SSAT | Should You Retake the SSAT?

If your child wants to attend an independent or private school, he or she may have to take the SSAT (Secondary School Admission Test) in order to be accepted. Since independent and private schools will accept students from many different grade levels, the SSAT has three levels (elementary, middle, and upper) that correspond to students in elementary, middle, and high school. If your child plans to apply to or transfer to a top school, he or she will need to get a great score. If you’re not sure about your child’s performance, you may want to talk to him or her about retaking the test, just to make sure that any application an independent or private school sees will be in top shape.

SSAT Test Sections

Once your child receives his or her score for an SSAT test that he or she has taken, it’ll show breakdowns for each area of the test: the quantitative section, the verbal section, and the reading comprehension section. If you think that your child can perform better in one area or another, you may want to talk to your child about a retake.

Scoring and the Importance of the SSAT

Unlike some other tests your child may take, the SSAT actually deducts points for incorrect answers, similar to how the SAT takes points off for incorrect answers. This can be a strange kind of test format if your child is not used to it, so make sure that your child knows that it’s acceptable to leave some answers blank. The SSAT scoring has a purpose, and it’s not just to be confusing: the SSAT scores your child gets will contain a projection for his or her SAT scores later down the road at the end of high school. That may be way too far in the future for you to think about right now, but the SSAT can still serve as a good benchmark of your child’s skills. If you see any weak spots now, it may be worth it to suggest a retake to your child, because it’s always easier to build skills now than it is for your child to frantically cram when he or she starts preparing for the college application process.

Private Tutoring and Test Prep for the SSAT

Standardized tests are high-stakes in NYC, and you probably have questions about how to best help your child prepare for the SSAT. You may have asked yourself whether your child would benefit from a private test prep tutor. Origins Tutoring, a NYC test prep and tutoring company specializing in customized, one-to-one test prep tutoring, can help address these concerns, and guide and support your family through the sometimes stressful standardized test preparation process. Our test prep tutoring approach is simple: each student will receive the undivided attention and the expertise of a dedicated, experienced tutor who places a premium on delivering the highest quality test preparation tutoring in the most effective and time-efficient manner possible. Please call 917.287.7927 for a complimentary consultation now.