The key to structuring your standard essay for the ISEE or SSAT is to ensure you have the proper format. Here’s the general format for a successful standard essay: Introduction Sentence 1: Thesis/Answering the question Sentence 2: Introduce your first supporting paragraph (what you’re going to say in the second paragraph) Sentence 3: Introduce your second supporting paragraph (what you’re going to say in the third paragraph) Sentence 4: Sum up your ideas and transition…
The key to mastering the ISEE essay is preparing yourself for the difficulty of developing a full essay within 30 minutes. Before we discuss the details of the essay assignment, there’s something you need to know: your ISEE essay is not being scored. It will be sent along with the rest of your test to the schools to which you are applying. It is going to be looked at alongside your admission essay (if the…
The synonym section of the ISEE/SSAT tests is very challenging due to the difficult vocabulary, as well as the traps that the test-makers include to confuse you. The first trap to look out for is the Secondary Part of Speech Trap. Sometimes the word has a secondary meaning when it is used in a different part of speech. For example, words can be both a noun and a verb, and have different meanings depending on…
Summer is coming to an end, so it’s time for your child to practice getting back into a routine for school. Getting back into a new routine is so hard for so many, but practice makes perfect. Starting the school year off on the right foot leads to good grades during the semester. The hardest part is getting back into a routine, especially if they were used to sleeping in all summer. They should be…
The 2019-2020 SSAT test dates have been released. Your child can take the middle and upper level SSAT test up to 8 times, or the elementary level twice. It’s important to review the test dates below and make sure you register your child in time. Standard Test Date Regular Registration Starts Aug 1, 2019 & Ends: Last Day for Registration (Without Testing Accommodations) Sat, Oct 19, 2019 September 28, 2019 Wednesday, October 16, 2019 Sat, Nov…
The key to performing well on the verbal sections of the ISEE and SSAT tests is mastering vocabulary. One of the main ways to understand how words are built is to study prefixes and roots. It is important to be able to break words that you do not recognize into pieces and decipher the meanings, because it’s better to be able to understand how words are made up than to just memorize them by rote. …
In order to perform well on the ISEE and SSAT tests, learning to study vocabulary is crucial. The Verbal section of each test challenges the vocabulary skills of even the strongest students. It can be difficult to study vocabulary with your busy schedule, but without making it a priority, you will not be able to perform well on the synonyms and analogies portions of the SSAT exam or the synonyms and sentence completions portions of…
You may know that volunteering is an important added value on your child’s college application. Common App has an “Activities” section for students to fill in with their community service and volunteer hours, so it is something colleges expect to see. It is a win-win situation, as volunteer work is incredibly important both for the community it serves, and for the volunteers themselves. The ability to selflessly donate one’s time to the greater good is…
The college essay is one of the biggest obstacles your student will have to face when applying to schools. For students who aren’t strong in creative writing or literature, this part of the Common App and other school applications can be nerve-wracking. There is an infinite amount of things that your child could write about, and narrowing that down is part of what makes the college essay so difficult to begin. When it came time…
In the Synonym, Analogy, and Math sections of the SSAT, it is important for you to become comfortable with the one-two pass strategy. In the first pass, you should only attempt problems that you feel you have a good chance of being able to answer correctly. In the second pass, you should attempt the remaining problems. By using the one-two pass strategy, you won’t get caught up on a difficult problem halfway through and run…
