<p>I have been wondering about this for awhile. DC took SSAT once, no prep. Rec’d 93% overall. Got a 94% on Verbal and 94% on Math; 76% on critical reading). Also, I am not numerically inclined and I have always wondered how these scores turned into 93% overall!</p>
<p>C was applying to GLADCHEMMS schools. I basically looked at Andover, saw median was 93% and thought o.k. C’s done. Well, C was rejected and WL’d. </p>
<p>Since C had done no prep I would guess that C could improve – especially critical reading??? Or is it especially difficult to improve this area? Would this have made a difference to the admission results?</p>
<p>C is really crushed, I wish I had known about CC, I wish I had been a little more driven. I feel if I had been really committed to this process (which I should have been bkz otherwise why get DC involved and get C’s hopes dashed) I would have said yes of course you cannot submit these scores!!! </p>
<p>I think that score is fine. Many have posted here that got into Andover with lower scores. Median 93% means half of the admits’ scores are below 93%. It may be other factors you need to look into like the grades, interviews, essays, and ECs. Andover is big on non-sibi, does your C have volunteer work? I guess you can call them to get a feedback after A10. But I don’t think SSATs is the reason for denial/WL.</p>
<p>C did not have any volunteer work. C spends many hours on training for sport as well as for two instruments. I thought p’haps naively that the timeframe would be understood. Of course, when you read Andover’s letter on incoming class you realize that the applicants who got in also managed that — I don’t mean to sound so grumpy but I would be conflicted in letting C get involved in much more.</p>
<p>C actually did about 15 hours of volunteer work that involved C’s music but did not put it in C’s application. I think primarily bkz by this point that part of the app. had been submitted and C was working on essays. ALso, bkz it was a one stop deal rather than an ongoing project that C was involved in.</p>
<p>Do you think that was a significant factor?</p>
<p>I think a good amount of volunteer work and some ‘non-sibi’ reflection in the essays will be important. Also, if you applied for FA, it may have been a factor, even though they claim they are need blind, these private institutions run primarily by the tuition money. If you are Asian, then fogged about it, I think they have like a 22% cap and many 99%, straight A asian kids here on CC are denied/WL.</p>
<p>@flowers123: My D who applied this cycle had a near perfect SSAT score (not just percentile-wise) plus great grades and ECs. Not the captain or president or inventor/founder of anything, but a pretty solid little 8th grader nonetheless. </p>
<p>Yet she was flat out REJECTED from one of the ACRONYM schools. Not waitlisted, just rejected. But she was admitted to another, arguably even more selective, ACRONYM school.</p>
<p>I’m sharing this to illustrate that it’s very much a crapshoot for every applicant…93rd percentile or 99.9th. Another parent here advised me “Don’t let your kid (or yourself) fall in love until they are admitted.” It was very good advice. </p>
<p>My own advice to you (and everyone else) for next year will sound familiar to anyone who reads my posts here: Think outside the ACRONYM schools. Why I just found out about a school today that could have been a great choice for my D.</p>
<p>If you feel or hear from your AOs that SSATs were a factor…don’t feel guilty about or “above” your child doing a little prep. While not all parents agree on this issue (some insist on going in cold and others invest in tutoring), I think at the very least buying one of the Princeton Review type books is worth it just to get familiar with format of the test. If anything, you can use the sample tests as a diagnostic on where child is strong/weak. (Note that the CR portion of the test is less forgiving than the other two sections…in some versions of the test it is impossible to get an 800 even if you get every question correct.)</p>
<p>Also, how did your child prepare for the interviews? I think some amount of role-playing beforehand can be beneficial…like taking a sample test, it lets the student know what they can expect when it’s the real thing.</p>
<p>SevenDad’s advice is great. I’d just add (and I know his family did this)–when you look outside the acronym, pick your schools carefully. You want a school for which you child is both overqualified AND a great fit. I think one key to an acceptance, rather than a Tuft’s effect rejection or WL, is to make it clear why you are choosing that school, even though it’s not as big a name-brand as the others on the list. </p>
<p>And then, still…hope for the best.</p>
<p>(As an aside, my kid did go from a 93 to a 99 percent on the SSAT by doing the SSAT prep SevenDad suggests. I don’t know if it made a difference or not, but it can’t hurt, right?)</p>
<p>Flowers, there are a lot of kids being admitted who don’t fit the profile of the Andover brag page. The problem is just that there are too many good kids for too few slots and there is no longer a way to predict the system. Kids who got rejected this year might have been accepted last year (or next year).</p>
<p>A good friend just applied to put her son in a popular elementary school with a focus on math and science. She just found out there are 7,999 other applications for the handful of spots.</p>
<p>Your daughter’s EC’s are fine. Her scores are fine. It’s the admissions cycles that are now unpredictable.</p>
<p>Re: The critical reading, when I saw that it was low, I asked C what happened and C just said he did not understand the reading. So I do wonder if I had made sure with at least some review as suggested above if that could fairly easily have been improved.</p>
<p>C did prepare a bit for interviews. We did a little role-playing. I think that all his interviews went really well. C actually enjoyed them, although C felt tired out after a week of them. C did them all, one day after the other. We got quite a bit of positive feedback from AO’s. </p>
<p>I want to thank all of your for your input. We are planning to call for feedback after A10.</p>
<p>I would like to thank all of your for your thoughtful responses.</p>
<p>Scores were fine! Anything in the 80’s and up puts you in the ball game everywhere. It’s only here on CC that people obsess over not getting 99%.</p>
<p>It’s the competition everywhere was much higher. </p>
<p>Just heard that Dartmouth had a record low admit rate of 9.7%. That’s crazy. It’s like that everywhere.</p>
on critical reading). Also, I am not numerically inclined and I have always wondered how these scores turned into 93% overall!</p>
I don’t mean to sound so grumpy but I would be conflicted in letting C get involved in much more.</p>