What is the SSAT/ ISEE/ HSPT?

The Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT) consists of two parts: a brief essay, and a multiple-choice aptitude test which measures a student’s ability to solve mathematics problems, to use language, and to comprehend what is read.

The test is administered on two levels:

• Lower (for students currently in grades 5-7)
• Upper (for students currently in grades 8-11)

Test Format

The test is divided into five sections. There is a 25 minutes writing sample, 40 minutes reading section (40 questions based on about 7 reading passages), and 30 minutes each for the remaining multiple-choice sections. There are two sections of Math comprising 25 questions each, while the verbal section consists of 30 synonym and 30 analogy questions. The writing sample is not included with the report sent to students.
All questions on the SSAT are equal in value, and scores are based on the number of questions answer correctly minus one-quarter point for each question answered incorrectly. Although no points are awarded or deducted for questions left unanswered, students are penalized for questions answered incorrectly or with more than one response.

What is the ISEE?

The Independent School Entrance Examination (ISEE) is a three-hour admission test for entrance into grades five through twelve.

The test has three levels:

• A Lower Level for students in grades four and five who are candidates for admission to grades five and six,
• A Middle Level for students in grades six and seven who are candidates for admission to grades seven and eight
• An Upper Level for students in grades eight to eleven who are candidates for admission to grades nine through twelve.

Test Format

The ISEE consists of verbal and quantitative reasoning tests that measure a student's capability for learning, and reading comprehension and mathematics achievement tests that provide specific information about an individual's strengths and weaknesses in those areas. All levels include a timed essay written in response to an assigned topic. The essay is not scored, but a copy is forwarded to the recipient schools along with the Individual Student Report, which shows scaled scores, percentiles, and stanines.
The ISEE may only be taken once within a six-month period, and it must be taken for admission to a school, not as a practice test.

What is the HSPT?

The HSPT, or High School Placement Test, is used by many Catholic schools as a tool to compare applicants from diverse middle-schools. The HSPT unlike the ISEE and SSAT, is given by individual schools and is generally taken at the school to which a student is applying.

Test Format

The HSPT has five multiple choice sections : a 60 question, 16minute Verbal Skills section; a 52 question, 30 minutes Quantitative Skills section; a 62 question, 25 minutes Reading section; a 64 question, 45 minutes Mathematics section and a 60 question, 25 minutes Language section.
The verbal skills section incorporates synonyms, antonyms, analogies, logic, and verbal classification questions. The quantitative skills section includes series, geometric comparisons, non-geometric comparisons, and number manipulations. The reading section comprises questions on short passages on a variety of topics. The mathematics section includes mathematical concepts and problem solving covering arithmetic, elementary algebra, and basic geometry. The language section tests capitalization, punctuation, usage, spelling, and composition.

Our Program:

Sessions to prepare students for the SSAT/ISEE.HSPT start in October and meet once a week for 3 hours – one and a half hour Verbal and one and a half hour math session – and are designed for students to take the standardized tests in December.

Classes are small-group sessions, and students and arranged into sessions according to their strengths and weaknesses. For the Verbal prep, students learn 50-70 vocabulary words each week in order to prepare them better for answering the Synonym and Analogies portion of the test and are also taught specific reading strategies in order to help them ace the reading portions of the test.

In math, students cover all the units that will be tested under these tests and students also learn specific skills of how to understand the questions, break it down and then how to attempt to solve it.

Teachers teaching the classes are experts at teaching test-prep and have over fifteen years experience of teaching such classes.