that the Test Innovators package was offered for free via her middle school (this was during the pandemic), which was helpful because it is rather expensive. We ended up paying for the Test Innovators package for our other 2 kids, since the oldest found it useful, and we were told that the test might be only online going forward (it was not, as we later discovered. Oh well). Khan Academy also offers free online SSAT prep, which I know other parents at our school have used and found useful.
As others have recommended, doing lots of practice tests/questions is helpful, especially to give yourself a sense of how much time you take on different sections of the test. For example, if you find youâre going over the time limit with certain sections, those sections may be worth spending more time preparing for, particularly if you have a limited amount of time to prepare before this yearâs test dates.
Good luck!
Thank you so much!