Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment ISEE or SSAT

Hello all,

I'm a longtime lurker with two sons - 5 and 12-years-old. I've enjoyed all the good advice found here on this site (wish I'd known about it years ago) - thank you all for sharing your wisdom. I'm hoping someone here may have experience with the ISEE or SSAT tests.

My oldest son is thinking of applying to boarding school for the 2012/2013 school year. He is currently in 9th grade at a small private school. He was home schooled for 4 years prior to that. The schools require scores from one of these two tests for admission. He has taken the Explore, ACT, and SAT in the past and done fairly well. However, I am not at all familiar with these 2 particular tests and am wondering if there are any difference between the two or if one is recommended over the other? He is fairly well-rounded but strongest with verbal/reading/writing.

Any helpful hints or advice will be most appreciated.

Thanks!

Call the schools your family is interested in, and ask them which they prefer. If they won't say, ask them which the kids who 'usually' apply 'usually' take. You want to make it as easy as possible for the school to get to know your child, so make an effort to speak their language.

My son's boarding school was sort of a last minute thing, and they were fine with his previous SATs. Good for you for not going about it in a big rush!

Thanks for de-lurking, and I hope that this is helpful.
1) What schools are you looking at?
2) Are you hiring a consultant to help figure out which schools you might want to look at?

Smiles,
Grinity

Ivy Leaguge applicants "usually" take the SAT, but the schools use a table to convert from ACT scores to SAT scores, so I don't think submitting an ACT score handicaps an applicant. I wonder if something similar happens for private high school admissions.

The school listed both tests on their website but I didn't think to call and ask if they actually prefer one over the other, silly me - what a good idea - thanks! I wish they'd just look at his SAT scores from the last two years. Is the SSAT a "junior" version of it, I wonder?

He is only interested in Phillips Exeter at this point and hasn't expanded his search beyond that school yet. He read about their library, saw a course catalog, and fell in love with the idea of going there. I'm not even sure how he stumbled upon the school in the first place? It's about 1,200 miles from us and he doesn't know anyone there.

So no, no consultant - yikes - didn't even know that was a possibility. Boarding school was never really on our radar until recently. He's 2 grades ahead but still isn't being challenged in the way he could or should be. College doesn't seem quite right - just yet. So, I don't know - we are now tossing this about as a possibility. Here in the Mid-west there aren't all that many people who send their children to boarding school (or not that we've been able to find anyway) so it's been hard finding anyone with experience with and knowledge about the process.

Grinty, how did you come to this decision? (If you don't mind my asking?) And are you and your child happy with it?

Thanks for your help!

My DS14 did 9th grade last year at the public school, and even with all honors track classes, AND a grade skip he found the level of discussion to be frustrating. So he was working really hard to hand the physical demands of 9th grade in a younger body, and getting very little 'academic fun' out of it. He's PG with ADD inattentive, and lost points from slowness on tests and the occasional 'forgot to turn the paper over to check if there were more questions on the test.' So B+ average, and no spark, no enthusiasm, and Mamma feeling guilty that the skip, which worked so well in the heterogeneous classrooms before high school, was putting him at a major maturational disadvantage when the grades were going to count for college. Plus I was working 36 hours a week, and our town has no public transportation, so his afterschool activities were slim to none, and I didn't foresee him being able to change that on his own in time for college resume. I want to be clear - there is a wonderful State University with an honors track that he will probably attend and I think that's great, and he could have done that on his old projected path. But I wasn't comfortable making that his only available path based on his behavior as a 13 year old - and I didn't see any indication that DS would have learned to really engage with his work well enough to be successful at the State Univ based on what he was doing. I've heard Movie Stars referred to as 'phoning it in' and that sure is what DS looked like to me.

So in Jan of last year, DS said: "Why am I not at boarding school?" and I jumped at the chance, once I found a place that I felt was a good fit. DS is repeating 9th grade, doing all homework and studying anyone could ask for, 95% average, and having really meaningful class discussions. His school uses a block schedule so every class is 90 minutes long! Every teacher takes an interest in every student. And there is 'enforced study hall' for 2 hours every night.' My son's school isn't as 'top-notch' competitive as Exeter, but when I heard that E's study hall was 3 hours a night, and that many very bright kids commonly did more than that, I looked at my kid and thought 'nope, that isn't him.' So we didn't apply to Exeter, Andover, St. Pauls, etc. It might have been a mistake, but DS just didn't look ready to 'hit the ground running.' I think that those are great schools for the right kid, but I remember being frustrated at a very competitive college surrounded by kids with 'Iron Buts' but kind of vapid in other ways. I'm sure that was a lot of sour grapes, but I think part of it is my own ADD traits.

See http://www.tenschools.org/home/ for a round up of the Exeter-style schools. They prefer SSAT, which isn't related to SAT at all.

We are all happy (even DH) and just signed the contract for next year. I have to say 'delighted and relieved.'

Smiles,
Grinity

My dd12 was thinking about applying to Exeter for next fall's 9th grade year herself, but wound up passing for now. She's just one grade accelerated. The main reason she didn't apply was b/c I left the process entirely to her to plan and get done and she didn't get the registration process for the SSAT or ISEE together soon enough. The exams aren't offered really locally to us and the only one she could have done would have involved my driving her many hours and her having little to no time to study.

I figured that, if she was going to be considering that high pressure of a school that far from home where she'd be on her own to deal with school issues, she'd better be able to make it happen without significant support from me.

The quantity of work was a concern for me as well b/c dd, while capable of much higher level work than she's done for most of her educational career, is not a fast kid. She had a 504 earlier for SPD and dyspraxia that allowed her extra time, if needed.

All that said, the SSAT purports to be more of an ability/aptitude test than the ISEE from what I understood when we were looking at it. I was leaning toward thinking that the SSAT would be the way to go for that reason. I believe that the ISEE says that it has a reasoning or ability section that is 1/3 of the test. The other parts are 1/3 math & reading achievement and 1/3 essay writing.

Thanks so much, Grinty - very helpful!

DS12 is doing okay - academically and socially - at his current school but I really worry that he isn't "working to his potential" and all that goes with that. He just seems to absorb stuff by osmosis and isn't learning or practicing good study habits, etc. I was hoping 9th grade honors classes and such would push him to stretch some but they really haven't. I think he's PG but have no IQ numbers or professional diagnosis to back that up. He has no known @2E's. He tends to be a perfectionist. Seems to display all the executive functioning difficulties typical to 12-year-old boys.

He's drawn to Exeter for the Harkness style of teaching - and the huge library to feed his 50,000+ - give or take 40,000 - pages-a-year reading habit. Oh, and their generous financial aid (without which boarding school is not possible). I think he would thrive in a boarding school environment but it needs to be a good fit. I'm not as concerned about the school name or top-notch status as I am about it being the best type of school for him. (I really have no idea if he would even have the slimmest of chances of being accepted to a school like Exeter.) I want to see that spark of his glowing! And I would love to be 'delighted and relieved' about his educational needs being met rather than fretting and stressing.

So happy your family found the right fix and fit! It's good to know that it can actually happen.

Off to check out the link you sent and the library to see if there are any "Boarding School" books we need to read. Thank you again for all the helpful information.

That's a really good point - I may have to adopt this type of plan myself.

I appreciate the information on the different tests. I was looking for information online and didn't seem to find anything helpful.