What sort of scores are prep schools looking for on the SSAT for hockey players? I'll assume depends on school, and probably can get away with lower scores than if you were going mainly for academics, but I have no idea. Anyone have experience with this?

The strong academic schools do not decipher hockey players from any other applicant. All schools have average SSAT scores to be considered, Phillips Exeter/Hotchiss/Choate has to be around 85% where Winchendon/Cushing/Pomfret basically require you to take the test and many schools fall somewhere in between. If your player is stud and perused by the coaching staff than this test means less in most cases.

When you go for your tour and interview be sure to make this a topic of discussion. A few other tips:
1. Ask the hockey coach how many spots are open next year
2. Ask if all students have to play 3 sports or are their other options
3. Ask for financial aid information and the average grant given

Better to know where you stand now.

Hopefully your kid isn't "perused by the coaching staff" while at Prep School.

As for the questions suggested:

1. Doesn't matter one bit. Don't fall for the lie of "we have four spots open and we think your son can really contribute to the team." They will say the same thing to 16 kids, admit 12 and if 6 kids accept, at least two kids are screwed.

2. Rare that all kids don't have to play three sports, so why not go in assuming he does? But, Yoga is a sport (and it's great for hockey players). Strength and Condition is a sport (often restricted to upperclassmen, even if a recruited athlete). They also can waive any requirement, if they feel like it.

3. How is that information going to help you to decide anything? They won't commit to an aid package while you do your tour, and what difference does it make what the average person gets? It totally varies by individual situation and school.

Ok.. you know everything

So, what part do you disagree with?

I didn't find your questions particularly helpful, based on personal experience, and gave my reasons why. Doesn't mean I know "everything," but the user can decide. Sorry if that bruised your ego. For all I know your kid doesn't even go to Prep school. Has never stopped people from giving advice here in the past.

Here are the three questions I would ask.

1. Tell me about the academic assistance opportunities. Will there be formal scaffolding to help with the transition from his current school? (reason for asking: every kid I've ever spoken with moving from Public to Prep struggled with the increase in workload at first, and teenaged boys are hesitant to step forward and admit they're struggling)

2. How integrated are the athletes, particularly recruited athletes, with the broader student population? (reason for asking: if the kid is a recruited athlete, and if culturally recruited athletes sort of keep to themselves, it may be uncomfortable)

3. The term "zero tolerance" means very different things to different institutions today. What does that mean at X School? (reason for asking: in our experience recruited athletes tend to have a higher expulsion rate at schools that truly practice zero tolerance)

What I didn't suggest asking, but what a parent absolutely needs to know going in is, is my kid going to play a regular shift? To get a truthful answer, you really need to have a family advisor ask that for you, because the coach is less likely to stretch the truth with a respected advisor, since he will need that advisor to recommend the next kid, too. And for the answer to be "yes," and for the coach to mean it, well, you should have been reached out to by one by now.

Is my kid guaranteed a shift? What about the kid who puts on 20lbs between sophomore and junior year and is now better than the kid who was guaranteed a shift? Since when is playing time decided by the family advisor and not competition on the ice at practice and games.

Do you see the word "guaranteed" anywhere?

And if you think it's a pure meritocracy you're nuts. There have been other posts about it - the top two lines/pairs get 80% - 90% of the ice, and the other 10 - 15 players split the rest.

My kid's team had a D kid come in last year, hot recruit. He was slotted in ahead of a couple of Seniors from Day 1 that he was nowhere near as good at. Had a disappointing year. But, he still got ice because the coach had to live up to the promises made to recruit him.

Any chance those Senior D kids had of going to higher level Juniors or a D-III school as a recruited player were gone. I heard one of them is doing a PG year. The other one chose the academic track. Maybe he would have done that anyway. Should have been his choice.

Go in eyes wide open.

Here's the easy non-response: The more academically rigorous the school, the more important the SSAT scores are. The better your player, or the more critical he is to a prep team, the less important they are.

The scores themselves will rarely be determinative -- every school will tell you that they are "one piece of a puzzle." If the player's grades are off-the-charts great from a good school and he interviews well, the prep school will cut you some slack on the SSAT scores because, as they'll tell you, the admissions process is holistic. But for those schools that do have tough admissions standards (for example, those schools that offer admission to, say, 30% or less of applicants), their schoolwork is probably pretty challenging, and they don't want to admit kids who will struggle. So, if you're culling your list, if the SSAT score is below the 50% percentile, cross-off the super selective schools unless you have reason to believe that they'll go out on a limb for you, and focus on the still good, but slightly-less-selective schools.

You might want to cast a wide net, though. Some coaches have quite a bit of pull with admissions, and can get a borderline kid admitted, especially if the kid interviews well and has no behavioral red flags. But other coaches will have less pull than you'd think. And you may not know the difference until March 10.

None of you hockey idiots can legitimately say your kids play three sports, at least not three real sports so save yourself the embarrassment and don’t try to b.s. the people making decisions regarding your kids’ future. Unless your kid is all of sudden going to grow a pair and play football or learn how to hit a baseball.

Wrong...He will be Capt. of the swim team:swimmer: :swimmer: and he's also one heck of a volleyball player too....:laughing: :laughing:

Nobody said they had to be good at three sports.. just that they had to play three sports. It is required in most boarding schools.

SSAT scores not important. Go to the hockey game instead.

Has game tomorrow, SSAT can wait. Could always apply next year