Everything You Need to Know About SSAT Test

Going to an independent school is a great proposition but enrolling in one depends on your disposition, and of course your SSAT test score! The SSAT is an admission test your child needs to take if you want to enroll her in one of the 900 independent schools in the US, Canada and many more around the world.

So if you’re looking forward to sending your child to an independent school then here are the steps to prep for this very competitive test:

1.    Identify the SSAT level for your child...the SSAT goes by which grade your child will be seeking to enroll in.

2.      Register your child on the official SSAT website ssat.org

3.     Familiarize your child with the SSAT section and format. After all, an SSAT middle-level test will be different from an SSAT elementary level test.

4.    Go through various SSAT sample questions to get acquainted with the level and kind of questions on the SSAT. Other than the writing section, all other sections contain multiple choice questions.

5.   The SSAT assesses a student’s basic verbal, math, and reading skills which your child has already acquired at school. So now, doing well on the SSAT comes down to practice. An SSAT online practice test is a great way to perfect the required skills

6.   If your child is eligible for the SSAT Elementary level, then have your child practice to fill in the answer directly on the SSAT elementary practice test. If your child is older, get a separate answer sheet for the middle level or the SSAT upper-level practice test.

7.     If needed, don’t hesitate to get SSAT test prep help for your child. Expert tutors can contribute greatly towards building up your child’s SSAT scores.

The SSAT has 4 levels:

1.     SSAT Elementary Level (Grade 3) – For 3^rd graders seeking admission in grade 4

2.     SSAT Elementary Level (Grade 4) – For 4^th graders seeking admission in grade 5

3.     SSAT Middle Level – For students in grades 5-7 seeking admission in grades 6-8

4.  SSAT Middle Level – For students in grades 8-11 seeking admission in grades 9 through Post Graduate.

Your child can take the standard SSAT test on as many eight designated Saturdays during the academic year. However, every child can take the flex test just once during the academic year.

The SSAT has these sections:

·      Writing Section – that is unscarred and sent directly to the schools your child is applying to.

·      Quantitative Section – includes multiple choice questions about level appropriate math concepts and mental math skills

·     Verbal Section – includes analogies and synonyms.

·     Experimental Section (only for middle and upper levels) – unscored but vital to the development of new tests.

The SSAT norm group of any particular level consists of all the test takers (same grade) who have taken the test for the first time in the United States and Canada in the last three years. The SSAT reports percentiles. The same scaled score on the SSAT may have a different percentile every year.

SSAT test scores are only a part of the entire admission application that school admission officers consider.

To know how your child can do well on the SSAT, call or email us for our SSAT test prep help services...anytime, any day!

Need to Know About SCAT Online Test

The SCAT (School and College Ability Test) is a gifted test by the John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (JH-CTY) – to identify and encourage academically gifted students.

Participating in a gifted education program helps academically gifted students maximize their potential and realize their dreams. Qualifying the SCAT test is an excellent way your child can attend the coveted John Hopkins summer programs. Students from grades 2-9 can register for and answer the online gifted test held from July 1 every year to June 30 of the following year.

The SCAT has 3 levels:

Elementary SCAT – For students in grades 2-3 and designed for students in grades 4-5

Intermediate SCAT – For Students in grades 4-5 and designed for students in grades 6-8

Advanced SCAT – For students in grades 6 and above and designed for students in grades 9-12

The best way towards SCAT Test Preparation is to attempt an online SCAT Practice test. This is how a SCAT Practice test will help you max your SCAT prep:

1.    Familiarizing yourself with the test format – At all levels, the SCAT has 2 sections: Quantitative (Math) and Verbal Reasoning. Students are given 22 minutes to solve 55 questions on each section which include 5 unidentified questions that do not count towards the final score. A student can choose to have a 10-minute break between the sections.

2.      Simulation of the actual test – An online full-length SCAT Practice test will help students and parents know what the actual test will be like. Answering an online test is quite different from answering a paper-based test.  Getting online to practice is a great way to get comfortable and confident for the upcoming SCAT.

3.     Time management – Just 22 minutes for 55 questions is no easy feat. With a challenge such as this, it’s imperative for a student to know how to keep cool and cope with the ticking clock!

4.      Strategy planning – Often it’s the way you approach a test and tackle the questions therein that can make all the difference with your SCAT Test Preparation. Strategies like elimination and guesstimating can help students arrive at the correct answers even if the exact answer is not known.

5.     Type of questions on the SCAT – JH-CTY has not prescribed any syllabus for the SCAT. However, online tutoring companies like eTutorWorld have mentored thousands of children globally to qualify the SCAT test. This has helped their test prep tutors gain enough experience and understanding about the type and difficulty level of the questions on the SCAT which in turn is passed on to the advantage of the students. For example, eTutorWorld’s SCAT quantitative tutors have realized that the questions asked are more about essential concepts than lengthy calculations.

6.    Qualifying SCAT scores – Though the JH-CTY declares specific qualifying scores for every SCAT level and section, usually students in the 90+ percentile of a SCAT level, grade and gender qualify for the summer courses. SCAT percentiles are typically used to compare students to the older population. For example, Grade 2 students are compared to the general 4^th graders and so on.

Grade 2 is compared to Grade 4

Grade 3 to Grade 5

Grade 4 to Grade 6

Grade 5 to Grade 8

Grade 6 to Grade 9

Grade 7 to Grade 12

Grade 8 to Grade 12

For more information on talent search programs like the SCAT, you can link to the official JH-CTY page. 

Do I Need to hire an Online SCAT Tutor

The JH-CTY summer courses by the John Hopkins University are prestigious programs for academically gifted and talented children. There’s no doubt that it’s a dream come true for any parent to have their gifted child qualify for these courses. However, more than participating in a course, it is the preceding procedure that needs to be carefully planned for. Gifted students need to qualify the SCAT test, an ‘above grade level’ standardized test and acing it is no mean feat.

The SCAT assesses children on concepts above their school grade level and preparation for it needs to begin in good time. Other than being quite comprehensive, SCAT is a timed test for which prior practice will be quite helpful. Though SCAT prep can be done using available content; the one option that will help you get ahead of other gifted students is online SCAT prep help.

It is a great idea to seek online help for SCAT prep and before you start wondering why…here are the top reasons why SCAT prep is done best with online tutoring.

1.  Get help when ‘you’ need it – The biggest advantage of online tutoring is that as a student you can select your tutor, session dates and timings. Prep for SCAT tests has to be done beyond school hours and opting for SCAT Online Tutoring Services allows you the freedom to study from the comfort of your home, as per your convenience.

2.  Expert Help – The internet is teeming with information about the SCAT but it definitely needs an expert eye to wade through it all. So, why not get that help from online SCAT tutors and SCAT counsellors who not only teach you essential concepts but also enhance your child’s test-taking skills.

3.  Individualized Prep – Online tutoring offers personalized teaching and it’s no different with Online SCAT prep. Online SCAT tutors work with individual students to ensure the prep is done based on a student’s individual abilities and requirements.

4.  Well curated SCAT content– Elearning sites such as etutorworld.com offer comprehensive SCAT test content with customized SCAT study plans and SCAT practice tests. These not only help your gifted child prep for the SCAT but more importantly teach them time-management techniques.

5.  Pocket friendly option – What could be better than saving money while getting the best options available? Online SCAT tutoring offers affordable options that parents can select from a wide array of online SCAT prep packages.

Being the parents of a gifted child is definitely a matter of pride and with just a little bit of intelligent planning and prepping, you could help your child realize all the amazing potential they truly possess.

So, go ahead and choose wisely!!