I know that most schools say that an 85+ SSAT percentile is fine, acceptable, and considered a good score. However, in your opinion, is this true? Currently, I have an 87 percentile SSAT, but I’m still worried. If an 85 score is acceptable, I would expect an average score to be in the range of 85-90. Yet, schools like Andover and Exeter have percentiles as high as 94%.
My question is, how much does the SSAT really matter? My friends at those schools say the admissions office is just saying things and is actually looking for someone with an average score equal to or higher than the school’s average. Do you think the admissions office is being honest, or are they just lying?
They are being honest - they are not lying.
They look at the larger profile of an applicant and use the SSAT score to confirm that the student can handle the work.
I think they look at applications holistically. They look for a threshold of SSAT score as one of the parameters. Also when they say their average is 85 or 94 percentile, it is the average. They take applicants with lower scores to meet certain criteria in building a class, be it socio economic status, race, geography, sports or other EC”s that they want. This is again my opinion based on conversations with AO”s. I have see your earlier posts and you are a great candidate by all parameters. If you don’t get accepted it will not be because of your scores or other characteristics, but maybe because of their needs and limitations in building a class. There is no way to know this till M10 and even then you may just surmise about reasons for acceptances or rejections. So do you part and wait for M10. Control what you can and leave the rest.
There are plenty of students at all of the “tippy tops” with similar scores. I think these will neither hurt nor help you. Best to not worry about them and instead focus on presenting the best version of yourself that you can. Good luck!
To be honest, I think it’ll hurt me since like IMO if someone read my application they would think that I’m good at math but as soon as they look at my SSAT score they’ll be like “Never mind, I guess he just got lucky in math team and AMC 8”.
IMO, you are way overthinking this part of your application. Test scores are only 1 piece and you have met the benchmark. Essays, your parents essays (if req) and your visits/interviews matter. Do your interests and extracurriculars map to what the school is looking for? Can you and your parents speak to the school’s strategic initiatives and do they resonate with your family and your educational goals? There are so many important pieces to the application and I would recommend you move on from the SSAT and put the energy into the other parts of your application and getting to know the schools you are applying for right fit.
All the more reason to cast a wide net. There is a different pool of applicants, different needs of building a class, and different priorities each year at each school.
