Award-Winning ISEE Courses & Classes in New York City, NY

If your student's preparing to take one of the six versions of the ISEE, you ought to consider enrolling them in a New York City ISEE prep course provided by Varsity Tutors. These classes take place live online, and your student can interact with their instructor and classmates during class while they review the material that will be tested on the ISEE, along with the test structure and other details.

The ISEE, or Independent School Entrance Exam, delivers an advanced awareness of your child's abilities and personality, which helps admissions officials at private or independent schools throughout the admission process. Many other factors are considered, but the ISEE is considered a reliable tool and is taken into consideration with each student's application packet.

What subjects are covered in a New York City ISEE course?

Basic academic topics including reading, English, math, and writing are tested on the ISEE. Each subject is evaluated at an age-appropriate level on the different versions of the ISEE. The Primary Level has three discrete versions called Primary 2 for students entering 2nd grade, Primary 3 for students entering 3rd grade, and Primary 4 for students entering 4th grade. The Lower Level is for students entering grades 5 or 6; the Middle Level is for students entering grades 7 or 8; and the Upper Level is for students entering grades 9 through 12. Following is a quick description of each subject at each level.

There's a unique auditory comprehension section on the Primary 2 ISEE. Students listen to both fiction and nonfiction passages and answer a few questions about them. The rest of the Primary Level exams have the same content. Primary Levels 2, 3, and 4 have age-appropriate multiple-choice questions in the Reading and Math sections. Students are also given a visual prompt and required to write an unscored story about the picture. Although this Writing Sample isn't scored, schools do review it to get an idea of each student's creativity, writing ability, and personality.

The Lower, Middle, and Upper Level ISEE all include sections on Quantitative Reasoning, Math Achievement, Verbal Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, and an Essay.

Students are appraised on their proficiency with mathematical thinking in the Quantitative Reasoning section and their mathematical operations skills on the Math Achievement section. Both sections require students to demonstrate their knowledge of age-appropriate math skills, and only the approach they take is different. Questions involve algebra, data analysis, numbers and operations, problem-solving, and data analysis and probability, among other math skills.

The Verbal Reasoning sections use sentence-completion synonym questions in order to gauge each student's English skills. The expectation is for them to know age-appropriate vocabulary, parts of speech, context and word clues for understanding. Other English skills tested are the use of prefixes, suffixes, and root words from Anglo-Saxon, Latin, and Greek to determine the meaning of words they may not know.

For the Reading Comprehension section, students are evaluated on their abilities to understand main and supporting ideas, grade-appropriate vocabulary, cause and effect relationships, author's intent or purpose, and drawing conclusions or making inferences based on what's stated in the passages. Students will need to discriminate between literal and figurative language, compare and contrast information, and use the material learned in a passage to answer related questions. Again, similar content is tested at varying age levels.

Finally, students respond to a prompt about a subject believed to have relevance to students in each grade level with an essay. Students are responsible for planning and writing a written piece that is well organized and uses grade-appropriate writing skills including grammar, spelling, and various other English writing conventions. Schools review these written pieces because they want to know more about each student and their abilities, and reading their responses to these topics is a good way to do so. This essay isn't the same as college entrance exam essays, as adding in their thoughts and opinions is highly encouraged.

Your student will receive much more in-depth coverage of this material throughout their New York City ISEE course. Studies have shown that collaborating with their classmates and instructor can help your student learn and retain information. If they hit a block on a concept or topic and find it more difficult than it is for the other students, you can sign your student up for individual tutoring sessions. With focused one-on-one attention, they're likely to very quickly get caught up.

What advantages will my student have from taking a New York City ISEE class to prepare for the test?

There are a variety of ways having your student attend New York City ISEE classes can help them prepare. Some have been mentioned already, but one important aspect of learning with a professional instructor is the opportunity to learn test-taking strategies specifically useful for the ISEE and which can be useful for them on test day.

Standardized exams have their own rules and conventions. What should your child do if they're running out of time? Should they answer quickly to make sure no questions are left blank, or should they do their best and leave some blank? The answer depends on the test they're taking and how unanswered questions are treated. A professional New York City ISEE class instructor can discuss this with your student along with other test-specific strategies.

How can I enroll my student in a New York City ISEE course?

Making the entire ISEE test preparation process as convenient as possible for both students and their parents is important to Varsity Tutors. We offer ISEE courses that run for either two or four weeks, and e also offer a variety of sections that meet at different times and days of the week. You should be able to find a course section that matches your family's schedule. New classes start every week, so whenever you want your student to begin, you can get them started. All you have to do is simply contact Varsity Tutors and let us know your student's needs, goals, and schedule, and we can enroll them in a New York City ISEE course that can meet their needs. We look forward to helping your student as they work towards their goals.