7 Strategies SSAT ISEE

7Winning

Strategies

to beat the SSAT®

and the ISEE ®

Bell CurvesGet Ahead of the Curve!

When: The SSAT is offered on 8 national test dates each year. The following dates are for the 2011–2012 academic year.

Test Date Registration Deadline October 15, 2011 September 23, 2011

November 12, 2011 October 21, 2011

December 10, 2011 November 18, 2011

January 7, 2012 December 16, 2011

February 4, 2012 January 13, 2012

March 3, 2012 February 10, 2012

April 21, 2012 March 30, 2012

June 9, 2012 May 18, 2012

How often: The SSAT can be taken as many times as you choose, but in most cases it should be taken only 2–3 times. However, you can only take an SSAT administered on a date other than the national testing dates once a year.

How much: The cost is $116.00. (Fee waivers may be available for families with financial hardships.)

Score reporting: Your scores will be kept on record until August 1, 2013. When you register for the SSAT, you can select schools to receive your scores. After you have completed the test, you can request additional reports online for free.

For more info: Visit www.ssat.org or call 609-683-4440.

SSAT Registration

877-223-3828 I 151 West 46th Street, Suite 900 I New York, NY 10036 I bellcurves.com

When: The ISEE test dates are scheduled by individual testing centers. This means that there are no national test dates and scheduling is much more flexible. You can find testing dates by searching for testing centers at http://erblearn.org/

How often: The ISEE can only be taken once every six months.

How much: The cost is $95.00. (Fee waivers may be available for families with financial hardships.)

Score reporting: When you register for the ISEE, you must select at least one school to receive your scores. After you have completed the test, you can request additional reports online for $25 per testing date.

Contact info: Visit erblearn.org or call 1-800-989-3721.

ISEE Registration



1

SSAT ISEE

Sco

ring

Guessing PenaltyEach wrong answer deducts 1/4 of a point from your raw score.

Each wrong answer does not add or subtract points from your raw score.

SkippingUnanswered questions do not add or subtract points from your raw score.

Unanswered questions do not add or subtract points from your raw score.

Scaled Score500 – 800 for each section1500 – 2400 cumulative score

760 – 940 for each section1 – 9 Stanine score

Sec

tio

ns

Math 2 sections 2 sections

Reading 1 section 1 section

Verbal 1 section 1 section

Writing Sample 1 essay (not graded) 1 essay (not graded)

Que

stio

n Ty

pes Math Problem Solving

Problem Solving, Quantitative Comparisons

Reading Reading Comprehension Reading Comprehension

VerbalSynonyms, Sentence Completions

Synonyms, Analogies

To find out which test is better suited for you, make sure to take a practice test of both the SSAT and the ISEE under timed conditions. Individual schools vary on their policies about whether they require the ISEE, the SSAT, or both. Research the schools you are interested in so you know which test to prepare for.

Learn the differences between the SSAT and the ISEE!


Build your endurance with real practice!The SSAT and ISEE each consist of almost three hours of testing. Taking practice tests will build your endurance and stamina. Like an athlete, you will perform at your best only if you train and practice realistically.

SSAT Section Timing

Verbal (60 questions) 30 minutes

Quantitative (25 questions) 30 minutes

Reading Comprehension (40 questions) 40 minutes

Quantitative (25 questions) 30 minutes

Essay 25 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 35 minutes

ISEE Section Timing

Verbal Reasoning (40 questions) 20 minutes

Quantitative Reasoning (35 questions) 35 minutes

Reading Comprehension (40 questions) 40 minutes

Math Achievement (45 questions) 40 minutes

Essay 30 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 45 minutes

2


3Work smarter, not harder...Most students attempt to answer every question on the SSAT, but shouldn’t! To get a great score, you should focus on achieving the highest possible accuracy rather than finishing as quickly as possible.

You can increase your score by slowing down and focusing on the easy and medium questions and skipping the harder questions.

4Question 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Correct D C A B C C E E D B D B C D E A D E D A C E E A B

Student B E A A B A A B B B C D D - -Section 4 results: Total Correct: 10 Total Wrong: 13 Total Skipped: 2

2Question 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Correct E A B A A E E C C A D C E D C B E A D C C A B E D

Student E C D B B E C - A A B E - - - -Section 2 results: Total Correct: 9 Total Wrong: 11 Total Skipped: 5

Qua

ntita

tive

4Question 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Correct E C D B B A B C D A C C A D E A C A C B C E D C B

Student - C D A - - B - - - - - D - -

Section 4 results: Total Correct: 10 Total Wrong: 5 Total Skipped: 10

2Question 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Correct D A E A D D B B C A A B D D C C B E B D E D B D B

Student - C B C E - - - - - -

Section 2 results: Total Correct: 14 Total Wrong: 4 Total Skipped: 7

Qua

ntita

tive

SSAT Scoring

James Smith

Bell Curves Student

Raw Scores

Correct Answers = +1Wrong Answers = –1/4

Blank = 0

SSAT Scaled Scores

Score Reading Math English

353433323130292827262524232221201918

698693688683677671666661656650644639634629623617612607

725720715710704698692684678672668663658653647641636631

722716710704698692686680674668662656650644638632626620

Score Reading Quant Verbal

535251504948474645444342414039383736

800796785779776769764758752747742737731725720715710704

---

800800800794788782777772767761755750745740736

-------------

800782767752737

Score Reading Math English

17161514131211109876543210

602596590585580575569563557551545539533528523518512506

626620614608602596590584579574569563557552547542536530

614608602596590584578572566560554548542536530524518512


…by focusing on accuracy, not speed!There is no guessing penalty on the ISEE, which means you should answer every question. But that doesn’t mean you have to spend time on every question. Since ISEE questions are not in a predictable order of difficulty, you should skip the hard questions and try them later. If you are running out of time, guess.

Use the time for each section to answer the number of questions that you need to achieve your target score.

4

ISEE ScoringJosefina Schmoe

Bell Curves Student

*highlighted columns are guesses

Raw Scores

Correct Answers = +1Wrong Answers = 0

Question 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Correct B H C K C F E G D F D H C G D F B J B K

Student a a a a A a a K a G C G a a B G a a C a

Question 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Correct B H C K C F E G D F D H C G D F B J B K

Student a J a F a J a a a G A a B a C a D a C F

ISEE Scaled Scores

RawScore

Verbal Reasoning

Quant Reasoning

Reading Quant

232221201918171615141312

---

910-940904-934898-928892-922886-916880-910874-904868-898862-892

-----

896-926890-920 883-913877-907888-918881-911875-905

910-940905-937896-934885-931873-928861-925844-922830-919822-914816-909810-902805-893

919-940914-940909-939903-933898-928893-923888-918883-913877-907872-902867-897862-892

ScaledScore

Verbal Reasoning

Quant Reasoning

Reading Quant

11109876543210

856-886850-880844-874838-868832-862826-856820-850814-844808-838802-832796-826790-820

868-898862-892855-885849-879842-872836-866829-859823-853816-846810-840803-833797-827

816-909810-902805-893803-882800-871797-859794-842791-830788-822785-816781-811777-807

857-887852-882846-876841-871836-866831-861826-856820-850815-845810-840805-835800-830


3. If the monthly office budget is $30,000, what is the amount spent each month on rent? (A) $3,100 (B) $4,200 (C) $6,300 (D) $6,600

Multiple-Choice Questions

1. Which of the following is equal to of 32? (A) 4 (B) 8 (C) 12 (D) 38 (E) 96

2. Mr. Chan purchased 841 square yards of cloth at a cost of $14,297 to make dresses. How much did Mr. Chan spend per square yard of cloth ? (A) $17.00 (B) $8.25 (C) $5.00 (D) $2.00 (E) $1.75

Estimate to simplify calculations!

SSAT and ISEE math questions look more difficult than they are. Estimation and taking advantage of the multiple choices make the questions much easier.

Answers: C, A, C

5

38

OFFICE BUDGET ALLOCATION

Other

Supplies5%

9%

31%

21%

Technology

Wages

Rent


Answer Sentence Completion questions in your own words before looking at the choices!

Sentence Completions (ISEE only)

4. Because the evidence against the criminal was so insufficient, the presiding judge was not ------- by it. (A) convinced (B) surprised (C) aggravated (D) entertained

5. Hardly -------, the company’s new product shares many design elements with previous models. (A) damaging (B) outdated (C) innovative (D) possible

Learning vocabulary words will help your performance in sentence completions, analogies, synonyms, and passage-based reading.

Trite: lacking in freshness or effectiveness because of constant use or excessive repetitionInnovative: using new methods, ideas, etc | Aggravated: to make worse or more severeTrivialize: cause to appear unimportant

Answers: A, C, D

6. To adequately portray the impact of Martin Luther King Jr.’s fight for civil rights in a short presentation, Susan had to ------- the most ------- achievements in his life. (A) highlight . . trite (B) compare . . important (C) trivialize . . successful (D) emphasize . . significant

6


Make a sentence to form the relationship between words!

Analogies (SSAT only)

7. Mountain is to peak as (A) hair is to head (B) house is to roof (C) moon is to sun (D) ice is to pole (E) water is to fountain

8. Embark is to ship as (A) board is to airplane (B) deport is to country (C) regurgitate is to stomach (D) erase is to chalkboard (E) yacht is to boat

Analogies on the SSAT usually contain a few common relationships such as degree of severity, usage, similarity, and opposing ideas.

9. Hint is to indirectly as (A) point is to graphically (B) cry is to sadly (C) scream is to loudly (D) reveal is to openly (E) whisper is to murmur

Answers: B, A, D

7

Contact us for SSAT and ISEE Courses and Tutoring!151 West 46th Street, Suite 900 New York, NY 10036

bellcurves.com I 877-223-3828 7

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7 Strategies SSAT ISEE