All You Need To Know About The ISEE In Five Minutes

Are you and your child applying to private middle school or high school for fall 2011 admissions? Do you find yourself staring bewilderingly at the application request for your student’s recent ISEE scores, and reminding you that its never too early to consider SAT tutoring?

Sure, you may have questions – but you are not alone: every year about 45,000 kids take the ISEE, which means your questions have been considered, asked, and answered before. Short on time? Look no further – in just a few minutes you will understand the basics of the ISEE.

1. The ISEE sounds familiar. Has my child taken it before?

Unless you have applied to private school in the past, your child has not taken the ISEE. However, it is likely that you have heard of the company that makes the ISEE – the ERB. The ERB is responsible for the CTP (“ERBs”), an exam administered every year in private school to test student performance against “advanced” grade standards. The ISEE is based on similar expectations.

2. I went to the ERB website to register my child for the ISEE, and it asked me what grade we are applying for. Why?

There are three levels of the ISEE: the Lower Level, the Middle Level, and the Upper Level. The level your student will take depends on the grade your student is in. However, the ERB has clustered certain grades: students in 4th or 5th grade take the Lower Level exam, those in 6th or 7th take the Middle Level exam, and students 8th grade or above applying for any grade in high school take the Upper Level exam.

3. Does this mean that my 8th grader is taking the same test as a 9th grader? That’s not fair!

Correct. But your 8th grader’s performance will only be calculated and scored in comparison to that of fellow 8th graders.

4. How are the tests scored?

There are five sections on the ISEE: Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, Mathematics Achievement and an Essay. Each student’s raw score (per section) is calculated based upon the number of questions answered correctly (there is no penalty for an incorrect answer). Each raw score is then converted to a scaled score between 760 and 940 (according to the “three year rolling norm pool” for that section) and then converted in to a percentile (ranking) that appears in the form of a stanine (a number from 1- 9).

5. I’m confused. What is considered a “good score”?

Since scores are evaluated in various terms of “comparison,” we encourage students to simply do their best to achieve their potential. Each school accepts a range of stanine scores, but most admissions counselors I’ve asked want everyone to remember that ISEE scores aren’t the only factor considered in the admission decision – schools are building classes, and they emphasize that test scores are just one of dozens of factors they look at when considering a student for their school.

6. My child is nervous about the exam. What can I do?

As with any new experience, familiarity breeds confidence. We recommend having your child take practice tests so that he or she will know what to expect on test day – everything from how much time is allotted for each section to when they can take bathroom breaks.

Since the ISEE is standardized, with studying and review, students can become familiar with the types of topics the test will cover, improve their knowledge base, and practice efficient test-taking strategies (like ways to derive the correct answer choice without taking the time to “solve” the question). The more comfortable students feel with the task at hand, the more they will feel like they can put their best foot forward.

Unfortunately, the ERB has only published one real ISEE from each level, which makes the “test-day” experience difficult to match. That said, since rehearsing what will happen on test day is a key component to any student’s preparation, Launch Education Group has created two practice exams based on the published ISEE exams from the ERB to provide more opportunity for practice. Princeton Review and Kaplan also offer practice exams, although they have not been updated for the new ISEE format.

7. When is the test? Can my child take it more than once?

Testing this year starts December 4th. Most schools recommend taking the ISEE as soon as possible, but there are test dates offered throughout the early spring. Check with the schools on your application list to make sure the test date you have selected is within the deadline. Students can only take the ISEE once every six months. Therefore, plan accordingly!

For registration and more information, visit the ERB website.

Good luck!

NYC: A Sea of Schools

Enrolling your child in a private school in New York City is no easy feat. There are over 900 privately run schools in the city, some of which are among the most competitive independent schools in the nation. From researching the schools to registering for standardized tests to submitting applications, the process can be overwhelming. I’m no expert, but something tells me that the key to staying above water is staying informed.

The first step is narrowing your search. Learn as much as you can about the schools you are considering, and decide which ones could be a good match for your family. Talk to friends, do research online, attend workshops, visit and request information from schools—do what you need to do in order to finalize the list of schools to which your child will be applying.

Next, register your child for any standardized tests he/she will need to take, and remember it is never too early to start SAT test prep. Most middle and high schools require the ISEE (check the school's website or admission material). The sooner your child starts preparing for this test, the better. But don’t get bogged down trying to figure out what score is needed to get admitted here or there as this information is often hard to come by.

At some point, you’ll find yourself neck deep in test prep, applications, interviews, shadow days, and a number of other things on your admissions checklist. As you muddle through, remember to keep one eye on the present and one eye on the looming deadlines. Most applications, including essays, test scores, recommendations, and transcripts are due in January or February. For some, this is the hardest part; for others, it’s the uncertainty that surfaces right after.

Will my child get accepted? Waitlisted? Rejected? The truth is, once the application is out of your hands, so is the school’s decision. My advice: focus on the part you can control. There are a ton of available resources to make this otherwise taxing application process manageable—and hopefully, worthwhile!

Here are a few good place to start:

The National Association of Independent Schools

The Independent School Admission Association of Greater New York

The Parents League of New York