The Educational Records Bureau (ERB) – the maker of the ISEE, has some changes in store, starting in the fall of 2016.
- The ISEE can now be taken more than once. In the past the ISEE could only be taken once every 6 months, which effectively meant most students could only take the test once. Students can now take the test once a season, and no more than 3 times in a 12 month period. There are 3 seasons – fall, winter, and spring/summer. Fall runs from August-November, winter runs from December-March, and spring/summer runs from April-July. Most students need to take the test by early January at the latest for private school application deadlines. This means that most students will be able to take the test twice – fall and winter.
- It is now possible to take the test and not show the scores to a school until after you have had time to review the results. You also do not have to share prior test results with schools, you can share only the scores you choose to share. You must share full score reports, you cannot choose to show only certain sections from different test dates.
- Keep in mind that when a student takes the test as a 4th or 5th grader it is the lower level version of the ISEE, when they take the test as a 6th or 7th grader it is the middle level version of the test, and when they take the test as an 8th grader (and above) it is the upper level version of the test. What this means is that if a student takes the test in the spring/summer as a 5th grader, they will take the lower level test, which is not the same test they would take in the fall/winter as a 6th grader (this would be the middle level test).
For our clients who are applying to private school with a January test deadline, we now recommend they take the test once for practice in the fall, and then a final time in the winter. Most students see a bump in their scores after a second test. Students know what to expect on the second test, they are less nervous, and they have had to time to hone in on their areas of weakness from the first test.
Boston exam school applicants must take the test in November, and they cannot take the middle level test for practice. If they take a test in the spring/summer of their 5th grade year, they will be taking the lower level version of the test, which is not the version they will take as 6th graders (this is the middle level version of the test). The middle level test is harder than the lower level test, and contains more advanced math topics.
If a student is applying to both the exam schools and a private school, they can take the test once in November for the exam schools, and once in January (depending on the application deadline of the school(s) they are applying to) for the private schools. The results of the November test must be submitted to Boston Public Schools in order to meet the testing deadline requirement. The results of the November test do not need to be shared with the private school (unless you are satisfied with the scores and do not feel that the scores will increase after a second test).
We have seen this bump in scores after a second test for many years among our SSAT students. SSAT students are allowed to take the test every time it is offered, and most of our SSAT test takers will take the test in October and then again in December or January. Almost all of our students see a bump in their scores after their second test date.
This is good news for private school applicants. They will now be able to take the test for practice and keep their scores private until they see the results. We suspect that the ERB has made these changes in order to be aligned with the SSAT. Since the SSAT began offering a middle level version of their test a few years ago, this has brought some competition to the choice of test. Most schools still require the ISEE for middle school admission. The ISEE is an easier test than the SSAT, so if given the choice, we recommend students take the ISEE.
The ISEE is still a very challenging test for many students, and students should start preparing for the test at least 12 months before their first test date. Practice makes perfect!
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