<p>To all those who have taken the SSAT and the ISEE tests this year
what strategies did you use to score well on the SSAT and the ISEE? </p>
<p>Which review books: Barrons, Kaplan, Crack the code etc do you feel helped you most prepare for the tests.
Anyone in NYC have a SSAT or ISEE tutor they can say was really good and helped you? name email if possible.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>For test prep, I’d suggest getting the Barrons SSAT/ISEE 2009 edition. Follow the guide in the introduction that suggests how to prepare (Acing the Exam), which gives you specific instructions to follow depending on how much time u have to prepare. My weakness was Math so I worked on that for the limited amount of time I had to study, and the test isn’t too hard. If your taking the ISEE, which I did, and is apparently easier then the SSAT, the Barrons book is great… For a strategy, really, just go through the practice tests which are really good to help u prepare for the actual thing. I wouldn’t waste time studying the material unless u have something u find exceptionally hard, because most of the material is stuff you’ve already covered. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>We had gotten a painful heads up on the SSAT the year before. Older d took it (She had scored 560 on the SAT for the talent search in 7th grade (about average for a college senior - made the talent search cut off so we had no worries) and only got a 59% !! on the SSAT verbal). For younger d, because of scheduling limitations we got a Kaplan SSAT private tutor. That was helpful for test taking skills and practice on analogies (which I think you could also get from a class or just the book), but not helpful for vocabulary. The tutor said vocabulary was just too much to go through in the 10 visits that are provided. So, we did vocabulary ourselves - Princeton Review and Barrons books are very good for vocabulary - made cards from the lists in the books and also worked on word roots. This is a very valuable large vocabulary set to master and has also helped throughout this year at school, and in enjoying reading a wider range of books. We spent several hours a day, all summer, on the vocabulary alone, since the words had not been covered at all in her school. I would suggest if increasing vocabulary is a goal give yourself 6+ months to work on these word lists 30 minutes every day. You will not regret it since the same vocab is also on the SAT farther down the road. For math, all the books were good, it seemed mainly a matter of knowing the definitions i.e. “rational number” and doing some practice tests, for my d the math was straight forward apart from a couple of confusing questions on the actual test which didn’t seem very hard. Good luck and start early.</p>
<p>We had gotten a painful heads up on the SSAT the year before. Older d took it (She had scored 560 on the SAT for the talent search in 7th grade (about average for a college senior - made the talent search cut off so we had no worries) and only got a 59% !! on the SSAT verbal). For younger d, because of scheduling limitations we got a Kaplan SSAT private tutor. That was helpful for test taking skills and practice on analogies (which I think you could also get from a class or just the book), but not helpful for vocabulary. The tutor said vocabulary was just too much to go through in the 10 visits that are provided. So, we did vocabulary ourselves - Princeton Review and Barrons books are very good for vocabulary - made cards from the lists in the books and also worked on word roots. This is a very valuable large vocabulary set to master and has also helped throughout this year at school, and in enjoying reading a wider range of books. We spent several hours a day, all summer, on the vocabulary alone, since the words had not been covered at all in her school. I would suggest if increasing vocabulary is a goal give yourself 6+ months to work on these word lists 30 minutes every day. You will not regret it since the same vocab is also on the SAT farther down the road. For math, all the books were good, it seemed mainly a matter of knowing the definitions i.e. “rational number” and doing some practice tests, for my d the math was straight forward apart from a couple of confusing questions on the actual test which didn’t seem very hard. Good luck and start early.</p>
<p>I didn’t do any test prep besides one practice test and got a 98% because my mom wouldn’t let me retake to get a 99%! Anyway, study vocab. Thats the killer.</p>
<p>i got 99% overall, and i used barron’s and princeton review, i found that princeton review was great, especially for practice tests (it was more difficult than the actual test, except reading comp-- ssat reading comp was pretty brutal albeit generous)</p>
<p>the verbal really wasn’t difficult at all, just study roots and break down the words into smaller words to get an idea of the definition. also, verbal scoring is very generous-- i got 4 wrong in that section and i still got 800 in the verbal section, lol.</p>
<p>study math! just study the angles the princeton review book talks about and make sure you have a firm grasp on corresponding angles. </p>
<p>best of luck.</p>
<p>To prepare for the SSAT, I took every opportunity to familiarize myself with the test format I got. My friends and I all bought different SSAT textbooks, and we shared practice tests, so I was able to take about 5 tests overall. I didn’t take further action to prepare for any sections other than the vocabulary, because my math in school prepared me for the quantative sections, and a lifetime of recreational reading helped me score high on the reading comprehension. I wasn’t too familiar with the different types of analogies, so it was great to have the PR book to pick up “strategies” on that part of the test. I also found the wordlists in the Princeton Review book great because when I took the test, more than once I would silently think about how I learned that word from one of the wordlists.</p>
<p>Hi, I am a tutor in NYC and I always start with the PR book. Depending on how much time I have with a student, I will also introduce other materials specific to his or her weakest section. Further, the ERB provides sample questions and a guide for the ISEE online.</p>
<p>But imho the PR book is solid, especially if you have a limited amount of time. Good luck!</p>
<p>I used PR and Peterson’s (mostly Peterson’s). However math was pretty straightforward like the others have mentioned</p>
<p>one advice… DONT GET KAPLAN!! it is nothing like the real test but its only my opinion</p>
<p>I got a 95 on my SSATs pretty painlessly. I studied SAT Vocabulary Cartoons which helped a TON! They come in books or as an app for the iPhone or iPod Touch. I also used Princeton Review but mostly just for practice tests. The book that really helped me was SSAT Secrets ([SSAT</a> Test Study Guide Reviews SSAT Exam Practice Tips](<a href=“http://www.mo-media.com/ssat/]SSAT”>SSAT Study Guide & Practice Test [Prepare for the SSAT Test])). I would strongly suggest it! Good luck!</p>
<p>On the SSAT website, they had a vocabulary word of the day and the analogy of the day. I used that with Princeton Review, and got in the mid-90s without too much strife.</p>
<p>Honestly, I didn’t prepare for SSAT that much because it wasnt available in my country until January 2011. I started prepping 3 weeks before the test and scored 96 overall as a sophomore… However, if you prepare yourself for taking SAT/PSAT, the SSAT will seem very straightforward to you because prior to SSAT I did prep for the PSAT. Instead of spending 2 months following what a prep book is telling you to do, make flashcards for vocabulary words and practice your critical reading skills because the curve for that section is very tough.In fact, I got 770 for making just 1 mistake out of 50… Familiarize yourself with math problems that are going to be on the test because some of them seemed pretty odd to me.
The only book that I used was Barron’s SSAT/ISEE. It has decent practice tests and vocabulary lists, which I found quite useful. Try to score high on your first try because BS admissions don’t like it when you take SSAT numerous times…
I’m not a native speaker and this approach still worked for me, so I don’t think you should have any problems with taking the SSATs.</p>
<p>I also agree that Barron’s 8th edition, Princeton Review & Kaplan’s book is excellent in preparing students for SSAT. My son was able to get 99% on his first SSAT test studying with those three books plus vocabulary workshop A-F. </p>
<p>However, I do not recommend the secret guide to SSAT at all. As my son commented, it prepares you for something else, something other than SSAT and I agree. Perhaps it is for lower level ssat. I can’t believe they are selling the flimsy book for close to $50. We returned the book and the practice test book on the day we received it in mail.</p>