As the fourth largest public school district in the United States, Houston is fortunate to offer some exceptional public schools. Our research shows that elementary school desirability and performance are directly related to the wealth of the surrounding neighborhood. Therefore top schools inside the city include River Oaks, West University, [...]
We could debate this topic ad nauseam! Some Houston private schools like St. John's, Kinkaid, and Strake Jesuit routinely boast of an exceptional number of students who score in the top 1% on the PSAT. However, ultimately the definition of "best" is different for each family, and indeed each child. [...]
For the 2023-2024 academic year, the average Houston private school costs $25,674, which was up 6% from the previous year. Catholic schools were generally 20% cheaper. Click here to read our annual analysis of Houston-area private school tuition.
Students are generally able to take the ISEE twice during the application cycle. In Houston, we recommend that students take the ISEE in mid-November and again in early January (if they were unhappy with their first attempt). Students generally take the test either at their current school (for terminal middle [...]
While it's impossible for us to guarantee specific improvements given every student's unique situation, our research shows that the average General Academic student improves by 1.4 stanines or up to 20 percentile ranks. Click here to read our analysis about student score improvement.
About half of General Academic's more than 300 ISEE students start preparing by the end of August. When preparing for a standardized test, the most important tools are a diagnostic test and time. Students need to know where they are and how far they need to go to meet their [...]
The ISEE is a peer-normed test graded along a normal curve, which is split into 9, evenly divided sections. Scores of 4, 5, and 6 are average while scores of 7, 8, and 9 are highest. A 1 approximately represents the bottom 3% of test-takers while a 9 represents the [...]