SSAT General Info, Content & Scoring Details

What is the SSAT?
 

The SSAT is a test used by preparatory school admissions offices and summer camp programs to more quickly evaluate among the many applicants whether enrolling a student is desirable for their institutions.  The test is significant but not the only factor taken into consideration; GPA, extracurricular work and experience, background as well as the application itself-- essays and recommendation letters-- are all part of the decision-making process.  Each school values these factors differently.

How is the SSAT scored?

The SSAT combines the scaled scores for the two primary sections and scores the essay separately.  For a detailed overview, click here

When should the SSAT be taken for the first time?

The SSAT has three levels.  Elementary for students in grades 3 and 4, middle for students in grades 5 through 7, and upper for students in grades 8 through 11.  Students take the test according to their current grade, not the one to which they’ll be applying.  Ivy Bridge does not recommend taking the same test more than 3 times. 

How Do I Find My Target Score?

 Your target score is based on so many things when applying to boarding school and summer programs:  Which institutions you want to attend, your current score, who else is applying that year, your fit and personality, did you visit the school?  And of course, how much meaningful time you put in to improving.  Many of the above factors are out of your control, so let’s just focus on the test.

• What is the mean score of admitted students for the last few years at the schools to which you want to apply?  Consider your other factors like GPA and extracurricular résumé when evaluating the average score range

• Have you taken a test or practice test?  How did you feel about it?​

       If you did well and felt good on any sections, you may be at or near your target score​.  If you felt bad and did poorly, you may have a lot of room for progress (unless language is an issue)

• Based on your schedule, how much meaningful time can you devote to test preparation?

       Meaningful time is concentrating on practicing the right way and giving your best effort.  Learning anything takes time and practice, obviously, the more time and effort the better the results.​

​      ​​​​Your Target Score should be in the range of the most competitive school in which you are seriously interested, given that based on the previous questions, you have a legitimate chance of hitting that score.

 I Want A Concrete Answer!!! What should my target score be?

The SSAT is used in so many different ways by a number of schools far greater than the number of universities.  Therefore, it is critical to be very specific about which schools/programs you want to apply and research their criteria for admittance.  Furthermore, the backgrounds of students for the SSAT are much more diverse than for the ACT and SAT.  In addition to the age differences, vocabulary and math learned in school vary widely between students. It is irresponsible to make generalizations for improvement on the SSAT.  For a free evaluation, please contact us and we will provide a customized timetable for scoring progress.

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Ivy Bridge has three fundamentals with an 8 point attack.  Click here for a full explanation of our system.

​Fundamentals

1.  Master the concepts tested

2.  Master the strategies that beat the test

3.  See the test through the eyes of the test architects

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Above is the general method of Ivy Bridge Preparation.   If you want to see specifically by section how the test tries to trick you and how we help you,

What Does the SSAT Test? Questions and Skills

Despite their differences, all levels of the SSAT share the same goal, to measure your verbal, quantitative, and reading comprehension skills. The verbal sections of the test ask about vocabulary, verbal reasoning, and relationships between ideas. The quantitative sections will ask you to solve problems with mathematical concepts. Finally, the reading sections present passages and ask questions about their content.

All three levels of the SSAT also have a writing section. This section is unscored, but your written response will be sent to score recipients. This means that admissions officers might read your response and use it as a sample of your writing skills. Younger students answer a creative writing prompt, while older students have a choice between writing a story or a more traditional essay.

Now that you have a general answer to the question of what the SSAT is, let’s take a closer look at each level, starting with elementary.

SSAT: Elementary Level

The elementary level is geared toward students in grades 3 and 4. The test at this level is unique since it’s further divided into sublevels, one that’s slightly easier for third graders and one that’s a bit more advanced for fourth graders. Both tests, though, share the same format and structure.

The elementary level SSAT lasts one hour and 50 minutes and has a math, verbal, reading, and writing section. You can see the complete structure in the chart below.

SSAT: Middle Level

If you’re in grade 5, 6, or 7 applying for grades 6, 7, or 8, then you’ll take the middle level SSAT. The middle level test is much longer than the elementary level at three hours and five minutes. Its Writing section, while still unscored, comes at the beginning of the test. It also features an unscored experimental section with 16 multiple choice questions.

The chart below shows the full structure of the middle level test. 

Like the Writing section, the experimental section is unscored. It will ask six verbal, five reading, and five math questions to test out material for future tests.

SSAT: Upper Level

The upper level test is geared toward students in grade 8 to 11 who are applying to private high schools. It has the same structure as the middle level test, but again, it features more advanced material. This chart shows the test’s format as a whole.

The experimental section asks six verbal, five reading, and five math questions. These questions are unscored and are just given to test out material for future tests. As with the other levels, your response in the writing section is unscored but will be sent to your score recipients.

SSAT Scoring Overview

On their SSAT score reports, students receive scaled section scores for Verbal, Quantitative/Math, and Reading (each of which is out of the same number of points). They'll also receive a total sum score that adds together all three of their section scores. The score range of the SSAT sections and the total sum scores differs depending on whether you've taken the elementary, middle, or upper level SSAT. 

SSAT scores aren’t just straight conversions that account for number of questions answered correctly, incorrectly, and skipped on the test; instead, the tests are equated, and scores are scaled so that scores can be compared across the years. For example, a 650 on Verbal from 1980 should have been roughly as difficult to get as a 650 on Verbal was in 2017.

On your score report, you'll also receive a percentile rank for each of your section scores, which is determined by how your scaled SSAT score stacks up against the scores of other students same grade/gender from US and Canada who took test for the first time in last three years. You'll also find out the range that your section scores are expected to fall in if you retook the test and your total sum score (Verbal + Quantitative + Reading). You can compare your scores to the average scores for students in your grade and, for upper level score reports, to average scores for students in your grade and of your gender.

 What is the average SSAT score?

Unfortunately, information about percentiles for the middle and upper level SSAT is only available to schools who are members of the Enrollment Management Association. If you want to learn more about what score reports for the middle and upper level test look like, you'll need to watch the SSAT's webinar on understanding the middle and upper level score report.

The information for the elementary level SSAT, however, was released publicly January 2017. Below, we've pulled out the average scores for 3rd and 4th graders into one handy table:

HOWEVER, the most important part of SSAT scoring is that students lose a quarter point for a wrong answer. 

·       A) B) C) D) E) ×

·       A) B) C) D) E) ×

·       A) B) C) D) E) ×

·       A) B) C) D) E) ✔

·       A) B) C) D) E) ×

·       A) B) C) D) E) ×

The student has a 1/5 chance to randomly guess correctly.  In the example above, the student would likely have 5 wrong answers at -1/4 points each for a -1.25 total score, plus 1 point for the correct answer leading to a net of -.25 points.  Therefore, Ivy Bridge strongly discourages random guessing and promotes process of elimination.  For example,

1.       A) B) C) D) E) ×

2.       A) B) C) D) E) ×

3.       A) B) C) D) E) ×

4.       A) B) C) D) E) ✔

5.       A) B) C) D) E) ✔

6.       A) B) C) D) E) ×

In the case above, the student has eliminated two bad, wrong answers before guessing, giving a 1/3 chance of guessing correctly.  The student’s net score here would be +1, or an entire 1.25 points above the random guesser.  Ivy Bridge prides itself on instructing students how to easily eliminate at least two bad answer choices.