How to study for the ISEE during winter break cover—clock in front of a green chalkboard

Wondering how to study for the ISEE when it’s just around the corner? You’re in the right place! Whether you’ve been prepping for months or started recently, read on for advice on how to maximize your ISEE test prep in these last few weeks.

The January ISEE

ISEE test dates span three testing seasons: Fall (August–November), Winter (December–March), and Spring/Summer (April–July). Students may retake the ISEE, but they can only take it once per testing season. If you registered for the January ISEE, this is probably the only or the last ISEE you’ll have before your admissions deadlines. That means it is extra important to use the time you have left wisely.

Students signed up for an ISEE date in January are in a particularly advantageous position: winter break gives you plenty of time to both study for the test and spend with loved ones or on your hobbies without school and homework taking up your weekdays. Ideally, you’ll already have 2-3 months of prep under your belt before the break that you can build upon the last few weeks before test day. However, if you have yet to start preparing, it’s now or never to maximize your ability to get a good ISEE score.

How to Study for the ISEE During Winter Break

Students who planned ahead for the ISEE and have been studying for months find winter break a great opportunity to solidify and build upon that progress. Once you’re back to school after winter break, there will be less time available to test prep—study now so that you don’t feel like you have to cram during weekday nights leading up to test day!

Evaluate Your Current Preparedness First

Start your winter break ISEE prep by evaluating where you are now. Students who have taken the ISEE in the past and are preparing for a retake should be using the results of their first test to guide their studying.  If that’s the case for you, take stock of the topics you’ve studied since then and what you have left.

For students whose January ISEE will be their first and only run at the test, take a practice ISEE test at the start of winter break. This will give you a fresh perspective of the test-taking process going into your studying, and the results will indicate the topics and subjects you should focus on. 

Then, Form an ISEE Study Plan for Winter Break

To determine how to study for the ISEE over winter break, form a study schedule based on the time you have available. If your break is two weeks, that’s 12 days of study if you want to take the 24th and 25th off. Account for your other obligations or plans and divide the rest of the time by the content you need to study across the ISEE sections, assigning different topics to different days. To study a topic, work through practice questions and read through lessons as needed.

Alternately, you can gradually work through a practice test across the whole period, spending extra time on questions you come across that aren’t in your expertise. Courses that let you do your ISEE study online can help you work through a test and review lessons at your own pace. (Piqosity’s online ISEE prep is personalized to your abilities, helping you determine and improve your weaknesses.)

Use whatever resources you have to improve your knowledge over this break, from reviewing past schoolwork and homework to improving your English and math skills in different ways. As you balance ISEE prep and leisure time during winter break, there are ways to make practice a little more fun, such as by reading a novel or playing math games. While you should spend more days on the topics you’re less acquainted with, leave some time to review all the bases. A fresh look at the variety of question types throughout the exam will improve both your testing confidence and preparedness. Also, don’t forget the ISEE Essay! Go over the type of prompts on the ISEE Essay to start brainstorming topics.

Sections of the Upper Level ISEE

Last-Minute ISEE Prep During Winter Break

Last minute test prep is never ideal, but any amount of studying will help you improve. If you have yet to start prep for the January ISEE, determine how to study for the ISEE over winter break in order to make effective progress.

1. Set a Study Plan Using Your Last Results (Or a Practice Test)

The best way to know what you still need to learn in order to do well on a test is to take that test and analyze your results. If the January ISEE is a retake for you, look to your past results for test-prep guidance. Use your prior test performance to spot your current knowledge gaps.

If the January ISEE is your first go, get familiar with the exam using a last minute ISEE practice test. The results will show you the subjects and topics you should spend more time learning and practicing. Continue by following the advice above on how to study for the ISEE over these two weeks.

2. Form a Solid ISEE Test Day Strategy

If you start any kind of test prep in the last month or so before the test, it’s especially important to set a test day strategy. Since you won’t have enough time to thoroughly study everything, figure out how you will leverage your testing time wisely to get the best chance of success.

If you need to cram for the ISEE test in just a few weeks, you need to learn how to work through the test at a pace that plays to your strengths. While you study the content tested on the exam, define your personal test-taking strategy and study general testing strategies. Then, plan to spend more time on test day working through topics you know, saving difficult questions until the end. Perhaps you’re a Verbal Reasoning Synonyms savant, but you’ve struggled on Sentence Completion questions in the past. On test day, complete all the Synonyms questions before moving onto Sentence Completions; this way, you’re guaranteed to showcase your strengths before moving onto the questions that require more time and thought. 

3. Review Test-Taking Strategies

Saving the harder questions for later is a useful testing tactic that will help you avoid spending too much time on a single question. Reviewing other common exam-taking strategies and using them on practice questions will help you remember them for test day—they can be a huge help when it comes to using your time on the test effectively.

Test-Taking Strategies

  • Make sure you understand the instructions and underline key words.
  • Cross out answer choices that are obviously wrong.
  • On ELA questions, read the questions before the passage—but not the answer choices.
  • On Math questions, try each answer and make estimations to work through problems more swiftly.

ISEE-Specific Test-Taking Strategies

Practice these strategies by implementing them in your studying, especially when you work through practice questions.. 

Piqosity’s Advanced ISEE Prep Materials

The nights before test day should be spent getting plenty of rest, not cramming, so we hope these tips on how to study for the ISEE over Winter Break showed you how you can maximize your time and chances at a good ISEE score! Whether you’re preparing to take the ISEE for the first time or anticipating a future retake, Piqosity is here to help.

Along with our full-length, online ELA and Math courses for grades 5-11, we offer full test prep courses for the lower, middle, and upper level ISEE, each of which includes:

Upper Level ISEE courses also include a premium video course with over 7 hours of instruction and guided practice for the exam. These 37 individual lessons are perfect for those who need extra explanation about a topic or guidance on how to work through an ISEE question.

The best part? You can try out all of Piqosity’s features with our free community account, offering 2 full ISEE practice tests and 150 practice questions at no cost.

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