Cracking the SSAT & ISEE, 2014 Edition Author: Princeton Review | Language: English | ISBN:
0307946177 | Format: PDF
Cracking the SSAT & ISEE, 2014 Edition Description
THE PRINCETON REVIEW GETS RESULTS. Get all the prep you need to conquer the SSAT and ISEE with access to 6 full-length practice tests, thorough reviews of fundamental topics, and extra practice online.
Inside the Book: All the Practice & Strategies You Need
· 5 full-length practice tests (2 for SSAT; 3 for ISEE) with detailed answer explanations
· Practice questions for every level, subject, and question type
· Updated strategies for writing a winning essay
· Thorough review of the fundamentals of the Math, Verbal, and Reading sections for both tests
· Our exclusive "Hit Parade" of frequently-appearing SSAT/ISEE vocabulary words
· Proven techniques to help raise your score
Exclusive Access to More Practice and Resources Online
· 1 additional full-length SSAT Elementary Level practice test that you can download and print out
· Includes an answer key and explanations for every question
- Series: Private Test Preparation
- Paperback: 704 pages
- Publisher: Princeton Review (August 6, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0307946177
- ISBN-13: 978-0307946171
- Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 1.7 inches
- Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
I am a tutor and I have many students each year who need to take the SSAT and the ISEE. Once my students have acquired each test's official book (Preparing & Applying for the SSAT and What to Expect on the ISEE, both of which are currently available only from the websites administered by the test-makers themselves), this book is the book I recommend first for my students -- followed closely by the Kaplan book.
In fact, as I say in the book review episode of my SSAT and ISEE podcast, the PR and Kaplan books are really the *only* books worth using outside of the official books. All the other publishers get something seriously wrong, but these books get almost everything right. For the Princeton Review in particular, the breakdown is as follows:
Pros:
- Spectacular vocab and word roots practice
- Great practice with hard synonyms & analogies
- Good balance of "lessons" and practice with actual test problems
Cons:
- The math sections are complete, but not as thorough as with Kaplan (but Kaplan's vocab work isn't as good)
- No single student will be able to use more than one practice test in this book (same for Kaplan)
The reason for that last point is that the SSAT has a lower and upper level (2 tests), and the ISEE has a lower, middle, and upper level (3 tests). So the fact that there are five practice tests in this book (and most prep books) really means that there's only one test per level. And any given student is only going to take the test at one level, so at most there is one practice test per student per test.
I am an ISEE, SSAT, SAT, and ACT tutor and founder of ISEEpracticetest.com and SSATpracticetest.com.
I recommend Princeton Review over the other SSAT/ISEE texts out there. However,the text definitely has its shortcomings.
As compared to the 2013 text: The 2014 text has improved the SSAT and ISEE essay topics and the formatting and look of the ISEE practice tests.
However, the Lower Level ISEE reading passages are now way too easy!! Please warn your students that parts of this text may not be representative of the official test's difficulty. I also noticed in the Lower Level ISEE practice test that some of the same errors in the VR section that were in the 2013 test have not been corrected.
Here is my review of Princeton Review's 2013 text:
ISEE
The passages in Princeton Review's 2013 ISEE practice tests are much more boring and difficult that the ERB's (they look more like SAT than ISEE passages).
Also in the Lower Level ISEE sentence completions, there are no sentence completions with blank phrases (only missing word sentence completions- whereas the ERB presents the ISEE as having 1/3 of the sentence completions end with blank phrases).
Additionally, in the 2-blank UL sentence completions the Princeton Review uses synonyms to make tricky wrong answers (in line with the SAT) -However, on the ERB's ISEE there are no tricky synonyms.
And is it the UL ISEE essay question that asks whether the driving age should be raised to 21?! That is an ACT-like question! I don't expect such a question on an ISEE.
I actually recently co-wrote 6 new ISEE practice test that are just now available at iseepracticetest.com.
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