SSAT Course
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SSAT COURSE AT INTERTU EDUCATION
SSAT exam preparation is an important part of the US student visa application from elementary to high school. SSAT scores show the ability in Languages, Mathematics and Debating to see if students are ready for the school environment taught entirely in English like the US or not, so most of the private 1-2-3 schools in the US require the SSAT as a condition for admission.
See also: SSAT certificate
1. Classification of SSAT levels
SSAT is divided into 3 levels with different test structure and scale suitable for students of different ages:
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- SSAT Elementary Level: For students in grades 3-4
- SSAT Middle Level: For students in grades 5-7
- SSAT Upper Level: For students in grades 8-11
The most important SSAT exam in Vietnam is the Upper Level, because few families send their children to study abroad at such a young age as primary or secondary school, which is usually from grades 8-11 or higher, mainly at the end of grade 9 or grade 10. Because if they wait until the end of grade 11, most parents choose to wait one more year to send their children to university. So in this article, when it comes to SSAT preparation, it means that Intertu is talking about SSAT Upper Level.
2. What difficulties do students often have with the SSAT?
SSAT is also a standardized test similar to the SAT, but because it is for low-level students, SSAT exam is much easier and doesn’t have as much deductive reasoning as the SAT. However, SSAT also has its own set of difficulties such as:
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- Writing Sample section is mandatory (unlike Essay section of the SAT, which is optional), candidates must choose between an individual or a communal topic, and then discuss the issue based on the chosen topic and you only have 25 minutes to complete this section.
- Quantitative section (similar to Mathematics section of the SAT) is divided into 2 parts, but both parts are NOT allowed to use a calculator.
- Verbal section mainly tests students’ vocabulary, so they need to read and learn a lot of new words to have a variety of synonyms in many fields.
- The time pressure is high, especially in Verbal section, each question only has 30 seconds to do.
- Although Reading section is not as difficult as the SAT, there are inference questions that force students to think to find the right answer.
- Students taking the SSAT are all at a young age and may have never taken an international test, which can easily lead to feelings of fear and confusion.
See also: What is academic English?
3. SSAT Test Prep courses at Intertu
3.1. SSAT Basic Test Prep
Suitable for students whose English is not very good and who are new to SSAT, the course teaches the main contents including:
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- Exam structure, question types, and knowledge limits in the SSAT.
- How to write correctly to avoid missing the topic of Writing Sample section.
- Synonyms and analogies in Verbal section.
- Get familiar with Reading questions and how to read for gist.
- Calculation method without calculator for Quantitative section.
- Practice SSAT mock tests with low difficulty and not under real test time pressure.
3.2. SSAT Advanced Test Prep
Suitable for students with good English proficiency and good Math ability, the course supports students:
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- How to build an outline and write the best Writing Sample.
- Practice a variety of questions about synonyms in a variety of topics.
- How to read information in a short time and make the best choice.
- Ability to quickly solve all types of Math exercises without using a calculator.
- Practice high difficulty SSAT mock tests with real time.
During the learning process, students practice the mock test to what extent, the teacher will correct the mistakes and focus on teaching the areas where they are still not sure until they have mastered the problem solving.
3.3. Accelerated SSAT Course
Intertu’s personalized and encapsulated accelerated course focuses on students’ strengths to ensure a viable score while reinforcing weaknesses to maximize student scores.
Teachers will teach through the entire content of the SSAT test so that students can understand the types of questions that will appear on the test, then learn about the best method for each question type and section.
Finally, teachers will provide advice on taking the test by analogy in schools where students do not fully understand the requirements or do not have enough time to read all the information.
4. What kind of SSAT course materials does Intertu use?
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- There are quite a few publishers who write SSAT books, but Intertu mainly uses SSAT preparation books from major publishers in the world such as The Princeton Review, Kaplan, Barron’s… In addition, there is also Upper Level SSAT: 1500+ Practice Questions by Tutorverse with 1,500 questions broken down by topic for students to practice focusing on the part they need to improve.
- SSAT Question Bank: An exclusive question bank from Intertu with more than 3,000 exercises for all sections, allowing teachers to choose and customize to create sets of questions suitable for students’ learning ability in each stage.
5. How long does it take to study for the SSAT?
Each private high school in the US will set different SSAT score requirements depending on the school’s reputation and ranking, from which students will have their own score goals corresponding to the school they want to apply to.
The total time to practice SSAT will vary based on many factors: goal score, learning ability, English background… so there is no specific time for each student. In addition, although it is the same Upper Level, schools will require lower grades for students of a younger age than for older students. For example, a school would require lower SSAT Upper Level scores for 8th graders, higher for 9th graders, and higher for 10th graders.
5.1. For beginners
It takes somewhere from 4 months with an average study time of about 4.5 hours per week for beginners who do not have a good English foundation and do not understand the structure of the SSAT exam to achieve an average score of about 1,950/2,400.
5.2. For those who already have foundation
It takes about 2 months with an average duration of 4.5 hours per week for a student with a good English background (equivalent to about 5.0 IELTS) or higher and good Math ability to achieve an average score of about 2,200/2,400.
6. Can students self-study SSAT at home?
In fact, for students aged 8 to 10, it seems very difficult to self-study at home for an international exam, they are still quite young to find a good learning method on their own, have the right preparation orientation from the beginning, not identify good study materials and close to the actual exam… so it can easily lead to taking a lot of time but the results are not as expected.
Therefore, parents should find an SSAT preparation center that is really necessary to support their children in the preparation process, catch the weak points that need to be improved, expand their vocabulary scientifically and quickly, instructing effective test-taking methods… so that they can soon achieve the desired score and realize their dream of studying in the US.
See also: What international certificates are needed when studying abroad?
7. Form and type of studying SSAT at Intertu
7.1. Form of studying
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- Offline SSAT test preparation: Suitable for students living in HCMC who want to study at the center to be motivated, want to study in a purely academic environment rather than at home.
- Online SSAT test preparation: Students in the province or in Hanoi who want to prepare for the SSAT but cannot find a reputable test preparation center in their locality and want to study online with an experienced SSAT teaching center, can contact Intertu. Intertu uses a “virtual classroom” with full features to support online teaching, ensuring online learning is as effective as offline.
7.2. Type of studying
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- 1 on 1 tutoring: Suitable for students who study SSAT quickly to timely supplement SSAT certificate for the upcoming admission in the US, or students who have a high score goal of 2,250 or higher.
- Private tutoring (up to 4 students): Suitable for a group of students who plan to study in the US between the ages of 8 and 11 and have similar score goals to progress together and reduce the burden of tuition.
- Small class (from 2 to 8 students): The course is packed according to a detailed and fixed route with different score outputs suitable for many types of students. The course curriculum is exclusively edited by Intertu to follow the actual structure of the annual SSAT exam.
8. Why should you choose SSAT preparation at Intertu Education?
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- Guaranteed output
- The curriculum follows the actual SSAT test
- Experienced and knowledgeable teachers about the SSAT
- Easy to understand and easy to remember teaching methods
- Update SSAT exam trends regularly
- Support SSAT exam registration for students
Intertu Education is currently enrolling students for SSAT test preparation course, SAT test preparation course, ACT test preparation course, GMAT test preparation course, GRE test preparation course, GED test preparation course. If you have any question about SSAT course, please contact us directly, via email or hotline for a free consultation.