<p>To me, these numbers are no surprise. My current school, a private one in England, requires the SSAT, but that doesn’t stop a huge number of idiots from walking through the gates. The misunderstanding here is in the conception that everyone who takes the SSAT is above the national average. This is very much not the case as much of the population of my current school can attest to.</p>
<p>While the schools talked about here on CC are often the very best of the best and likewise attract the very most academic students, this website still manages to convey the illusion that the SSAT is truly only (or at least most commonly) administered to smart kids. As I said, come visit my school and it’ll change your mind.</p>
<p>It’s also important to remember that plenty of public school kids do very well on the SAT, and that not all smart kids take the SSAT and/or apply to private schools. This leads me onto my next point - both the SAT and the SSAT are aptitude tests. Technically speaking, education does not increase aptitude, just as education does not increase IQ. Test prep, however, can increase your SAT and SSAT scores, and that, the fact that it is more probable that private school kids get more/better test prep than public school kids, may be the only reason that there is a difference at all in the percentiles kids attain on the SSAT versus the SAT.</p>
<p>As I said, it’s not as if all the smart and apt kids in the country attend private schools.</p>