Need help deciphering your child’s ISEE score report? The Individual Student Report (ISR), which will be posted to your family’s online account several days after your child takes the ISEE exam, shows the results from your child’s exam day and some useful metrics for gauging how well they performed on the exam. Copies of the ISEE score report are also emailed to ERB schools and consultants if you have listed them as recipients (The essay,…
Families should try to keep test day as stress-free as possible. They should give themselves plenty of travel time to avoid any undue anxiety from rushing. Families should also confirm that they have all the required testing materials handy for test day. Students should get a good night’s sleep, eat breakfast or lunch before the test, and refrain from any last-minute cramming. WHAT TO BRING: Do not bring any personal items or materials to the…
In the Synonym, Sentence Completion, and Math sections of the ISEE, it is important for you to become comfortable with the one-two pass strategy. In the first pass, you should only attempt problems that you feel you have a good chance of being able to answer correctly. In the second pass, you should attempt the remaining problems. By using the one-two pass strategy, you won’t get caught up on a difficult problem halfway through and…
The key to mastering the reading sections of the ISEE test is two-fold: reading the passage effectively, and answering the questions efficiently. The reading section of the ISEE is designed to assess how well you are able to grasp the main idea and tone of a passage. The most important thing to remember is that you are not expected to retain details as you read. This is different from how you probably read other books…
The key to structuring your standard essay for the ISEE is to ensure you have the proper format. Here’s the general format for a successful standard essay: Introduction Sentence 1: Thesis/Answering the question Sentence 2: Introduce your first supporting paragraph (what you’re going to say in the second paragraph) Sentence 3: Introduce your second supporting paragraph (what you’re going to say in the third paragraph) Sentence 4: Sum up your ideas and transition into the…
The key to mastering the ISEE essay is preparing yourself for the difficulty of developing a full essay within 30 minutes. Before we discuss the details of the essay assignment, there’s something you need to know: your ISEE essay is not being scored. It will be sent along with the rest of your test to the schools to which you are applying. It is going to be looked at alongside your admission essay (if the…
The synonym section of the ISEE test is very challenging due to the difficult vocabulary, as well as the traps that the test-makers include to confuse you. The first trap to look out for is the Secondary Part of Speech Trap. Sometimes the word has a secondary meaning when it is used in a different part of speech. For example, words can be both a noun and a verb, and have different meanings depending on…
The key to performing well on the verbal section of the ISEE is mastering vocabulary. One of the main ways to understand how words are built is to study prefixes and roots. It is important to be able to break words that you do not recognize into pieces and decipher the meanings, because it’s better to be able to understand how words are made up than to just memorize them by rote. For example, the…
In order to perform well on the ISEE, learning to study vocabulary is crucial. The Verbal section challenges the vocabulary skills of even the strongest students. It can be difficult to study vocabulary with your busy schedule, but without making it a priority, you will not be able to perform well on the synonyms and sentence completions portions of the ISEE exam. What is most important to remember about studying vocabulary is that you will…
Private schools use the test scores for about ⅓ of their admission decision. They typically consider grades, scores, and extracurriculars/recommendations all equally. Remind your child that this test is not the end of the world, and will not be the only indicator of their ability to get into a good school. A perfect score is not necessary, and schools are looking for well-rounded students, so the test is just one part of the application. Private…
