Customer Reviews

Kaplan SSAT & ISEE 2006 Edition (Kaplan SSAT & ISEE for Private & Independent School Admissions)

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there is not much out there for ISEE prep so to get adequate sample tests you need to buy this one too.
the tips and techniques are good and there are a fair amount of practice questions and tests but 2 things to watch out for:
- on the mid-level exam, some of the reading comprehension passages are MUCH longer in the actual exam
- the practice tests for mid-level are a combination of mid- and upper-level exams so it is very difficult to gauge how well a tester is doing esp. for a six-grader (going in to seventh)

There are two major divisions of the SSAT exam. These are the
English language and Mathematics compilation and induction.
A strength of the work is that it teaches how to approach
problem sets methodically while utilizing limited time wisely.
There are 45 questions on the English section and 75 minutes for
completion or 1.67 minutes/question. The Mathematics section has
50 questions to be completed in 75 minutes or 1.5 minutes per
question. There is plenty of time; however, there is no time
to waste. Candidates should not dwell on any single question.

The English section tests the following:

- Synonyms i.e. peddle is to sell or synopsis is to summary
- Logical analysis of words
- Writing essays in standard English

[ Standard English means adherence to punctuation, spelling,
sentence structure, structural coherence and the absence of
slang or street language. ]

- Reading paragraphs and answering questions by summarizing the
material, researching in the paragraph, inference and answer
prediction based upon a general knowledge of the exam format

- Simple algebra covering the first semester of a high school
course in Regents Algebra or its equivalent

The test is straight forward; however, candidates must exercise
care in reading/interpreting the questions. Accuracy is
paramount because the score is determined from the number of
correct responses. The optimal strategy on reading comprehension is to read the questions first. Then delve into the paragraph
and underline key words and phrases. Lastly, attempt to answer
the questions. Invariably, every group of questions tests the
ability of the candidate to identify the purpose or general
theme of the paragraph. This may be in the first few sentences
or it may be gleaned from reading the totality of the presentation. In any event, practice will be helpful in this area and the Kaplan text provides plenty of exposure to the test
format.

The Kaplan work is topical and easy to understand or interpret.
The price is reasonable and affordable.