September is when families are embarking upon the admissions process for the following school year. This is a time to gather information about the schools to which you're applying and plan for their specific requirements for admission. One of the most important pieces of advices that we give parents is to make sure you are not holding up [...]
It’s not easy to put together a good writing sample on the test if you don’t know what your schools will think is good. Do they want formal writing? Should there be astounding thoughts that unlock the secrets of the universe? Should it be in iambic pentameter? Don’t worry. None of those things [...]
The first thing to know about the reading comprehension section of any test is that it is not a test of how well you read. It's a test of how well you take a reading test. What this means for test takers is that to do well on this test section, [...]
One of the great myths out there is that students who know the material taught in class will be prepared for standardized tests. But the reality is that except for a few naturally great test takers, knowing only the academic material is going in half-prepared. One concept we try to instill in our students is that [...]
The SSAT and ISEE test dates are here! In preparing for your exam, there is nothing better than continued, ongoing practice to make testing language second nature. But if you’re gearing up to test in the coming days and haven’t had a chance to formally prepare, there are three pointers that by keeping them in mind can [...]
"My child is a great student. He works hard and earns excellent grades. He just doesn't test well." How many of us have made that same observation about our own child? As teachers and test-prep tutors, this phenomenon of good students struggling at test time seems to be more the norm than the exception. What [...]
While most of us are focused on enjoying our summer vacation, independent school parents are thinking about getting their child ready for the independent school entrance exams ISEE and SSAT. In our experience as independent school educators, we’ve come up with a test preparation plan that will work, without piling on unnecessary homework, wasting [...]
At ETP, we are pleased to share with you some exciting changes to the ISEE testing process. We say exciting, because we believe that these changes will make things much better for students. In August 2016, ERB will announce a new option – multiple testing. With this change, all students will be allowed to test three times during a single admissions cycle. Each test may be taken once during a four-month testing window. The windows are: Fall (August – November) Winter (December – March) Spring/Summer (April – July) So what does this mean for your placement strategy? […]
The best test prep is stress free prep. When I played the saxophone, I had fun. But I didn't love it so much that I wanted to practice 8 hours a day. And I was OK with that. I liked goofing around and being able to play what I wanted to. But no one [...]
Test makers love proportions. We work with standardized tests for public schools, ISEE, SSAT, ACT, SAT, SAT subjects, and more. In every case, the test makers are very interested in proportions. A few years back we were working with a student on her standardized math test for public school. The test didn’t count as part [...]
