In America the competition to get into private schools can be fierce! Therefore the schools need a way to differentiate between the children applying and judge their ability. This is commonly done with an entrance test. Independent schools commonly use the Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE) written by ERB.

The ISEE was rewritten in 2009. New questions were added along with hundreds of new essay questions. The test has also been made shorter without compromising the effectiveness of the test itself. The exam is made up of 5 sections: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, reading comprehension, mathematics achievement and a 30 minute essay.

It should be noted that your child can only sit the ISEE once in 6 months. The test has comes in three levels: upper, middle and lower which correspond to the grade your child is in at school. The test is approximately 2 hours long with time allowed for 2 breaks. The essay section of the exam is expected to take around 30 minutes.

Many parents are stuck when it comes to helping they child prepare for the exam. Some parents even go so far to hire very expensive tutors. Allow you can be sure that a tutor will be worthwhile and know how to prepare the child for test it is a great expense. There are also various books and online programs available. You should look for a resource that comes with practice questions. These show the child what they should expect in the actual exam and before familiar with how the questions are asked.