Tips for Every Section of the ISEE

As part of our ongoing efforts in advancing student growth, ERB partners with Test Innovators to provide high-quality test preparation for the ISEE, our admission exam. Below, Sophie Brenner from Test Innovators shares tips for every section of the ISEE.

The ISEE assesses a student’s learning achievement and reasoning ability. The questions are based on guidelines from the National Councils of Teachers of English and Mathematics, so it’s important to have a thorough understanding of grade-level English and math; however, strong content knowledge is just one piece of the puzzle. 

As for any assessment, best demonstrating your knowledge on the ISEE also requires a strong set of test-taking skills, such as time management and answer choice elimination. Test-taking, like any skill, can be learned and improved through practice. 

Below, we’ve compiled test-taking tips for every section of the ISEE.

Verbal Reasoning

The Verbal Reasoning section focuses on vocabulary. You can expect to see two types of questions in this section: synonym questions and sentence completion questions. 

Synonym questions ask you to identify the answer that most closely resembles the meaning of a given word. Sentence completion questions ask you to pick the answer that best completes the blank(s) within a sentence.

Learn new words

Since both types of questions require a strong vocabulary, focusing on improving this skill is a great place to start. The best way to improve your vocabulary is to study a little bit each day. Just 10-15 minutes of daily studying can have a big impact!  

Flashcards are a great way to practice learning new words, but they aren’t the only way to enhance your vocabulary. You can spice up your study routine by drawing pictures that depict the words that you’re learning, writing a creative story that uses new words, or practicing using them in sentences with your friends and family.

Study root words

Root words are often considered the “heart” of the word, so having a solid understanding of the most common ones can help you to break apart unfamiliar words. For example, you may not know what the word “luminous” means, but if you know the root word “lum” means “light” you may be able to deduce the word’s meaning based on the possible answers that you can choose. You can use the Test Innovators free root words Quizlet set to start studying.

“Chronic” is an example of a word that can be broken down into smaller parts: chron- and -ic. The root chron means time. The suffix ic implies that the word’s meaning is directly associated with the first part of the word. We can assume based on these roots that the answer will have to do with time in some way, making D) persistent the correct choice. 

Think of your own answer first

After reading a question, it can be tempting to look at the answers as the first step in solving the problem. However, it’s best to take a moment to come up with your own answer first. This strategy is effective because it allows you to lean on your own knowledge and understanding without being distracted by incorrect choices.

Quantitative Reasoning and Mathematics Achievement

The Quantitative Reasoning and Mathematics Achievement sections both focus on assessing students’ mathematical abilities, but there are some key differences between them.

The Quantitative Reasoning section tests a student’s ability to use logic and reason to solve a problem. These questions typically won’t require significant calculations. Instead, they’re meant to be solved with numerical and logical reasoning.

The Mathematics Achievement section, on the other hand, tests students on mathematical skills and concepts that they’ve learned at school. 

Read carefully

One of the easiest and most common mistakes that students make on the math sections is also one of the most avoidable: misreading the question. Take your time when reading each question to ensure that you fully understand what’s being asked of you. 

Underlining important information can be an effective strategy to identify exactly what the question wants you to find. Look for words and numbers that indicate the quantities, relationships, and calculations that you’ll need to answer the question. 

Work backwards

For many of the questions in the two math sections, you can use the possible answers as a jumping-off point. Since all of the questions are multiple-choice, you know the correct answer is there. Use this to your advantage! For questions with an unknown quantity, you can find out the correct answer by substituting each choice for the unknown quantity.

Choose values

Math questions can sometimes be difficult to solve abstractly. For example, you might be asked to determine how an unknown quantity changes when subjected to multiple percent adjustments, or to solve for one unknown variable in relation to other unknown variables. For questions like these, substituting real numbers into the problem can make it easier to solve.

For example, let’s solve the question above by substituting values into the problem. We’ll start by choosing easy values for the base and height of the triangle. Let’s use 10 for the base and 20 for the height. The formula for finding the area of a triangle is ½ * base * height, which means that the initial area of the triangle is 0.5･10･20 = 100.

We know that the base decreases by 40%. We can solve for this by multiplying 0.4･10, so our new base will be 6. The height increases by 60%, so when we multiply 1.6･20, our new height will be 32. This means that the new area of the triangle is 0.5･6･32 = 96.

Since our original area was 100 and our new area is 96, we can determine the percent decrease by subtracting our original area, 100, from our new area, 96, and dividing the sum by 100. We then multiply that number by 100 to give us -4, or a decrease of 4%, which is answer choice A.

Reading Comprehension

The Reading Comprehension section assesses students’ ability to read, analyze information, and make conclusions about what they’ve read. Students may be asked to identify the main idea, tone, or audience in a given passage, or what a specific word or phrase means in the context of the passage.

Focus on evidence

When it comes to reading comprehension, it’s important to remember that every answer is based on information explicitly provided in the passage. Think of reading comprehension as a scavenger hunt—your goal is to become as skilled as possible at tracking down the specific lines or sections that contain the answer to each question!

If any part of a possible answer does not align with the details or meaning in the passage, you can automatically assume it’s incorrect. The correct answer will always convey the same meaning as what is stated or implied in the passage, without adding or altering any details.

Avoid extreme answers

Be cautious of answer choices that seem extreme. Words like “only,” “always,” “never,” “best,” or “every” often signal that an answer is likely to be incorrect. Extreme language like this should only be selected if you are absolutely sure that the passage supports such a strong statement.

For example, answer choice C uses extreme language by saying, “a state capital matters in name only, with no real influence.” Unless the passage explicitly states that a state capital matters in name only, this answer choice is unlikely to be correct. You should only choose answers with extreme words like this if you’re absolutely sure that they are supported in the passage.

Find the main idea

The reading passages can be long, so it’s important to stay engaged as you go. As you read through the passage, make notes and underline key points. Then, summarize the main idea of each paragraph in a few words or a brief phrase. 

Once you finish reading the entire passage, take a moment to consider the overall message. These notes and reflections will help you answer questions more efficiently and reduce the need to re-read large sections of the text. When evaluating the possible answers, eliminate the ones that don’t align with the main idea or overarching theme of the passage.

The Essay

The essay is the only unscored portion of the ISEE, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important. The essay section is meant to assess a student’s ability to organize their thoughts, stay on topic, and express themselves in a timed setting.

Write about something meaningful

Students are provided with an essay topic to respond to. Your response should be  something that you’re familiar with and passionate about. Focus on writing in a way that shows off your unique personality and interests, and try to avoid any examples that could potentially be negatively interpreted by the reader. The essay is a fantastic opportunity to show the schools who you are, so make the most of it!

Structure your essay

When structuring your essay, your guiding star should always be to clearly answer the prompt with whatever you’ve chosen to write about. The essay should look a lot like the essays that you’ve written in school—a strong introduction, followed by two to three body paragraphs with plenty of supporting evidence and examples, and a conclusion that wraps everything up and restates your main idea in a new way.

Use examples

Remember, the magic of your writing is truly in the details! Whenever possible, your writing should feature examples and details that bring your points off the page. Your essay can provide people with a window into your thinking, passions, and experiences, so your body paragraphs in particular should draw on key details and stories from your life.

The ISEE is your opportunity to show schools your academic readiness, and having a strong knowledge of English and math plays a critical role in this. However, to best demonstrate your abilities, it’s important to learn test-taking skills that will set you up for success on test day. 

As part of our commitment to ensure every student performs their best on test day, Test Innovators and ERB have partnered to provide students with high-quality practice. You can learn more about ISEE preparation here.