1.). The test is offered on January 4th, but it seems like results won’t be available until right around January 15th when applications are due. Will those test results still be accepted into candidates’ applications?
2.) My daughter scored 95th percentile overall which seems decent, but a friend advised that she should retake and aim for 98th percentile since she’s applying to only a few of top tier boarding schools. Her reading score was relatively low at 85. Thoughts on retaking the test?
100% she should not retake. There is literally no difference between a 95th percentile score and a 98th in a school’s eyes. The 95th percentile is very impressive!
I agree. A 95th percentile is very impressive, it is above the average for most top schools like Andover. I got a total score of 87th percentile so she is doing much better than me. I am also applying for Fall of 2025 and I wish you the best of luck.
The test results definitely will still be added to your daughter’s files.
Sometimes, though, a lot of system lags and other bugs happen around January 15th, so if you want to make sure the school received your scores, you can email them a copy of her score reports to confirm.
Timing won’t be an issue. You probably don’t need to retake, but if she left the test feeling like she really could have done better, she can. Remember too that scores can also go down…
I agree not to retake a 95 and your parent statement and your daughter’s writing will matter equally or even more than testing. She has met the threshold for testing - it is the rest of the application that needs to meet the other equally important rubrics.
Lastly, her score is excellent and I hope you told her that vs calling it decent.
Seems decent? You do realize that only a subset of the general student population takes this exam, so it’s a bit skewed, don’t you?
Frankly, retaking the SSAT because you “only” have a 95th percentile is a waste of time. The phrase “point of diminishing returns” come to mind.
Your household’s time could be much better spent on honing essays and supplemental materials (if warranted). I’m not sure what the AOs are looking for in the parenting statements, but I suspect hints of red flags are one item. For the student essays, it is very important that they are in the child’s voice. (A couple of years ago there was a poster who discovered that their parent had replaced one of their essays on multiple applications because the parent thought the kid’s essay wasn’t impressive enough. The only school the kid got into was the one where the parent hadn’t done the switcheroo because the parent didn’t want the kid to go to such a lowly place.)
Gosh - thanks so much for the advice everyone. We are not in a community of boarding school applicants, so I don’t have much of a gauge on scores. The one friend who gave advice had a son applying in a particular low admit year so was given the target of >98. I guess my daughter is on okay ground with her current score. Much appreciate it!
Do not retake the test. Her score indicates that she can do the work. Anything over 87% works for all the top tier BS and even students with lower scores have been accepted. How was her essay? It is about the whole package. I agree with others I. The forum. She should focus on her essays and application materials.
Many school use the test, along with grades, teacher recos and placement test to determine her math class level. As you can see even in this usage it is just one piece of the puzzle.
Just another voice to agree with others not to take test again. Truly it’s splitting hairs at that point and your (meaning student) time is so much better spent on other things.
Also I hope I can gently add some context to a new parent heading into the prep school world, as I look toward my own upcoming prep parent world exit with my last two daughters applying to colleges now –
There is so much toxicity and stress around the prep school application space that I think is unhelpful, especially for a 13 year old kid. No 13 year old benefits from being told essentially that their amazing 95%-ile score isn’t good enough. (especially when it totally is). It makes me a little sad for so many kids like your friend’s son who probably lived in that space of thinking they weren’t good enough. Or worse: that their particular year was the one unlucky “extra competitive” year (spoiler: I’ve been in the college and prep space now for 6 years and so far every year is that “one extra competitive year”).
I say this not at all to be dismissive, but because if you were my best friend and you asked me these questions, I would want you to know: it really is about so much more than grades and test scores and getting into the “tippy top” schools. I pinky promise you.
Yes, you need great grades and good scores to get into the highly competitive schools. But I think the biggest piece that is overlooked easily is: fit. Truly. When the school reads the kid’s essays, do they seem like someone the faculty wants to live with for four years? What are teacher recommendations saying about them? What are they like in the interviews? I think people tend to focus too much on being “impressive” rather than being “likable,” to their detriment, especially for a 13 year old kid. The goal, as we say in our house is: does the reader of your essays, or interviewer, say to themselves: “Wow – I would LOVE to sit down and have coffee with this person and hear more!”
Again, yes be a great student. Interested, engaged kids who are curious, etc – yes that all needs to be there. But that is either there and done by now or not, right? If a kid is authentic, relaxed and likable (and yes, prepared with some foundational interview strategies), then I truly believe we can trust the “impressive” to come through without forcing it or stressing out with narrative that a 98%-ile test is the goal to keep pursuing at all costs.
In my opinion, once solid (NOT “the highest ever possible”) grades/test scores are in place, the task becomes: find the compelling narrative of what your amazing kid brings to the table. In our house, we call this: know what you bring to the picnic. Know what is in your picnic basket. And then communicate that basket very clearly to schools who are inviting people to join their picnic for four years. They may not want or need your picnic basket. That’s OK. But they will know what it is because you’ve done the work of figuring out what your basket is about. The school that wants someone with your picnic basket (i.e. your profile) will absolutely be thrilled.
No one is admitting a kid because they got a 98.
No one is denying a kid because they got a 95.
To be clear, someone may have a 95 and get denied, but I am convinced: it was the picnic basket, not the test score. (which is hard to hear for some people – it’s easier to blame a “low” score or a “crazy year!”). But it’s the picnic basket. It was either unclear or not compelling OR it was actually very clear and compelling, but just not what the school is looking to have at their particular picnic. OR, they had too many people with similar picnic baskets so they picked a few of those baskets and your kid wasn’t one who got picked. (Note – This last scenario is a great reason for making sure your picnic basket is reflecting the unique wonderfulness inside each kid.).
I believe that schools are truly looking for kids they want to spend 4 years with, who they can picture being in their classrooms and their dorms, and – yes – who has cleared a threshold of grades/test scores. (and that threshold is definitely way lower than 98 – but as Sroo points out, there ARE scores that would suggest maybe retaking the test…95 is NOT one of them though).
My last thought here is: the difference in education between a “tippy top” super competitive boarding school and a (for lack of a better word) “second tier” boarding school is WAY smaller than most people think! When my first daughter decided to go to BS, we focussed only on the usual New England suspects. She was admitted almost everywhere (despite having WAY lower than 95%-ile scores btw) and attended her first choice highly competitive school and it was really NOT a fit. It was just a relentless grind that she felt didn’t seem like a good fit for a 14 year old who still wanted to reach out and try new things throughout her high school career (our bad for kind of dismissing the admissions sessions which clearly said that 4 hours of daily homework was pretty typical…turns out that was not an exaggeration. oopsies.). Anyway, she transferred to a “second tier” school and it was amazing – challenging, robust opportunities, so much support and community, etc. Best decision ever. She is now a freshman at her lifelong dream highly competitive university studying business, so leaving her big name boarding school 100% did NOT have any negative impact on her college admissions process. In fact, I’m pretty sure that her picnic basket was far more interesting because she had space to explore new things in high school. She got excellent grades at both schools – that’s just who she is as a student – so I don’t want to discount the threshold competency of being a solid academic kid. But once that’s in place…truly – the fit question is what’s at play.
Anyway – enough out of my novel here today!
happy new year and applying! J15 and M15 are exciting times!
I just want to add to @Calliemomofgirls excellent post – an admissions officer could love your kid AND feel like they wouldn’t thrive at their school for any number of reasons (and deny them for that reason.) Unlike college admissions, where there’s a little more trust in the applicant to know if they’ll really be happy in an environment, BS try really hard to admit kids who not only bring something to the community but will also extract real value from their time there. They know their community, they know what a mess a “mis-fit” can be, and they like kids and success stories.
I know it’s super hard when you’re going through it to trust the process, but it really does work out quite well for most.
Needed this. My son is taking the SSAT for the first and only time tomorrow. He has done a little but not a lot of prep. And it will be what it will be. I’m not a fan of high stakes testing at 13 or 14 years old, and I hope he hits that minimum threshold, whatever it might be.
Deep breath. He chose his schools carefully. Let’s hope they see the fit that he saw from his perspective.
As for the OP, I would say that 95 is amazing! She certainly cleared the testing bar. I hope she gets a terrific choice on March 10. No need to retake.
Thanks so much for such thoughtful and insightful advice. I truly appreciate it and like the idea of “what’s your picnic basket”. I’ll take that to heart.