What's the difference between the SSAT and the ISEE, and which should my child take?

Start with the schools — most accept either, some prefer one. The SSAT has verbal analogies and a quarter-point deduction for wrong answers, and can be taken repeatedly during the year. The ISEE has sentence completions and quantitative comparisons, no guessing penalty, and limits students to one sitting per testing season. Students strong at abstract relationships often prefer the SSAT; those stronger at math reasoning sometimes score better on the ISEE.

Should my child guess on questions they don't know?

On the ISEE, yes, always — there is no penalty for a wrong answer. On the SSAT, guessing is worth it once you can eliminate at least one choice; blind guessing across many questions costs points. Sessions cover how to make that call quickly under time pressure.

How far ahead should we start preparing?

Most families begin two to four months before the test date, working in short regular sessions rather than long ones. Vocabulary and analogy work in particular benefit from spacing over weeks. If the ISEE is the target, remember the one-sitting-per-season rule leaves less room to retest.

No. Both the SSAT writing sample and the ISEE essay are unscored but sent to schools as a writing sample. Admissions readers use it to see unedited, handwritten work, so legibility, a clear structure and finishing the piece matter more than sophisticated vocabulary.

SSAT / ISEE

SAT / ACT · Test Prep

The SSAT and ISEE are admissions tests for independent day and boarding schools, and they behave differently from the college tests in this level. Both are given at Lower, Middle and Upper Levels, both are scored as a percentile against other applicants in the same grade rather than against all students, and both include question types — analogies, synonyms, quantitative comparisons — that students rarely meet in school. Sessions work on the specific level your child is sitting (Middle Level SSAT for grades 5-7 applying to 6-8, Upper Level for 8-11, ISEE Lower/Middle/Upper on its own grade bands), and cover the content, the timing, and the scoring rules that decide whether guessing helps or hurts.

Start a session on SSAT / ISEE

What this covers

Analogy bridges on the SSAT verbal section: building a precise sentence linking the stem pair, then testing it against all five choices before eliminating
ISEE sentence completions and single- and double-blank logic, plus synonym work built on Latin and Greek roots, prefixes and suffixes rather than memorised word lists
ISEE Quantitative Reasoning comparisons: deciding between Column A, Column B, equal, or not enough information, and testing values including zero, negatives and fractions
Mental and paper arithmetic, fractions, ratios, percents, exponents and basic geometry with no calculator permitted at any level of either test
Reading short, dense passages — poetry, historical documents, science extracts — where main idea, tone and inference questions come faster than the passage length suggests
The unscored essay or writing sample: reading the prompt correctly, planning in two minutes, and producing a legible, complete draft in 25-30 minutes

Where learners get stuck

Guessing on the SSAT the same way as on the ISEE: The SSAT deducts a quarter point for wrong answers while the ISEE has no penalty at all. Students who prep with mixed materials, or who carry over 'always fill something in' advice from other tests, either leave easy ISEE questions blank or blind-guess their way into SSAT deductions. The rule is a strategy decision per test, not a personality trait.
Answering analogies by topic association instead of relationship: Given SCISSORS : CUT, a student picks a choice containing 'paper' or 'knife' because it feels related. Analogies reward a stated relationship — 'a tool used to' — and the wrong answers are deliberately built from the stem's subject area. Younger students have almost no classroom practice with this format, so association is their only instinct.
Treating 'not enough information' in ISEE quantitative comparisons as either a trap or a safe default: Students test one convenient value, usually a positive whole number, see the columns match, and choose 'equal'. Or they panic and choose D whenever a variable appears. The fix is a habit of trying at least a negative, a fraction and zero before committing.
Reading a high raw score as a high percentile: Both tests norm against other applicants to selective schools over recent years, and the ISEE reports stanines from 1 to 9. Getting most questions right can still land mid-range. Knowing this early prevents a demoralising first score report and keeps the focus on which sections actually move the number.

What a session looks like

Sessions are one-on-one voice conversations. Evelyn asks which test, which level and which test date, then works through problems out loud — you say your reasoning for an analogy bridge or a quantitative comparison, and she stops you at the point the logic slips rather than at the final answer. Vocabulary is drilled in short spoken rounds using roots and context. Timing is practised on question sets rather than whole sections, so a student learns what 45 seconds of thinking actually feels like. Essay work is done by talking through a prompt, planning aloud, and then reviewing a draft written offline.

Helpful to know first

Know which test the target schools require and which level your child will sit — content differs sharply between Lower, Middle and Upper Level
Comfort with fractions, decimals, percents and multi-step arithmetic done by hand, since no calculator is allowed
For Upper Level SSAT and ISEE: exposure to Algebra I basics and elementary geometry, including coordinate points, area and angle rules
A recent practice test or score report is useful but not required for a first session

Questions

What's the difference between the SSAT and the ISEE, and which should my child take?: Start with the schools — most accept either, some prefer one. The SSAT has verbal analogies and a quarter-point deduction for wrong answers, and can be taken repeatedly during the year. The ISEE has sentence completions and quantitative comparisons, no guessing penalty, and limits students to one sitting per testing season. Students strong at abstract relationships often prefer the SSAT; those stronger at math reasoning sometimes score better on the ISEE.
Should my child guess on questions they don't know?: On the ISEE, yes, always — there is no penalty for a wrong answer. On the SSAT, guessing is worth it once you can eliminate at least one choice; blind guessing across many questions costs points. Sessions cover how to make that call quickly under time pressure.
How far ahead should we start preparing?: Most families begin two to four months before the test date, working in short regular sessions rather than long ones. Vocabulary and analogy work in particular benefit from spacing over weeks. If the ISEE is the target, remember the one-sitting-per-season rule leaves less room to retest.
Is the essay scored?: No. Both the SSAT writing sample and the ISEE essay are unscored but sent to schools as a writing sample. Admissions readers use it to see unedited, handwritten work, so legibility, a clear structure and finishing the piece matter more than sophisticated vocabulary.