Download the 2019-20 Middle & Upper Level SSATs At A Glance brochure
The Middle Level SSAT is a multiple-choice test for students currently in grades 5-7 that consists of verbal, quantitative (math), and reading comprehension sections.
Section |
Number of Questions |
Duration | |
---|---|---|---|
Writing Sample |
1 (unscored) |
25 minutes |
|
Break |
5 minutes |
||
Quantitative |
25 |
30 minutes |
|
Reading |
40 |
40 minutes |
|
Break |
10 minutes |
||
Verbal |
60 |
30 minutes |
|
Quantitative |
25 |
30 minutes |
|
Experimental |
16 |
15 minutes |
|
Totals |
167 |
3 hours, 5 minutes |
Of the 167 items including the writing sample, only 150 questions are scored.
At the beginning of the test, you are given 25 minutes to write a story or essay based on one of two prompts. This writing sample is sent to the admission officers at the schools to which you send score reports, to help them assess your writing skills. This section is not scored, and it is not included in the student score report unless you purchase it separately.
The quantitative (mathematics) section of the Middle Level SSAT measures your knowledge of algebra, geometry, and other quantitative concepts. You do not require and may not use a calculator for this section.
Many of the questions that appear in the quantitative sections of the Middle Level SSAT are structured in mathematical terms that directly state the operation you need to perform; others may not. In these problems, carefully consider how the question is worded and the way the information is presented to determine the operation(s) to perform.
• Literary fiction
• Humanities (biography, art, poetry)
• Science (anthropology, astronomy, medicine)
• Social studies (history, sociology, economics)
• Recognize the main idea
• Locate details
• Make inferences
• Derive the meaning of a word or phrase from its context
• Determine the author’s purpose
• Determine the author’s attitude and tone
• Understand and evaluate opinions/arguments
• Make predictions based on information in the passage
By presenting passages and questions about them, the reading comprehension section measures your ability to understand what you read. After you read each passage, you’ll be asked questions about its content or about the author’s style, intent, or point of view. In general, the SSAT uses two types of writing: narrative, which includes excerpts from novels, poems, short stories, or essays; and argument, which presents a definite point of view about a subject.
The verbal section of the Middle Level SSAT asks you identify synonyms and to interpret analogies. The synonym questions test the strength of your vocabulary. The analogy questions measure your ability to relate ideas to each other logically.
Synonyms are words that have the same or nearly the same meaning as another word. For example, fortunate is a synonym for lucky, tidy is a synonym for neat, and difficult is a synonym for hard. You must choose the answer word that has a meaning similar to the given word.
Analogies are comparisons between two things that are usually seen as different but have some similarities. These types of comparisons play an important role in improving problem-solving and decision-making skills, in perception and memory, in communication and reasoning skills, and in reading and building vocabulary. Analogies help you process information actively, make important decisions, and improve understanding and long-term memory. Considering these relationships stimulates critical and creative thinking.
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