<p>Hello. I posted this question on the students' board as well, but no one there has replied yet. Can anyone comment as to whether just a few missed questions on any of the four major sections of the ISEE is enough to radically lower one's percentile ranking on that section? </p>
<p>On some standardized tests, something like 50% of examinees make between 0 and 4 errors on any given (major) section, such that making just a few errors translates into the difference between 49th and 99th percentiles. Anyone who has received his/her child's results have a sense as to how much of a cushion there is for a few mistakes on the ISEE? Many thanks. I am aware that there is no penalty for guessing on the test. Am most interested in the Lower-Level test, but would welcome observations about all levels.</p>
<p>Thank you. I may do that (and would post the answer here), but maybe someone here knows off the top of his/her head based on recent experience, and others may be curious as well.</p>
<p>Here are my son’s results for the ISEE, lower level.
Verbal reasoning 89%, 8 out of 9 correct.
Reading comp 79%, 21 out of 27 correct.
Quantitative reasoning 97%, 9 out of 10
Math achievement 99%, 24 out of 25</p>
<p>Here are my kid’s scores:
DK1 (upper level ISEE):
Verbal reasoning 94%, 35 of 40 correct
Reading comp 95% (ERB does not give breakdown for this section)
Quant reasoning 96%, (ERB does not give breakdown for this section)
Math Achievement 99%, 44 of 45 correct</p>
<p>DK2 (Lower level ISEE)
Verbal reasoning 48%, 25 of 36 correct
Reading comp 51% (ERB does not give breakdown for this section)
Quant reasoning 88%, (ERB does not give breakdown for this section)
Math Achievement 57%, 24 of 35 correct</p>
<p>I think the percentiles will be slightly different depending on when you take the test as they are compared to others taking the same test on the same date?</p>
<p>Thank you so very much for these detailed results. I so appreciate your providing them. They sound more on a par with what I would have expected in terms of correspondence between # wrong and percentile, though perhaps the children reported on here by the two of you were at different grade levels.</p>
<p>That’s helpful. Thank you. Maybe acemom will come back to tell us her DS’s grade level. I’m guessing 4th, since both Lower-Level kids reported on here had identical #'s correct on Math Achievement, but very different percentiles, though from what I understand, different questions have different weights based on difficulty levels. Anyway, it does look as if there is a bit of a cushion for mistakes, which is what I was hoping was true. Many thanks once again!</p>
<p>These were scores from last year, 5th grade applying for 6th. I took the numbers right/wrong directly from the test results. The score sheet shows a plus for correct answers and a minus for incorrect. At least as far as I read it. From what I have heard, if you score in the 7 stanine or above, you are in pretty good shape. Don’t recommend the expensive prep programs. A friend’s son took the ISEE one year without the prep, scoring 7-7-8-8. The next year he took the multi-thousand dollar prep course and scored an 8-8-7-7. Needless to say, she wasn’t happy.</p>
<p>The prior poster said their child scored 24 correct out of 35. I did misread the test results, actually. In reading comp, my son scored a 29 out of 36 with a 79th percentile and in math achievement he scored a 33 out of 35, 99th percentile. The other two categories no information was given on right/wrong answers. Sorry about the prior misinformation. I was thinking that all categories were included in the achievement analysis, but as I look again, the prior poster is right.</p>
<p>Great info, acemom. Thank you very much for going to the trouble to check and post all the details. You folks have really satisfied my curiosity and allayed some concerns. Will also make it a point NOT to pay for an expensive prep program. Can certainly understand why your friend was less than pleased. </p>