Could someone please suggest ISEE practice books with accurate answer explanations for English and Math sections. Are there seperate books best for each of these 2 sections ?
Is there a consolidated vocabulary list anywhere ISEE upper level ?
I personally used the ISEE Upper practice book from elevate prep, the 504 Essential Words for SSAT & ISEE (Upper) by J Jonathan, and the Mometrix ISEE upper level books. The elevate prep raised my reading comprehension score from 72 percentile to 99th so I definitely recommend that! Quizlet and local libraries also have some good study materials.
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I forgot to add that I used the website readtheory. It was recommended by someone on this website and it really helped me get the better score.
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Hello, Thankyou for your response. Did you take your ISEE exam or SSAT exam ; which year did you write this exam?
I took the ISEE and SSAT this year.
All the best with admission process, what schools do you have in mind ? How long did you prepare for the exams ? From your learning experience, which exam(ISEE/SSAT) is easier on English for students who are struggling with English compared to math ?
Thank you! I have schools like Concord and Loomis in mind (overall first choices). I prepared for the exams throughout summer and really grinded during the last few weeks prior to the exam. I ended up with low scores (for the schools that I am applying to) such as 70th percentiles with the one 98th percentile in math. After that, I focused on my weak sections and made sure to study consistently (this is key). The thing is, the ISEE is considered to be easier in comparison to the SSAT in the reading and verbal sections. When I first took the ISEE I only got 4 questions wrong in the reading section but got 72nd percentile. The second time it was only 2 questions wrong and I scored in the 99th percentile. My thinking is that because the reading section is fairly simple, many kids score well and that makes the difference between 4 questions and 2 questions off very big. I actually just took the SSAT today so I haven’t gotten my scores back but I can tell you that the reading and verbal sections definitely felt harder. Take this with a grain of salt as I’m sure others have different experiences!
Wow so you are very much into the process at this time. Are you an 8th grader ? Loomis surely is a very good reputed school! Did you prepare for both SSAT and ISEE or just ISEE? The vocabulary words in the exams - were they mostly from the book you suggested ? Dont know if it is too much to ask but can we exchange emails just so I am able to get guidance from you ?
Hi, I prepared for the ISEE and just worked on my analogies for the SSAT and I only used the book by J Jonathan. I can message you through college confidential but I will say no sharing of private info on either parts, it seems obvious but I know people who’ve been burned by it before.
Alright alright, did your ISEE words in exam get picked out from the 504 wordlist book ?
Your drill was out of the Elevate book practise tests or something else
Some of them…obviously I couldn’t study each and every word so I learned some common prefixes and root words. The test innovators site provides a free full length online ISEE practice test (and it scores it for you whilst giving you the percentile range!) but only that one, the rest have to be purchased. I used the free practice test and the book practice tests.
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Hello again, Haopy New Year! How has the private school admission season been for you ?
Happy new year! I’m doing well with only one short answer and two interviews left. After that I’m done and will remain ansty to the weeks leading up to M10.
Good to know. Did you take ISEE exam in prometric centres? Also what has been your percentile in 4 sections if you do not mind sharing.Good luck with your interviews.
Yes, I did take it in the prometric centers. I don’t remember the exacts scores but I think 85 percentile vocab, 99 percentile reading, 89 (88?) percentile qr, and 98 percentile mathematic achievement.
However, I ended up submitting my 96th percentile overall SSAT score because all the individual scores were above 90 and I liked the essay better.
That was a twist, so you prepared for just ISEE or SSAT as well?
I didn’t prepare for the SSAT as much as ISEE because I already studied a lot of the same content. Just analogy prep.
I would say there’s the overlap part that you prepare for one, it’s like you prepare for both. My son used the Princeton Review SSAT & ISEE Prep // and Kaplan SSAT and ISEE middle and upper level prep. He did the self-study using these two books.
He got the verbal part (SSAT) from 80-th percentile in the sample papers up to 91th-percentile from the real test. For the quantitative part, he only did one sample paper to familiarize himself with the format, and he got full mark 99th-percentile from the real test. His reading score is just so-so, and he ended up with the overall of 93th-percentile. We don’t have any other scores to compare with, because he could only take one test before flying back to UK. @Shawn1911
Please DM me and I can send you the file of vocab list that he used, if you still need it.
Sorry that I just came across this thread.
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Other than photo id, what should i carry for the ISEE test to prometric. I am goving my baseline on Monday. Is blank scratch paper allowed? Anything else?
Snack and water. No electronics on the test.