The Boy Who Forgot to Prepare: A Cautionary Tale

Phillips Exeter Academy is Mason’s dream school—he knows everything there is to know about Exeter. All of his personal heroes are Exeter alumni: his favorite U.S. president is Franklin Pierce, and he has dressed up as author Booth Tarkington for the past three Halloweens.

Mason has always performed well on standardized tests. When he took the state-mandated achievement test at his public school last year, he scored in the 94th percentile. He’s one of the only straight-A students at his middle school. Not bad, Mason.

With this in mind, Mason isn’t considering putting together a preparation regimen before his SSAT in November. He figures that he’s a great test-taker, a stellar student, and an all-around good guy. The SSAT should be easy-peasy, and he’ll be a shoo-in for Exeter.

But Mason…let’s think about this for a minute. Consider who is applying to highly competitive schools like PEA—do you think it’s the same population of students who took that in-class exam a year ago?

I see you shaking your head “no,” Mason—you are correct. The SSAT is much more competitive than any test you’ve taken in the past. Students taking the SSAT are an elite group—they are applying to some of the best schools in the country, and they are a motivated bunch. You are competing against many other students who ace every assignment in class and score in the top 10% on other standardized tests. 

Note:  Percentile scores on the SSAT (and the ISEE, another competitive entrance exam) are consistently 10 to 40 points lower than percentiles on nationally normed tests. This difference is mostly attributable to the caliber of students taking these tests.

If you want to ensure that you’ll do well on this test, Mason, you should take a diagnostic practice test well in advance of the official SSAT. Lots of students do really well on their initial practice test—you might score in the 90th to 99th percentile range, and in that case, you’re good to go. However, if you see that your results are not in line with the target scores for the schools you want to apply to, it’s time to review your diagnostic report and work on any concepts or question types that you struggled with.

Even after our chat, Mason decided to forgo any sort of preparation for the SSAT. When he walked into the room on test day, his head was held high, expecting to ace the test, confident in his past scholastic experiences. He walked out of the testing room with a tired, defeated grimace. A twitching eye.

Mason learned the lesson that many other students have learned the hard way: the SSAT is quite a bit different than other tests. The SSAT is designed to challenge even the most intelligent of students. 

Mason also didn’t realize that the Upper Level SSAT is a test that 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students are taking…a test designed to assess students four years older than him. Mason didn’t have any strategies to deal with the difficult questions that would show up. He wasted way too much time on questions that few—if any—8th graders will successfully answer. If Mason had done any sort of preparation, he could have learned to identify these questions and manage his time more efficiently.

Mason’s dream of Exeter was temporarily shattered when he received a report with low scores. Luckily, he could take the SSAT again next month. He vowed to try again, and to prepare this time. Good idea, Mason.

Don’t be like Mason. Start preparing for the SSAT today!