SAO

Does your school accept the SAO?
If so, you can add this button to your school's website to give students more information.  Find out more in the Community Center.

Find More Applicants

Your school’s value is not found in its standard forms, but rather in the unique experience and education you provide to your students.

The inquiry and application process will be one of the first ways students will interact with your school in a meaningful way. It can be stressful and often tedious. Making it easier to find and apply to your school makes it easier on parents and students, allowing them to spend less time on applications and more time getting to know your school.

The Standard Application Online (SAO)

One application. One set of recommendations. One source for all the students applying to your school. More than 600 independent schools currently accept the SAO. Some members accept it exclusively. If you are paying a fee for your online application, or if you are receiving hundreds of sheets of paper every day during application season, consider accepting the SAO.

The SAO was created to closely match the content of the vast majority of school application forms. Most of the SAO is completed online by the student, with recommendation forms and transcript information completed once by teachers and administrators and sent to SSAT to be added to the students’ application. Schools can customize their applications with a logo and add a supplemental page if required.

Click here for more information on the SAO.
Click here to view the Student SAO Information page.
View a Sample SAO Application.


Online Inquiry Service

Make it easier for students to find out more about your school. Through the SSAT website and SSAT School Search, used by tens of thousands of students each year, students can choose to send online inquiries to any number of schools in which they have an interest, without having to visit each school site individually. Admission offices receive inquiries electronically, and save time, paper, and the manpower needed to organize them. Schools can tailor their online inquiries with a logo and opening and ending messages.

Schools Currently Considering Applicants (SCCA) list

Responding to the need of member schools to fill late openings, SSATB created the SCCA List. The SCCA List helps schools fill openings during the summer months and at mid-year by facilitating a referral network among independent day and boarding schools with admission openings.

SSAT Fee Waiver Program

The SSAT Fee Waiver Program was designed and implemented over 25 years ago to support access to member schools for economically disadvantaged student applicants.

SSATB member schools assess a student family's ability to pay the basic test fee and, if need is determined, assign an allocated fee waiver to the student. (Note that late, standby, and changes to the original test registration fee are not covered by the waiver. The Fee Waiver covers the cost of the US/Canada test only.)

The Admission Search Initiative

Pencils

Be sure to budget for the Admission Search Initiative this year – this highly targeted list service provides eligible schools with contact information for families in their specific market area with school-age children and qualifying incomes.   In addition, the ASI list includes SSAT test registrants who have agreed to be included – these are students who already have an interest in independent schools.  

How can you use the ASI? Our members have used it to send view books, specialized introductory letters, notices about open houses, summer programs, late openings, and much more. Why not use it to help publicize a school fair, or send along a piece detailing the accomplishments of current and former students? Your creativity and imagination are the only limits. If you enroll just one student that would not otherwise have considered your school, you will more than pay for this service.

Take advantage of SSAT’s specialized knowledge and exclusive access to your target market – include the ASI in your admission marketing budget and make your communications work for you!

For more information on the Admission Search Initiative, please contact Jennifer Davis, SSATB Member Services and Training Associate: .