The ISEE exam is the standardized test that many K12 students face as they apply to private middle and high school. Since the test is generally less known than some other standardized tests like the ACT and SAT, the prospect of starting preparation can feel particularly daunting for families. This is especially true because the ISEE has a reputation for being a difficult test, one that drills students on their ability to handle material beyond their current grade level.
At General Academic, we have been helping students succeed on this challenging test for more than two decades. In this article, we compare survey results from students beginning their ISEE prep journey to the results of a survey after they’ve completed a General Academic ISEE prep course. This analysis reveals what students worry about most, where they struggle academically, and what actually helps them improve. These insights can help parents prepare their children more effectively before formal test prep begins.
Five Major Take-Aways from the Survey Results
- Students start motivated but lack direction
Most students understand the importance of the ISEE and are willing to work hard, but they struggle with creating study plans, understanding the test format, and feeling confident in their abilities. - Math is the biggest source of concern—but also the most improvable
The two math sections cause the most anxiety, yet they show strong improvement with practice (about 72%), making them a high-impact area for prep. - Vocabulary improvement is possible without memorization overload
While vocabulary feels unpredictable, students can significantly improve (76%) by learning roots, prefixes, suffixes, and strategies for interpreting unfamiliar words. - Test strategy and timing matter as much as content knowledge
Understanding pacing, skipping strategies, and test structure greatly reduces anxiety and improves performance, with over 90% of students reporting gains in this area. - Consistent practice and early preparation drive success
Students who study regularly (2–4 hours per week) and begin preparation early are better able to build skills, confidence, and familiarity with the test.
Before ISEE Test Prep Begins: Students Start With Motivation—but Also Uncertainty
Unlike end-of-course standardized tests in public schools like the STAAR exam, which are used only as a metric for districts and schools to gauge student progress and have very little direct bearing on students, the results of the ISEE exam impact students’ lives very clearly and directly. How they score plays a big part of where they go to school for the next three, four, or even seven years.
It’s unsurprising then that about 56% of students report being highly motivated to do well on the ISEE–most rated their motivation as a 4 or a 5 out of 5. An additional 24% of students rated their motivation as a 3 out of 5, or moderately motivated. These results tell us that students are aware of how important this test is. This is great for parents and tutors since it means that students are willing to study and put in the work, but how to channel this motivation is not always clear.
Overall, students report struggling with creating clear study plans, understanding the test format, and confidence in their ability to perform well. Motivation is great, but without structure and guidance it won’t result in higher scores.
What Sections of the ISEE Students Fear the Most
In order to actually raise students’ scores, it’s important to understand the areas where they have the least confidence. Regardless of actual skill in these areas, a perceived ineptitude will often cause students to score lower on certain sections. Raising a student’s confidence in their own ability and ensuring that they trust themselves to do well can have a big positive impact on scores.
Based on General Academic’s survey, the content areas that students are most concerned about before they begin preparation for the ISEE, in order, are:
- The Mathematics Achievement – 29% of students cited this as an area of concern
- The Quantitative Reasoning – 27% of students cited this as an area of concern
- The Verbal Reasoning (vocabulary) – 24% of students cited this as an area of concern
- Reading Comprehension – 11% of students cited this as an area of concern
- Essay – 9% of students cited this as an area of concern
Math Sections of the ISEE
Though the Verbal Reasoning and Reading Comprehension sections of the ISEE are challenging in their own ways, the two math sections, the Quantitative Reasoning section and the Mathematics Achievement section, are where most students lack the most confidence.
- Quantitative Reasoning – students tend to be concerned by the logical nature of these questions. They are not always formatted in ways that students are used to seeing in their school math classes.
- Mathematical Achievement – this section is more reminiscent of math that students might see in school, but asks students to perform some higher-level math operations that they might not be familiar with.
Students expressed concern about things as diverse as remembering formulas, missing easy questions, as well as running into math that they don’t recognize. Some of these fears are clearly based on confidence concerns–not remembering formulas that students know and missing easy questions are things that happen, but perhaps not as much as students believe. Confidence in their own abilities is vital to students performing well on the math sections.
The good news is that math skills are some of the easiest to improve through practice. After students took a course studying for the ISEE, about 72% of them reported a significant improvement in their math skills. This means that when they sit down on test day, they won’t be hamstrung by test anxiety and a lack of confidence in their own abilities.
Verbal Reasoning Section of the ISEE and Vocabulary
After the Math sections of the ISEE, the section that students are most concerned about is Verbal Reasoning, which is largely known as the vocabulary section of the ISEE test.
Traditionally, improving students’ vocabulary skills is a tall order and one that requires a lot of outside work on the students’ part. Unlike math, where the same skills are tested year after year, there is a nearly infinite number of vocabulary words that students might encounter. This means that even if a student memorized a thousand vocabulary words, there is no guarantee that one of those words will appear on their test.
That being said, there are things that can be taught to help students on the Verbal Reasoning section, especially in terms of coming up with plausible meanings of unfamiliar words. Students can learn about Greek and Latin root words, prefixes and suffixes, and word connotations.
Students with a strong understanding of these skills can help boost their confidence in this section of the test, even without them memorizing a million words that might, at the end of the day, be a wasted effort. 76% of students reported a significant improvement in their vocabulary skills–an even greater proportion than we saw in math!
Student Concerns about the ISEE Test Beyond Its Content
Students’ fears extend beyond the content of the test, however. Many students are also concerned about the test itself.
Earning Good ISEE Scores
By far, the concern most commonly mentioned by students is that they won’t score high enough on the ISEE to get into their first choice school. This fear is compounded by students’ understanding of what constitutes a “good” score on the ISEE.
Our survey revealed that many students, about 40%, believe that they need to score within the 8th or 9th stanine on each section in order to be competitive for top schools. While higher scores are always better, General Academic recommends that students aim for an average of 7 across all their test sections.
When students understand that missing a few questions on each section is not the end of the world, they tend to be much more confident on test day. Mistakes happen–no one is perfect–but a fear of making mistakes is potentially even worse for test performance. It’s important for tutors and parents to stress this to students; a “top” score does not necessarily equate to a “perfect” score.
Time Management on the ISEE
Students also cite consistent concerns about time management on the ISEE exam. This is not an unfounded fear; the ISEE is intentionally designed to make it difficult to complete all the questions of each section in the time allotted. On the Upper Level ISEE, the time per question on each section is:
- Verbal Reasoning: 30 seconds/question
- Quantitative Reasoning: 57 seconds/question
- Reading Comprehension: 58 seconds/question (~6 minutes per passage)
- Mathematics Achievement: 51 seconds/question
Clearly, students are expected to move through questions quickly (compare this to tests like the ACT and SAT where students are typically given between 60-90 seconds per question).
Initially, these numbers might seem to indicate an almost impossibly fast pace to students. This is where strong test-taking strategies come in handy. In their preparation, students learned time management skills like banking time on easy questions, skipping ones that seem like too much of a time investment, and selecting answers for ALL questions, even ones that they don’t have time to complete. With these tools in their test-taking toolboxes, students can feel much more confident on test day.
Similarly, students will feel much more comfortable when they actually take the test if they have a strong understanding of how much time they have on each section, as well as a feeling for the kind of pace they must maintain in order to reach the end. This is the kind of confidence that only comes through practice. At General Academic, we prioritize real-test practice, that is, having students complete practice sections to time, as they would on their actual tests. This way, they can get a sense of how quickly they must work.
Remember, knowing the content is only half the battle; a student isn’t fully prepared for the ISEE test unless they’re familiar with the format and the timing.
The Role of Test Taking Strategy in ISEE Prep
One of the strongest post-course findings was improvement in test strategy knowledge. 92% of students reported significant improvement to their understanding of the timeline and structure of the ISEE. 93% of students reported that they felt much stronger in test taking strategies than before they began the course.
These students can now go into test day feeling far more prepared and confident in their ability to perform to the best of their ability. Having a strong framework in understanding the format of the test and test taking strategies will help minimize test anxiety and result in overall higher scores.
The Importance of Practice
Another clear finding from the survey results is that students fully understand the importance of consistent practice. When asked what the most important factor in performing well on the ISEE, 53% of students responded with practice or studying.
Furthermore, students were asked how much time per week they planned to dedicate to independent ISEE practice after the end of the course, and 68% of students reported that they planned to spend between 2-4 hours studying. While this number doesn’t account for how many actually followed through on this goal, the fact that so many are aware of the importance of practice is a good sign.
Final Take-Aways
Based on the survey results, several patterns emerge.
- Start preparation earlier than you think: Students need time to build: vocabulary, math foundations, and familiarity with the test.
- Build a consistent weekly study routine: Students who plan regular practice improve more efficiently.
- Address anxiety through clarity: Much of the stress comes from not knowing what to expect.
