Many clients come to us to obtain the best score possible for their student’s SSAT Prep. However, the question many times is “What is that perfect score?” since they’re aiming for a program like one of the Eight Schools Association schools. The confusion makes sense given so many standardized tests exist and the many different scoring methods they use. For instance, a perfect college admissions test score on the ACT is a 36. For the SSAT, it went from 2400 back to 1600 in recent years.
How about the SSAT? What’s a 100% on the most accepted Boarding School Exam?
Middle Level SSAT Perfect Score
For the Middle Level SSAT, the highest potential score on each section is 710. As a result, the “perfect score” for the middle level, which tests kids from 5th through 7th grades is 2130. There is a midpoint of 1725 and you can actually score as low as 440 for each section. So, you could unfortunately score 1320 as well, but obviously, your goal is trying to hit that 2130.
Upper Level SSAT Perfect Score
For the Upper Level SSAT, you can score similar to the older SAT standard: 2400 (for the entire exam). For each section, the highest possible score is an 800. The lowest number on the scale is 500. So, in essence, you can score 1500 through 2400 on the test which is designed for kids from 8th through 11th grades. It has a midpoint of 1950.
Elementary Level SSAT Perfect Score
Now, if you’re testing as early as 3rd or 4th grade, the range is from 900 (lowest) to 1800 (perfect Elementary Level SSAT Score). Each section’s scaled score has a range of values from 300 to 600.
The 99% Percentile
Lastly, it’s commonly known as the “99% Percentile” when you’re scoring the best. So, many times, students and parents are aiming for this “percentile” vs. the scaled score. Scoring above a 90% is a common goal of many students to get into some of the top boarding school programs in the world.
So, is this truly “perfect”? Not necessarily. It means you’re beating 99% of the students out there for the exam you’ve taken. You can see from the above example of one of our students. The student scored 92% on reading and 98% on the other 2 sections, yet combined, the student was in the 99% percentile for the entire exam.
For the boarding schools who are evaluating your child’s testing capabilities, it’s surely enough. Also, it’s the best you’re going to get out there. There is no 99.9% percentile or your child has scored better than every student out there. However, your student could get every single question on the exam correct. In that case, you definitely have the perfect score.
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