The main reason DS wants to go to boarding school is for academics beyond what he can get at LPS, so finding an academic fit has been important in searching for a school. I think SSAT average is an element of that fit as shorthand for things that matter but is an imperfect surrogate measure for things like academic drive and curiosity. DS wants to be with kids who have a similar level of curiosity and drive. He says that what has worked for him in the past doesn’t depend on “most” kids but on having a group of peers who are similar to him in ability and interest. He believes he will find that at any of the schools he’s considering although one has a higher SSAT average. He just wants at least 20+ kids in his class who are similar in level and ability.
This desire led us to a short list of schools to apply to and they were all very competitive, so that is a scary decision and definitely not the prevailing advice on this board. It wasn’t really about SSAT scores but rather about courses offered and whether there was enough math and science to fill four years for DS and the schools that offered those courses were large and had high SSAT averages. Still made for some nail-biting, but DS was clear that he didn’t want to go away to a school that wouldn’t provide the challenge and peers he was looking for and while he appreciates all the extras of boarding school – the environment, the sports and ECs, the wealth of good teaching – his primary goal was better academics.
We have talked to kids similar to my DS at a variety of acronym schools and some are bored, even at schools typically considered most academic. I hope DS can avoid that, but even the bored ones are happy to have extra time for whatever else they are into and that is a major advantage of boarding schools. One kid found the humanities to be quite easy at a large school, but was very into competitive math, and so had more time for that with easy English and history classes. Some schools have enough courses at high enough level to challenge almost all kids, although I suspect the top 10% of any group tends to be less challenged. I am concerned about humanities because a good discussion requires other kids at your level, but fingers crossed that any school with an average SSAT of 75 or so will have enough kids at a high enough level to have interesting discussion. I wish boarding schools were more flexible on placement in English and history. Some kids have much more background in these subjects and are not likely to find a 9th grade English class that challenging at any school and a kid who read most of Shakespeare in elementary school is likely ready for more than a 9th grade level class will provide. Level of discussion and primary materials do matter in the humanities, but hopefully even if that isn’t ideal, a good teacher can challenge more on the writing side.
This is too long already but I have been surprised that within a given range of schools, DS believes the academics will be similar at all of them and he is more focused on finding a comfortable fit in terms of friendliness. He has not found all schools to be similar in warmth and I think he’s going to choose a school with lower SSAT average but plenty high enough, and a very friendly, happy atmosphere. Time will tell if revisits change that.