<p>The 8th graders and the 11th graders are entirely different pools of kids. For one, the 11th grade pool is much smaller. Most 11th graders are preparing themselves for the college search. I’d expect the 11th grade pool to be so much smaller, that direct comparisons aren’t possible.</p>
<p>I understand that very few 11th graders would take the test. (The hormone bit was an attempt at a joke.) Also, it is probably a very very different group of kids, even if the number of test takers were the same. The 8th graders who take this test probably represent the top 10% of all eight graders. I don’t know if the same can be said about the 11th grade testers. By the time 11th grade rolls around, most of the top kids have already made it into their schools of choice and are focusing on SATs. </p>
<p>I’m trying to think of a scenario where an 11th grader would take the ssat. To apply as a PG, wouldn’t schools require the SAT?</p>
<p>can you explain this a little better. i am new to the ssat and we just received our sons very bad low scores. Can t make the translation between an a student and bad ssat scores. Thanks.</p>
<p>The ssat is a test that only kids who are applying to competitive high schools generally take. It is safe to assume that the ssat percentiles are ranking your son against the top ten percent of all students. A 30th percentile against ssat-takers may very well still put your son in the top ten percent nationally. So don’t take it as a negative reflection of your son’s intelligence.</p>
<p>As far as your son’s grades go…the great variety of rigor between schools is the very reason the test was created. It is a common denominator by which private schools can gauge an applicant’s ability to do the work offered at their school. Prep schools that are know for extreme academic rigor are looking for higher ssat scores simply because they need to know that the kids can be successful. </p>
<p>I know that in my son’s rural public school, an A is not an indication of mastery. It means primarily that the student jumped through all the required hoops. Very little weight, (in most cases, 30%), is given to quizzes and exams, while the rest is determined by things like writing assignments in the planner or turning in a worksheet that is completed at home from notes. One simply cannot assume that an A in science means that the student has achieved mastery. That A could have come mostly from “effort”. In 6th grade, most of his tests were actually open book! </p>
<p>I don’t know anything about your son’s school, though. The ssat is kind of a funny test. The verbal is about really understanding the nuances of meanings via the analogies, the reading is about understanding what the writer is actually expressing (as opposed to what the reader is getting from it) and the math is very much about understanding and applying concepts. </p>
<p>I don’t know how low your son’s scores were (you can PM if you want), but they’re probably not as bad as you think. He can always take it again.</p>