You’ve done it! You’ve made it through 5 sections, 150 questions, one essay, and over two and a half hours of SSAT testing. You may feel ready to go home and take a well-deserved nap (or run around after sitting for so long), but before you breathe a deep sigh of relief, there’s one final section to complete.
The Experimental Section is the shortest section of the SSAT–only 15 minutes long with 16 questions total. Unlike the other SSAT sections, this one includes a mix of question types: six verbal, five reading, and five quantitative. While you should still answer every question and try your best, don’t let this section stress you out: it is not scored and will not be sent to schools.
So, if it’s not scored, why does the Experimental Section exist? Writing a test like the SSAT is complex, and test writers use this final section to try out new questions. The developers evaluate the results to determine whether each question is appropriate, fair, and reliable enough to appear on future versions of the test.
Once you finish these last 15 minutes, you can feel proud of both conquering a long and challenging exam and also contributing to the future of the SSAT.
We are pleased to introduce Ryan, one of our 2020 scholars. Ryan’s perseverance and dedication allowed him to increase his SSAT score by 51 percentile points, scoring in the 81st percentile overall.
We get a lot of questions about the particular knowledge requirements on the SSAT, but this one is the most common: which SSAT section is the most crucial to a successful application? And as with any other question, we’ve turned to our extensive data to find the answer. We’ve heard...
Eastside Catholic is known for its strong community--many students view EC as their home away from home. The school offers grade-level retreats and a school-wide Mentor Program, award winning performing arts and athletic programs, and more than 30 AP, honors and collegiate level courses in the high school. With administrative...
Even with the most talented and dedicated students, there are still plenty of ways to get rejected from your dream school. Here are some of the reasons that we see students getting rejected.
Scott Duddy is the Director of Admissions and Enrollment at Dexter Southfield and the former Associate Director of Secondary School Counseling at The Fessenden School in Newton, MA. As a dedicated educator with over ten years of admissions and teaching experience, he actively engaged with students and families to understand...
We are thrilled to introduce Bei, another one of our 2023 scholars. Through focus and consistency, Bei was able to increase his ISEE score by 19%, scoring in the 97th percentile overall!
We are delighted to introduce Alisha, one of our 2022 scholars. Through hard work and perseverance, Alisha increased her SSAT score by 21 points, scoring in the 96th percentile overall!
Due to the recent coronavirus outbreak, The Enrollment Management Association (EMA), makers of the SSAT, is taking preventative steps to ensure the safety of students, test center administrators and proctors, members, and employees. They are closing test centers in impacted areas and requiring a completed Travel Declaration from anyone entering...
What kind of family should consider boarding school? In this clip from our CEO's conversation with placement expert Neal Kamsler, Neal discusses how traditional wisdom about boarding schools may not hold water.
Over the past seven years, Test Innovators has helped more than 100,000 students prepare for the SSAT and the ISEE—the admissions tests required by the most competitive independent schools in the country. Every year we review our data from thousands of test-takers to determine the most popular schools. Below are...
