Is math not your favorite subject, or perhaps not your best? No matter how you feel about math, taking the Middle Level ISEE means completing two math sections: the Quantitative Reasoning section and the Quantitative Reasoning section; however, these sections aren’t duplicates of each other. The Quantitative Reasoning section of the Middle Level ISEE doesn’t actually require you to do much calculating at all. This may surprise you. What kind of math could it possibly test, if it doesn’t require any calculations? Is the entire exam made up of problems like “2+2”? Unfortunately, while that hypothetical exam may sound like one you’d like to take, the Middle Level ISEE Quantitative Reasoning section does ask some challenging questions, perhaps questions even more challenging than those which require calculation. If you’re familiar with the types of questions the Middle Level ISEE Quantitative Reasoning section asks you and the ways in which it asks these questions, as well as a great resource online which you can use to study, you can prepare yourself for the Middle Level ISEE Quantitative Reasoning section with ease.

The Middle Level ISEE’s Quantitative Reasoning section consists of forty-seven questions, which you are given forty minutes to solve. These questions do not require many if any calculations; instead, they test concepts such as the analysis of statistics, graphs, and other representations of data; probability; measurement; comparing and contrasting quantities; logic; and estimation.

Two types of questions are featured on the Middle Level ISEE’s Quantitative Reasoning section. The first of these is the standard type of question found on most mathematical or quantitative sections of standardized tests: a problem presents a story problem or equation that you need to solve, and the answer choices presented correspond with potential values or answers to the problem. The second type of problem on the Middle Level ISEE’s Quantitative Reasoning section is quantitative comparison. These special types of problems present two columns, in which there are different values or mathematical expressions that can be reduced down to values. The answer choices presented for every quantitative comparison question are always the same: one says that Column A contains the greater value, another that Column B contains the greater value, a third says that the values of the two columns are the same, and the fourth says that enough information is not provided for you to be able to solve the problem. It is important to keep your scratchwork orderly when solving quantitative comparison problems, as the last thing you want is to mix up which numbers go with which columns!

By taking Varsity Tutors’ free ISEE Middle Level Quantitative Reasoning Practice Tests, you can get a better idea of the kinds of problems that might appear on this section. Each Practice Test contains about a dozen problems drawn from the variety of topics that can be tested on the Middle Level ISEE’s Quantitative Reasoning section. You can also choose to focus on doing problems of a single type or that deal with a single topic. After you complete a Practice Test, you get to see detailed results, including how you did in comparison to other students who answered the same problems and how much time it took you to solve each problem. You can also read detailed answer explanations for each problem, no matter if you got it right or missed it. By reading the explanations for problem that you miss, you can figure out where you made an error and learn to not make that same error again.

You can also pare down the number of topics you need to review by taking a free Full-Length Middle Level ISEE Quantitative Reasoning Practice Test. Every topic you might encounter on the real exam is covered on these free online tests. These simulating exams also provide you with the opportunity to work on your test-taking pace and mental endurance. Just like on the results pages for the concept-specific practice tests, the results pages for the full-length practice tests offer a wealth of useful statistics, links to in-depth review resources, and step-by-step explanations that walk you through each answer. These online ISEE practice tests can also help you create a customized review plan focusing on only the concepts you need to review. After you’ve brushed up on your skills, you can return to take another free Full-Length Middle Level ISEE Quantitative Reasoning Practice Test to evaluate your progress.

By practicing the unique type of mathematical reasoning that the ISEE’s Quantitative Reasoning section tests, you can prepare yourself for this section and feel completely ready for it on test day.