6th grade SSAT must be real tough - for a number of reasons.
- SSAT itself is taken by only those applying to enter private schools. However, most of them are 8th graders trying to enter the 9th. The group of kids that take SSAT as early as 6th grade must be a select group among the already select. I would say "determined select".
- 6th grader SSAT population must be pretty small - subject to wild swing and precipitous fall if your kid happens to fall in the populated segment.
If you thought 6th grader should be easier than 8th grader scorewise, you are in for a big, harsh surprise.
The good news is that there is not such a big difference between a high score and low score.
For instance, for the verbal section, even if you miss the same 10 questions out of 50, if you pick all 10 wrong answers, your score may be 88%, whereas if you pick 3 wrong answers and leave 7 blank, your score may be 97%. 9% difference for the way you missed them! So simply not answering those your kid cannot eliminate at least 2 or 3 choices should catapult her out of the most dreaded, populated segment already.
Avoid at all cost not to fall into the populated (middle) segment. There, 1 point deduction taxes your kid much more heavily than in less populated segments.
If she is only in her 6th grade and took the SSAT, she is so much ahead of most everyone. My son took it for the first time in the month he decided to go boarding (“Dad, I think I would want to go boarding.” - in November of his 8th grade year!). I am sure she will achieve very close to ideal score by the time she applies to schools. Don’t worry!