About the ISEE Upper Level
The ISEE Upper Level is the ACT of private school admissions for grades 9 through 12. Just as colleges use the SAT and ACT to determine applicant preparedness, many independent schools across the US achieve the same effect with the ISEE.
Because teachers, curriculums, and academic difficulty vary from school to school, a student’s report card is not sufficient enough to accurately compare students from different schools. Therefore they use a standardized test like the ISEE.
ISEE is an acronym that stands for the Independent School Entrance Exam. It is administered by the non-profit group ERB, Educational Records Bureau. You’ve probably heard of ERB before in the context of annual testing, particularly if your school administers the CTP-4, which is somewhat similar to the ISEE.
ISEE Upper Level Research, Analysis, & Adice
What is Tested on the ISEE Upper Level – An Analysis of Topics, Difficulty, and Even Word Counts
The Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE) Upper Level is a popular admissions test taken by American students applying to private US high schools for grades 9-12. It is developed and marketed by the non-profit Educational Records Bureau (ERB). Students receive about 3-hours to complete the 161-question ISEE, which is comprised of 4, separately scored sub-tests and a non-scored essay: Verbal Reasoning Quantitative Reasoning Reading Comprehension Mathematics Achievement Essay Click here [...]
Reading Comprehension Questions on the Upper Level ISEE
Students will have 35 minutes to read six passages and answer 36 questions in the Reading Comprehension section. These passages will cover a wide variety of topics, including the humanities (literature, art, biography), social studies (history, economics, sociology), and science (medicine, meteorology, zoology). Each passage is followed by a number of questions that are based on the content of the passage. These questions are not designed to trick you or ask [...]
ISEE Math Review – Mean, Median, Mode, Range, and Weighted Average
Data, data, data! Most jobs and businesses rely on analyzed data to perform well in the working world, including the ERB. How else do you think the ERB determines Scaled Scores, Percentile Ranks, and Stanines for your ISEE results? Even your grades in school since the beginning have been analyzed to show you and your parents how well you have been performing in class. What you complete in class, such [...]
Synonym Questions on the ISEE Upper Level
The Upper Level ISEE Verbal Reasoning section is composed of two parts - synonyms and sentence completions. You will have 20 minutes to answer 20 Synonym Questions and 20 Sentence Completion Questions. These questions test your knowledge of vocabulary and your ability to apply that knowledge. (Skip this how-to guide and go straight to practicing - free log-in required) For Synonyms, you must know the definition of the word in [...]
ISEE Upper Level Overview and Test-Taking Strategies
The Educational Records Bureau (ERB) developed the Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE) as an admissions tool for private schools, much like the SAT and ACT are used as admissions tools for colleges and universities. The ISEE tests a student’s knowledge of and skills in vocabulary, math, reading, writing, critical thinking, and reasoning to demonstrate to private schools the student’s capabilities and how well the student might perform under their instruction. [...]
ISEE Math Review – Number Types
The ISEE will directly and indirectly test your knowledge of number types. For example, a word problem may include rules where its values may only be integers or whole numbers. Real Numbers (Numbers that Exists) Natural Numbers include positive numbers do not include zero do not include negative numbers do not include decimals or fractions Examples ✓ 1, 2, 3, 4 [...]
