Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Emily Glickman is the founder and president of Abacus Guide Educational Consulting, a leading private school consulting service in New York. She currently serves as an alumni admissions interviewer for Columbia University and is a vastly well-known expert on private school admissions. Emily has also been featured in several prestigious publications such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. VT: What is the typical timeline for private school admissions? Emily: Families should start to think about private school admissions ab... Read More About Ask a Private School Admissions Expert: Emily Glickman

The SSAT along with the ISEE (Independent School Entrance Exam) are used for admissions into private/independent schools. Some schools favor the ISEE, others favor the SSAT and some will look at whichever you scored best on. See more from Varsity Tutors on how to improve ISEE scores. Don’t add pressure: The tests can cause tons of pressure and anxiety for younger students, especially when parents pile it on. That’s why having the right mindset is just as important as the best SSAT prep. Avoid telling your child “you need to do well,” “you must do well,” or “if you don’t do well…” ... Read More About How To Improve SSAT Scores

Which is better: the Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE) or the Secondary School Aptitude Test (SSAT)? Well, both are used for entrance into private/independent schools, but they’re not exactly interchangeable. Some independent schools will accept only the ISEE, others only the SSAT, and some will consider whichever test you scored higher on. But, before you spend tons of hours prepping for one test, make sure the school(s) you’re interested in accept it. Test levels: First of all, the ISEE has three levels: lower for students currently in grades 4-5, middle for grades 6-7 and upper for grades 8-11. The SSAT only has two leve... Read More About Comparing The ISEE And The SSAT

The ISEE essay is not scored. But, you can request for your essay to be photocopied and sent to certain schools – or you can leave it off your ISEE report entirely. But, why wouldn’t you send your ISEE essay to every school? If you don’t send it, private schools are just going to think you’re hiding something from them. Not sending an essay tells schools you didn’t care enough to prepare for it. At which point, they’ll draw their own conclusions. Is this student lazy? Do they have poor grammar skills? Do they have zero confidence in their writing? Those are the impressions you’ll leave, and elite sch... Read More About How To Improve Your ISEE Essay

Managing time is just as important as knowing the equations on this section because you have a little less than one minute for each question. That’s why you need to use arithmetic shortcuts to solve questions quickly and correctly. Here’s a sampling of what you’ll need to know for the ISEE quantitative reasoning section. But, if you really want to ace this section, it will be best to work with a private tutor. Your tutor will walk you through practice questions and help you find the best ways to solve them – a rare advantage most students won’t get. Practice without a calculator: Because you won’t be given... Read More About How To Increase Your ISEE Quantitative Score

The Verbal Reasoning section kicks off the ISEE (for every level), and it mostly tests your vocab skills. You’ll see two types of questions: synonym recognition and sentence completion. See more from Varsity Tutors on general ISEE tips and ISEE information: how to improve your ISEE score. Synonym recognition: Here, you are given a word and you have to choose the synonym (or the word closest in meaning) out of the four answer choices given. Think of the definition of word: And try to use it in a sentence before you start reading the answer choices because they are written to confuse you. Break words down: Consider the following exampl... Read More About How To Increase ISEE Verbal Scores

The Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE) is the first of many huge, high-pressure tests your child will take, and giving him/her the right mindset is just as important as ISEE prep. Sure, knowing the ISEE problems and patterns can dramatically improve your score. But, how you motivate your child can make the biggest difference. Don’t pressure your child: There is a lot riding on this test. It can determine your child’s education all the way through high school and possibly even college. If you bring this up, your child’s head is going to start spinning. Don’t tell them that they “need” to perform well o... Read More About How To Improve ISEE Scores