In light of COVID-19, information about a new, at-home SSAT administration is being announced. Below is an except from the president of the Enrollment Management Organization regarding this new step.
Following the excerpt you will find general information about the test, financial assistance for the test, and score notifications. As well, you will still see the standard (now subject to cancellation due to COVID-19), paper administrations for the next school year.
We are excited to share another innovation that we perceive will have a lasting, positive impact on assessing prospective students: beginning in fall 2020, EMA will offer large-scale, at-home administration of the SSAT. We believe this new mode of testing will alleviate the pressures on families still looking to fulfill application requirements and yet concerned about group testing at one of EMA’s member schools given continued worries about proximity of people before a COVID vaccine is available.
Also, we are pleased to announce that limited administrations of the SSAT at Home will be available mid-May. We know that at-home testing will have a dramatic, positive impact on the ways we serve our 1,300 members and the 70,000+ families and students who take the SSAT annually — especially those who are challenged by the current limitations from COVID-19.
For students, the SSAT at Home will have the same content, length, and quality of our traditional SSAT. We hope that you will work with EMA to communicate to families that they can rest easier knowing their educational ambitions for their children won’t be undone, and that this new mode of testing will help both admission officers and EMA manage health and safety concerns of prospective students in the face of this worldwide battle against COVID-19.
Visit https://ssat.org/registration to locate test sites near to you and to explore information about the content and style of the test.
Results are typically released to families 10 days after the date of testing.
Individual testing (on a non-standard date), “the Flex Test” can be arranged through the office of an educational consultant with this specific service. The Flex test can be taken only once in a given school year. Any additional test sittings would be on a standard test date (see listing below). The Flex Test is a fully valid SSAT provided to consultants by SSAT.org. Flex Test fees are set by the consultant and may be considerably higher than the standard test fee.
Standard Test Dates Through 2021
2020
September 12
October 17
November 14
December 12
2021
January 2
February 6
April 10
June 12
Please note that the cost of registering for the SSAT for one date, and by the standard registration deadline, is $144 USD. This cost includes the sending of results to an unlimited number of school recipients. This cost does not include the extra fee for a Late or Rush Registration (an additional $45 and $85, respectively). A fee of $35 is also incurred for changing either the date or site. For families who will also be applying for financial assistance, the following information regarding a potential fee waiver has been excerpted and paraphrased from the SSAT website: https://ssat.org/registration
Fee Waivers
You may be eligible for a fee waiver if you are unable to pay the test fee due to economic hardship. Contact the admission office of one of your schools of interest and ask them about fee waiver availability. Only one fee waiver can be applied at the time of a standard registration.
You must obtain the fee waiver from a school before registering for a test. Fee waiver amounts are determined solely by the school and can be assigned for the full test fee or a partial payment. Fee waivers cannot be applied toward any additional registration fees such as Late or Rush fees.
Taking Multiple Tests
While a majority of candidates to secondary schools sit for the SSAT just once, it is permissible to take the test multiple times. Some students may have school achievement testing or diagnostic testing that suggests their first SSAT results underestimate their actual abilities. Other students are bolstering their test-taking strategies and may want a couple of attempts to track their growth. For those engaged in test strategy work, spacing out test sessions is recommended (ie: October and December, or November and January).
If students are facing January application deadlines and will only take the January SSAT (or are waiting to see if January results are improved over earlier results), they should inform their application schools that they are waiting for their January results. Provided that all other application papers have been submitted on time, the brief delay in the arrival of the scores will cause no delay or detriment to a candidate’s full and timely consideration.
Who Sees My Scores?
Candidates are always “in control of” their test results. They can view their test results before deciding to which schools they wish them sent. For those taking the test more than once, they can decide which set or sets they will send. Candidates must, however, submit full score sets, ie: they cannot combine their best verbal score from one set with their best math score from another set.
The SSAT website at https://ssat.org is full of helpful tips, information, and practice materials. Carey Consulting encourages every family to read through this generous trove of test guidance.
Good luck to everyone on the test!