10 Strategies for ISEE Test Day

This is the second in our series of Tuesday Testing Tips, prepared by Megan Cohen of La Jolla Learningworks.

The following suggestions are simple things you can encourage your child to do before and during the ISEE exam to ensure peak performance.  Pass the following test-taking tips on to your child.

1. Mark up the test booklet. Show your work on math problems, make notes on reading passages, and jot down ideas for your essay.
2. Pace yourself. Don’t waste time on questions that you can’t solve. Move on! Go back to the more challenging questions at the end of the test.
3. Go ahead and GUESS. There is no penalty for guessing on the ISEE, so make sure to fill in an answer for every item.
4. Use process of elimination. If you can get rid of just one answer choice, you improve your chances of making a correct guess.
5. Use the answer choices to help solve Quantitative Reasoning problems. Remember that reasoning requires that you start with something you know, so knowing that one of the 4 answers choices has to be correct is a great start to solving a problem correctly.
6. Predict your answer before looking at the answer choices. For Verbal Reasoning, try to think of a word that would work as a synonym or complete a sentence correctly. For Reading Comprehension, think of the main idea of the passage before you answer the questions. Your prediction will help you quickly see the best answer choice.
7. Check your work. Make sure you answered all questions on your answer sheet and that you transferred the correct answer from your test booklet to your answer sheet. “Silly mistakes”—like skipping a problem on your answer sheet—can make a real impact on your score.
8. Practice deep breathing for clear focus. See the following article from ADDitude Magazine for more info on how deep breathing can help reduce distraction and anxiety: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/6564.html
9. Get a good night sleep before the test. Being well-rested will give you the energy you need to stay focused through the 2.5 hour test.
10. Eat a brainpower boosting breakfast. Steer clear of foods with refined white flour and sugar. Foods packed with protein (peanut or almond butter, eggs, turkey bacon, scrambled, Greek yogurt) and complex carbohydrates (whole grain cereal, whole rolled or steel-cut oats, whole grain or sprouted grain toast) will give you energy to last through the whole test. Pack a light snack, too. Low sugar granola bars or trail mix are great options.

Best of luck on your test!