About the ISEE Upper Level
The ISEE Upper Level is the ACT of private school admissions for grades 9 through 12. Just as colleges use the SAT and ACT to determine applicant preparedness, many independent schools across the US achieve the same effect with the ISEE.
Because teachers, curriculums, and academic difficulty vary from school to school, a student’s report card is not sufficient enough to accurately compare students from different schools. Therefore they use a standardized test like the ISEE.
ISEE is an acronym that stands for the Independent School Entrance Exam. It is administered by the non-profit group ERB, Educational Records Bureau. You’ve probably heard of ERB before in the context of annual testing, particularly if your school administers the CTP-4, which is somewhat similar to the ISEE.
ISEE Upper Level Research, Analysis, & Adice
ISEE Math Review – Permutations
Permutations are a variation of the fundamental counting principle except that you are determining a certain number of combinations from a single set. More importantly, the order in which you choose elements from the set matters. For example, you would use permutations when making a password (123 is not the same as 321). Also, when you select an element from a set, you reduce the number of elements by 1 [...]
ISEE Math Review – Combinations
Combinations, another variation of the fundamental counting principle, come into play when the order of the selected elements from the single set does not matter. For example, the ice‐cream store has a special for a cup of ice‐cream with five flavors (no toppings), but you cannot choose the same flavor again for any of the five scoops. Choosing chocolate for the first scoop and vanilla for the second scoop is [...]
ISEE Math Review – Probability
While the fundamental counting principle, permutations, and combinations deal with all possible combinations that can occur, probability deals with the likelihood of a specific event occurring. For example, you know that when you toss a penny it is just as likely the penny will land heads up as it will land tails up. The penny has two sides, and each side is considered one part of the penny, or one‐half. [...]
ISEE Math Review – Distance, Rate, and Time
You’ve ridden in a car enough times to know it travels a specific rate, such as miles per hour, to reach its destination. You’ve also seen the speed limit signs designating the maximum rate allowed for a particular stretch of road. If you look up directions to a place you want to go, then you’ll find the distance between your current location and your destination and the time it will [...]
ISEE Math Review – Simple and Compound Interest
Investment word problems involve simple and compound interest. In these problems, an individual deposits a specific amount of money, called the principal, into a bank account that has a particular interest rate. The account accrues interest over a period of time, which is money paid into your account by the bank. Basically, the bank uses your money for investments and pays you for the use of your money (though not [...]
ISEE Math Review – Multiplying Polynomials
Algebraic expressions are not solely made up of coefficients and a single variable. Algebraic expressions can be made up of multiple terms, which are either added or subtracted from each other. These terms can include several distinct variables, their coefficients, and known quantities called constants. Depending on their number of terms, algebraic expressions can be labeled as a monomial, binomial, trinomial, or a polynomial. Definition of Monomial Definition of Binomial [...]
