<p>Hey Guys, I have to rewrite this because the thing messed up…</p>
<p>Anyways, I got a 62nd percentile on the SSAT. I am very disappointed in them as I was expecting a 80’s to 90’s percentile score. And my overall grades for this year are 6 A’s and 2 B’s. My avg GPA in middle school is a 3.55.</p>
<p>What are some boarding schools that could possibly accept me with these grades?</p>
<p>Also, what are some tips on studying vocab? Reading words and their definitions doesn’t work well for me. So what are some other ways I can study. The reason I am asking this is because I breezed through the practice exams easily. yet when the SSAT actually comes up I can’t believe I’d do so poorly. I got a 704 in math putting me at a 57th percentile. I’m one of those people who doesn’t study at all, yet always gets an A in the overall grade.</p>
<p>SO what are some boarding schools that would possibly accept me, and how can I study for next year?</p>
<p>Verbal basically just comes with practice, and I’m afraid this includes reading words and their definitions and trying to memorize them. Using those words in sentences, even at the risk of using them incorrectly, can be helpful as well. Another thing I thought helped is memorizing word roots instead of whole words, since they have more flexibility and can be used in a wide range of questions. Princeton Review’s list of roots and words were great, and if you have time you can pick up Word Smart. Learning those vocabulary words can not only boost your score, but also make your essay stand out.</p>
<p>As for math, I never had much trouble with it so I can’t say much. The best thing to do is keep your eye on the clock and don’t rush through questions. Also, make your calculations neat so you can double check your answers easily.</p>
<p>…and this might be irrelevant but:
“I’m one of those people who doesn’t study at all, yet always gets an A in the overall grade.” I used to be one of those people too, and I wondered why everyone was getting so stressed about grades. We all have our golden age, and when mine ended I was the one wailing while my friends, because they had worked hard, aced assignments with ease. The moral of the story is DONT UNDERESTIMATE EFFORT. Sorry for the caps, but it reflects how strongly I feel about this. Don’t learn it the hard way…</p>
<p>I would look at schools like Pomfret, Canterbury, and maybe Loomis. The SSAT is different from most tests since a high percentile depends on you doing better than everyone in your age group. Since those who take the SSAT are ,in general, at the top 90% nationally, it is difficult to get a high SSAT%. That would require you to do better then 90% of kids who are all ready at the top 90% nationally. For practicing verbal I read alot of high level books such as Moby Dick and Frankenstein. While reading, i found the definition of every word i did not know (for the verbal section) and then i wrote a summary for evey chapter (for reading comprehension.) It was like killing two birds with one stone.</p>