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Contents
Get More (Free) Content
Part I: The Basics
1 Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the ISEE
2 Learning Vocabulary
3 Fundamental Math Skills
Numbers & Operations
Algebraic Concepts
Geometry & Measurement
Data Analysis & Probability
4 Fundamental Math Skills Drills: Answers and Explanations
Part II: The Strategies
5 ISEE Quantitative Reasoning & Mathematics Achievement
Quantitative Reasoning Question Types
Numbers & Operations
Algebraic Concepts
Geometry & Measurement
Data Analysis & Probability
6 ISEE Verbal
Synonyms
Sentence Completions
7 ISEE Reading
8 ISEE Writing
9 ISEE Practice Drills: Answers and Explanations
Part III: Practice Tests
10 Upper Level ISEE Practice Test
11 Upper Level ISEE Practice Test: Answers and Explanations
12 Middle Level ISEE Practice Test
13 Middle Level ISEE Practice Test: Answers and Explanations
_146746586_

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Contact TPRStudentTech@review.com and provide:
your full name
email address used to register the book
full book title and ISBN
Operating system (Mac/PC) and browser (Chrome, Firefox,
Safari, etc.)
Once you’ve registered, you can…
Read/print the Student and Caregiver Introductions with useful
information on registering and taking the ISEE.
Access additional online resources including: Primary and
Lower Level test strategy, additional online drill questions, a
student study guide, and more.
Download a full-length ISEE Lower Level test and take online
versions of the ISEE tests found in this book.

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WHAT IS THE ISEE?
The Independent School Entrance Examination (ISEE) is a standardized
test made up of a series of multiple-choice questions and a writing sample.
Lower, Middle, and Upper levels of the ISEE may be taken online or in a
paper-based format, but the Primary levels are available only online. For all
levels, the writing sample is not scored, but the other sections of the test are
scored and your score report will show those scaled scores. You will also
receive a percentile score for each section (between 1 percent and 99 percent)
that compares your test scores with those of other test-takers from the
previous three years. In addition, percentiles are then converted into stanines
on a scale from 1–9.
Primary Level 2
Auditory
Comprehension
6 questions 7 minutes
Reading 18 questions 20
minutes
Mathematics 24 questions 26
minutes
Writing Sample
(unscored)
1 picture
prompt
Untimed
Primary Level 3
Reading 24 questions 28
minutes
Mathematics 24 questions 26
minutes
Writing Sample
(unscored)
1 picture
prompt
Untimed
Primary Level 4
Reading 28 questions 30
minutes
Mathematics 28 questions 30

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minutes
Writing Sample
(unscored)
1 picture
prompt
Untimed
Lower Level
Verbal Reasoning 34 questions 20 minutes
Quantitative Reasoning 38 questions 35 minutes
Break 5 minutes
Reading Comprehension 25 questions 25 minutes
Mathematics Achievement 30 questions 30 minutes
Break 5 minutes
Essay (unscored) 1 essay topic 30 minutes
Middle Level
Verbal Reasoning 40 questions 20 minutes
Quantitative Reasoning 37 questions 35 minutes
Break 5 minutes
Reading Comprehension 36 questions 35 minutes
Mathematics Achievement 47 questions 40 minutes
Break 5 minutes
Essay (unscored) 1 essay topic 30 minutes
Upper Level
Verbal Reasoning 40 questions 20 minutes
Quantitative Reasoning 37 questions 35 minutes
Break 5 minutes
Reading Comprehension 36 questions 35 minutes
Mathematics Achievement 47 questions 40 minutes
Break 5 minutes
Essay (unscored) 1 essay topic 30 minutes
Prepare Wisely

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Print “What to Expect on the ISEE” from the ERB at isee.erblearn.org.
What’s on the ISEE?
The Auditory Comprehension section (Primary Level 2 only) consists of
an audio recording of a short passage followed by multiple-choice questions
that can be listened to and seen on the screen. The Reading Comprehension
section (all levels) tests your ability to read and understand short passages.
These reading passages include both fiction and nonfiction. The Verbal
Reasoning section of the ISEE (Lower, Middle, and Upper only) tests your
knowledge of vocabulary using two different question types: synonyms and
sentence completions. The Quantitative Reasoning and Mathematics
Achievement sections test your knowledge of general mathematical concepts.
All levels of the exam have problem-solving questions. The Middle and
Upper Level exams also include quantitative comparison questions, which
ask you to compare two columns of data. Remember, there is no guessing
penalty on the ISEE. You should select an answer for every question.
Upper versus Middle versus Lower versus
Primary Levels
There are, in effect, six different versions of the ISEE. The Primary 2 test
is taken by students who are, at the time of testing, in the first grade. The
Primary 3 test is taken by students who are in the second grade. The Primary
4 test is taken by students who are in the third grade. The Lower Level test is
taken by students who are in the fourth and fifth grades. Students who are in
the sixth and seventh grades take the Middle Level test. Students who are in
the eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades take the Upper Level test.
Primary Level 2 has scaled scores ranging from 200 to 299 each for
Reading (includes Auditory Comprehension) and Math. Primary Level 3 has
scaled scores ranging from 300 to 399 each for Reading and Math. Primary
Level 4 has scaled scores ranging from 400 to 499 each for Reading and
Math. The Lower, Middle, and Upper levels all use the same scale: students
receive four scaled scores ranging from 760 on the low end to 940 at the top.
There are few major differences between the structure of Lower, Middle,
and Upper Level tests. There are some differences in content, however; for
instance, vocabulary on the Middle Level test is less challenging than it is on
the Upper Level test. The Middle and Upper Level tests cover the same
general math concepts (arithmetic, algebra, geometry, charts, and graphs), but
naturally, the Middle Level test will ask slightly easier questions than the

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Upper Level test. There are no quantitative comparison questions on the
Lower Level test. The Lower Level test is 20 minutes shorter than the others.
Because the Lower Level ISEE tests both fourth and fifth graders, the
Middle Level tests both sixth and seventh graders, and the Upper Level tests
eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh graders, there are questions on the tests that
students testing at the lower end of each of those groups might have difficulty
answering. Younger students’ scaled scores and percentiles will not be
harmed by this fact. Both sets of scores take into consideration a student’s
age. However, younger students may feel intimidated by this. If you are at the
lower end of your test’s age group, there will be questions you are not
supposed to be able to answer and that’s perfectly all right.
The material in this book follows the content of the tests without breaking
it down further into age groups or grades. Content that will appear only on
the Upper Level test has been labeled as “Upper Level only.” Students taking
the Primary, Lower, and Middle Level tests do not need to work on the Upper
Level content. Nevertheless, younger students may not have yet seen some of
the material included in the Primary, Lower, and Middle Level review.
Caregivers are advised to help younger students with their work in this book
and seek teachers’ advice or instruction if necessary.
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
Before you dive into this book, go to your online Student Tools and
download the Student and Caregiver Introductions. These resources are
packed with a wealth of information to help prepare you for what to expect
on the ISEE. Then download the Student Study Guide. We’ve broken down
the contents of this book into 12 study sessions and suggested a timeline for
you to follow.
Some of these sessions will take longer than others, depending on your
strengths and weaknesses. If any of them takes more than two hours, take a
break and try to finish the session the following day. You may want to do
one, two, or three sessions a week, but we suggest you give yourself at least a
day or two in between to absorb the information you’ve just learned. The one
thing you should be doing every day is quizzing yourself on vocabulary and
making new flashcards.
We also caution against thinking that you can work through this book
during summer vacation, put it aside in September, and be ready to take the
test in December. If you want to start that early, work primarily on

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vocabulary until about 10 weeks before the test. Then you can start on
techniques, and they’ll be fresh in your mind on the day of the test. If you’ve
finished your preparation too soon and have nothing to practice on in the
weeks before the test, you’re going to get rusty. If you know you are
significantly weaker in one of the subjects covered by the test, you should
begin with that subject so you can practice it throughout your preparation.

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THE IMPORTANCE OF
VOCABULARY
Half of the ISEE Verbal section is synonyms, and you need to know the
tested words to get those questions right. While Sentence Completions allow
for a more strategic approach, the fact remains that knowing words is
important to scoring points on these questions.
Having a strong vocabulary will also help you throughout your life: on
other standardized tests (of course), in college, in your job, and when you
read.
BUILDING A VOCABULARY
The best way to build a great vocabulary is to keep a dictionary and
flashcards on hand and look up any new words you encounter. For each word
you find, make a flashcard, and review your flashcards frequently. We’ll
discuss effective ways of making flashcards shortly.

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Flashcards
Making effective flashcards is important. We’ll address how to do so shortly!
Reading a lot helps ensure that you will encounter new words. Read
newspapers, magazines, and books. If you think you don’t like reading, you
just haven’t found the right material to read. Identify your interests—science,
sports, current events, fantasy, you name it—and there will be plenty of
material out there that you will look forward to reading.
Not sure what you should read? Ask a favorite teacher or adult whose
vocabulary you admire. Below are just a few suggestions based on your test

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level, but there are many other great things to read.
Test
Level
Title
Middle The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Upper Editorial and op-ed pages of The Washington Post, The New
York Times, and The Wall Street Journal
Time magazine
The Economist
The New Yorker
Scientific American
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick
Douglass
You can also learn words through vocab-building websites, such as
vocabulary.com or quizlet.com, which present drills in the form of rewarding
games.
Finally, in the coming pages, you will find lists of words that you may see
on the ISEE.
Making Effective Flashcards
Most people make flashcards by writing the word on one side and the
definition on the other. That’s fine as far as it goes, but you can do much
better. An effective flashcard will provide information that will help you
remember the word. Different people learn words in different ways, and you
should do what works best for you. Here are some ideas, along with a couple
of examples.
Relating Words to Personal Experience
If the definition of a word reminds you of someone or something, write a
sentence on the back of your flashcard using the word and that person or
thing. Suppose, for example, you have a friend named Scott who is very
clumsy. Here’s a flashcard for a word you may not know:

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Relating Words to Roots
Many words are derived from Latin or Greek words. These words often
have roots—parts of words—that have specific meanings. If you recognize
the roots, you can figure out what the word probably means. Consider the
word benevolent. It may not surprise you that “bene” means good (think
beneficial). “Vol” comes from a word that means wish and also gives us the
word voluntary. Thus, benevolent describes someone who is good-hearted
(good wish). Your flashcard can mention the roots as well as the words
beneficial and voluntary to help you remember how the roots relate to
benevolent.
Often if you don’t know the exact meaning of a word, you can make a
good guess as to what the tone of the word is. For example, you may not
know what “terse” means, but if a teacher said “My, you’re being very terse
today,” you’d probably assume it meant something bad. Knowing the tone of
words can be very helpful even if you can’t remember the exact definition.
As you go through your flashcards, you can separate them into three piles:
positive, negative, and neutral. This will help you more rapidly recognize the

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tone of advanced vocabulary.
The table below provides some examples of common roots, along with
their meanings and examples of vocabulary words that include them.
Root Meaning Example
ambi both ambidextrous
a/an/anti not/against amoral, antibiotics
anim life animated
auto self autograph
ben good beneficial
chron time chronology
cis/cise cut/shorten scissors, concise
cred belief credibility
de/dis away from/not deficient, dissent
equ equal equality, equate
fort strength fortress
gress movement progress
il/im/in not illegal, imperfect
laud praise applaud

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loc/loq speech eloquent
mag/magna great magnify, magnificent
mal bad malicious
mis wrong mistake
ob against obstruct
pac peace pact, pacifier
path feeling sympathy, apathetic
phil/phile love philanthropy, bibliophile
ver truth verify
vit/viv life vital, revive
Other Methods
There are many other ways to remember words. If you are visually
inclined, you might draw pictures to help you remember words. Others use
mnemonics (a word that comes from a Greek word for memory), such as
sound associations or acronyms (such as PEMDAS: Please Excuse My Dear
Aunt Sally). Some people remember words if they speak the words and
definitions out loud, in addition to writing flashcards. A great way to
remember a word is to start using it in conversation. Ultimately, whatever
works for you is the right approach!

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PEMDAS is a clever way of remembering the order of operations in math. You’ll read more about that later in this
book.
Here are some words that could show up on test day. How many can you
define? On a separate sheet of paper, write down the definitions of the words
you know and have a parent or an adult check them. Then use your favorite
dictionary to look up the rest and make flashcards.
ISEE MIDDLE LEVEL VOCABULARY
LIST

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