ISEE Vs SSAT

Introduction To ISEE Vs SSAT

The following article provides an outline for ISEE Vs SSAT. ISEE (Independent School Entrance Examination) is an examination conducted and administrated by ERB (Educational Records Bureau). This is an entrance exam that is used by many private schools in the USA for admission of students into primary, lower, and higher grades. The exam tests student’s quantitative reasoning, verbal reasoning, comprehension, and math. Then there will be essay writing which will be unscored and sent to schools they are applying to. Based on the scores, students are provided with percentile which they can use to get admission into the schools.

SSAT (Secondary School Admission Test) is also like ISEE but is controlled by Enrollment Management Association in the USA. It also creates the path for students to get admission into private schools. Similar to ISEE, SSAT has exam topics of quantitative aptitude, reasoning, and verbal. It also has essay writing which is unscored and is sent to schools to which they are applying.

Difference Between ISEE Vs SSAT

The following table gives the difference between ISEE vs SSAT:

Sr. No	ISEE	SSAT
1	Independent School Entrance Examination.	Secondary School Admission Test.
2	Administrated by Educational Records Bureau.	Administrated by Enrollment Management Association.
3	There are 4 major sections Verbal, Quants, Comprehension, and Math.	There are 3 major sections Verbal, Reading, and Quants/math (used interchangeably).
4	Negative marking is not present.	Negative marking is present for the middle and upper levels. For the lower level, no negative marking.
5	There are 4 different levels of exam based on student’s grade i.e., Primary, Lower, Middle, and Upper.	There are 3 different levels of exam based on student’s grade i.e., Elementary, Middle, and Upper.
6	Exam eligibility starts at 2nd grade.	Exam eligibility starts at 4th grade.
7	Students can give a maximum of 3 times a year.	Students can take as many times as they want.
8	Scoring is in percentile.	Scoring is in stanine.
9	Comparatively easier because of no negative marking.	Slightly difficult because of negative marking and experimental section.

Test Preparation

• Check the school requirements: Before preparation, check whether the school accepts ISEE, SSAT, or both. Usually, most schools consider both, but better to approach and then decide.
• Study the syllabus well: Study and be thorough with the basics of major topics well as most questions will appear from them.
• Know the exam structure:

ISEE Structure:

a. For lower, middle, and upper level

Exam Sections	Lower Level		Middle Level		Upper Level
	Questions	Time In Min	Questions	Time	Questions	Time
Verbal Reasoning	34	20	40	20	40	20
Quantitative Reasoning	38	35	37	35	37	35
Reading Comprehension	25	25	36	35	36	35
Mathematics Achievement	30	30	47	40	47	40
Essay*	1	30	1	30	1	30

b. For primary level

Exam Sections	Primary 2		Primary 3		Primary 4
	Questions	Time	Questions	Time	Questions	Time
Auditory Comprehension	6	7	–	–	–	–
Reading	18	20	24	28	24	28
Mathematics	24	26	24	26	28	30
Writing Sample*	1	–	1	–	1	–

SSAT Structure

Given below is the SSAT structure:

a. Middle and upper levels

Section	Middle Level -Questions	Upper Level – Questions	Time In Min
Math I	25	25	30
Reading	40	40	40
Verbal	60	60	30
Math II	25	25	30
Essay*	1	1	25
Experimental*	16	16	15

b. Elementary level

Section	Questions	Time
Math I	30	30
Verbal	30	20
Reading	28	30
Essay*	1	15
Experimental*	15-17	15

* Refers that they are unscored sections.

ISEE And SSAT Scores

The scoring is similar to both but the only difference is that ISEE gives in stanine and SSAT give percentile.

• Raw score: It is the actual marks scored by students.
• Scaled score: It is the normalized score generated from all the regions and time zones.
• Percentile score: All the scores will be converted on the base of 100. It also relatively tests the student’s performance.
• Stanine score: The table gives relationship between percentile and stanine.

Percentile	Stanine Score
96-99	9
89-95	8
77-88	7
60-76	6
40-59	5
23-39	4
11-22	3
4-10	2
1-3	1

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