As a parent, you believe your child will get the best education from a private school even if it has a big price. You will do everything you can to get your son or daughter into an exclusive middle school or high school to help them receive the finest education possible. But first, they need to take the ISEE in Danville or neighboring cities in order to be admitted to these schools. But what is ISEE and why do students need to take it?

ISEE is the Independent School Entrance Examination. It is a type of entrance exam used by many exclusive schools across the United States. Having a passing rate from the ISEE will help your child get into to the top independent middle and high schools would like to attend. By “independent school,” it means any private school that is run or funded by a religious institution, or by an individual or several individuals. They do not receive government funding in order to operate. Independent schools make up about one percent of all schools in the United States.

The ISEE is also sometimes used by public schools, especially magnet schools. Magnate schools are public schools that have specialized courses or curriculum and selective admissions.

Many privately-run independent schools are typically perceived to offer a higher quality of education than public schools. This implies that these schools simply cannot accept every applicant. They use the ISEE to help them select the students permitted to attend.

The ISEE is a standardized admission test for students to be admitted to these schools. It offers exams of different levels depending on your child’s current grade:

  • Lower Level – for applicants currently in the 5th and 6th grade
  • Middle Level – for applicants currently in the 7th and 8th grade
  • Upper Level – for applicants currently in 9th to 12th grade

Students from all levels will have to take tests in these five sections:

1. Verbal reasoning – This consists of Synonyms and Sentence Completion
2. Quantitative reasoning

  • Lower level – There will be 38 questions which must be answered in 35 minutes; it will consist of Word Problems
  • Middle and Upper levels – There will be 37 questions which must be completed in 35 minutes; it will consist of World Problems and Quantitative Comparisons

3. Reading Comprehension

  • Lower level – There are 25 questions which will have to be completed in 35 minutes; there are five reading passages with five questions for each passage
  • Middle and Upper level – There are 36 questions which will have to be completed in 35 minutes; there are six reading passages with six questions for each passage

4. Mathematics achievement

  • Lower level – 30 questions will have to be answered in 30 minutes
  • Middle and Upper – 47 questions will have to be answered in 40 minutes
  • Calculators are not allowed

5. Essay – Students are allowed 30 minutes to complete the essay. This doesn’t have a score but is otherwise sent to the schools the student is applying to.

The test takes about three hours and is conducted several times throughout the year. However, ISEE tests are generally offered in the autumn and winter months. Depending on the area you’re living in, the number of tests varies; the number of tests in Danville may be different from those offered in the other areas. However, once the student has taken the exam and in case they fail to pass it, they have to wait six months before they can retake it.

A few weeks after the exam, results are then sent to the parents, as well as to the school the applicant is applying. There’s no such thing as a passing or failing mark because the private schools will decide what’s acceptable for their school. As implied earlier, a student can only take the exam once every six months in case he/she doesn’t pass the test.

You are aware that private schools are indeed very selective in screening applicants. Even though your child performs well in their current school, they will still need to take the ISEE in Danville in order to be admitted to the school of their choice.