ISEE Test

Many selective private schools in America require prospective students to take the Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE). It's a test designed to do two things-measure a student's ability to learn, and to see how much knowledge they've acquired already. It's a three hour test, and it may only be taken once every six months. The test does require the writing of an essay, but the essay is not graded or scored; it's only sent to prospective schools. Except for the essay, all tests are multiple choice.

The first section of the ISEE test is Verbal Reasoning, and it's set up around two main factors-synonym recognition, and the ability to correctly complete an unfinished sentence. There are 40 questions on this portion of the ISEE, and it takes 20 minutes to complete. The second part is Quantitative Reasoning, and students have 35 minutes to complete 35 questions. The aptitudes covered are the abilities to grasp basic math, algebra, geometry, understanding advanced concepts and applying them, and quantitative comparison. Reading Comprehension takes 40 minutes and has 40 questions about several short passages in humanities, science, and social studies. The next part of the ISEE is on actual mathematical knowledge in the areas of basic math, algebra, and geometry, and the ability to apply this knowledge in those areas. Students have 40 minutes to complete 45 question in this part. Calculators are not allowed. Finally, students will have 30 minutes to write an essay on an assigned topic.

Scores are sent to the parents a few weeks after the test, and also to designated schools. There's really no such thing as passing or failing the test-each private school determines for themselves what an acceptable score is. But because far more students want to attend selective private schools than the schools can accept, and because there's a six month wait to retake the test, it's very important to do as well as possible on the ISEE exam. Achieving a high score can enable a student to take advantage of a first class private school education.

StudyGuideZone.com offers an exclusive free, downloadable study guide to the Internet community for the ISEE test.  The guide is in PDF format, so you'll need Adobe's free Reader (already installed on most computers) to view it.  Anyone is free to link to this page or the study guide on our server to let students know about this resource.

As your test day approaches, make sure that you have had plenty of time to study. Review an ISEE test study guide or study using ISEE test flashcards so that you strengthen any areas that might be more difficult for you on the test. You'll have the rest of your life to enjoy being successful on the exam, but you can only spend time between now and your test day to get prepared. Study hard and maximize your chances of success.

Click here to download StudyGuideZone.com's free ISEE Study Guide

For additional information, we recommend you check out these free ISEE resources:

ISEE Study Guide

ISEE Test Information

ISEE Practice Questions