Character Skills Snapshot now a criteria in admissions

This will be the first year that Uni is using the Character Skills Snapshot by the Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT) as a criteria in the application process. The Character Skills Snapshot is supposed to provide Uni with a more holistic view of what its applicants are like.

According to the SSAT, it is “a new online assessment tool that provides schools with a more holistic view of a child.” Furthermore, the SSAT claims that the snapshot provides a school with insight on how they can further enrich their students with specific skills.

The snapshot is intended to measure eight skills: intellectual curiosity, teamwork, initiative, responsibility, resilience, self-control, open-mindedness, and social awareness. The SSAT hasn’t released any practice questions yet, but they claim it should take twenty to thirty minutes and must be completed in one sitting. Students can take the snapshot at home on a device with internet connection, and if they are signed up for the SSAT, the snapshot is free.

“I’m excited for the new information we’re going to get about our applicants,” said Associate Director, Dr. Ida Nuckolls. Nuckolls says it gives Uni an opportunity to learn more about its incoming students in a holistic lens.

“We believe that our student applicants are more than just numbers, and I don’t think that the SSAT or the short answer questions on the application really provide the opportunity for students to share a lot of their characteristics,” said Nuckolls.

Nuckolls stressed that there are no right or wrong answers and it is not a personality test. She said that there isn’t a concern that parents will fill out the questions, as the test looks for consistency within the answers. The questions are presented in different ways, but they test similar skills. Furthermore, this test will give Uni an idea of how it can help its incoming students.

“We want to make sure we’re building a class of students who feel comfortable ‘collaborating,’ The results will give us an indication of what skills the school might need to help students,” said Nuckolls.