It may seem like school has only just begun, but if you’re thinking about placing your child in private school, you need to be looking ahead to next year. Schools start the application process early, and admissions testing is one aspect of that process you and your child will need to navigate.
How does the admissions test fit into the admissions picture? The test is but one portion of the application, just like the SAT or ACT is only one portion of a college application – it’s important, but it’s not the only tool that schools use to evaluate your child.
Jerry Davis, director of admissions at The Oakridge School in Arlington, says their admissions team conducts a “holistic evaluation” of the student. “Testing is only three hours of a student’s performance,” he says, “but it’s a snapshot of where the student is right now.”
Schools will put test scores into a larger picture of teacher comments, school records, interviews and other evaluative tools to try and piece together what the student’s day-to-day performance might look like. In this light, the admissions test may not seem so paramount. “It’s still a high-stakes test,” Davis says, “but we try to put it in perspective.”
What kind of test will my child take? Younger students (entering grades K–4) take an age-appropriate assessment, sometimes created by the school and usually administered at the school on a predetermined test date. Schools in a consortium may administer a common test, which comes in handy if you’re applying to more than one school in the consortium. Be sure to research this possibility in advance.
Older students (entering grades 4–12) usually take a standardized assessment that is not administered by the school. The two most common tests are the Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE), created and administered by ERB, a not-for-profit educational services organization, and the Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT), given by the Secondary School Admission Test Board (SSATB).
The ISEE and SSAT both follow the basic format of other standardized tests (again, think SAT), with multiple-choice questions to test quantitative, verbal and reading skills and an essay portion to test writing abilities. Both are timed, but special accommodations can be made for your child if necessary.
Students looking to apply to a school that uses either test must register with the ERB or the SSATB and sign up for a testing date. The test scores will then be sent to the school(s) of your choice. Contact the schools on your radar to find out which test they use and whether they have a deadline for receiving your child’s scores.
How can my child prepare for the exam? Just like other standardized tests, the ISEE and SSAT both provide sample questions so your child can get a feel for each section of the test. ERB offers a full-length practice test, scoring information and other preparation materials free of charge if viewed online or downloaded from the ERB website. Their “What to Expect on the ISEE” guides are just that: what to expect, not necessarily how to score in the stratosphere. But familiarizing your child with the test questions before the big day will certainly ease the nerves and prevent deer-in-the-headlights syndrome.
The SSATB has a study guide available for purchase. Some parents will also pay for tutors or special classes to prepare their kids for admissions testing. But Jen Liggit, assistant head of school for enrollment management and strategic initiatives at The Hockaday School, advises against spending money on fancy prep work. “Some of the students [who invest in special preparation] get in, some don’t – it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference,” she says.
Davis says extra preparation can make a difference, but not always a positive one. “Some families will take preparation to the nth degree, but there is a potential negative outcome,” he says. If too much tutoring and cramming takes place, the test can show a “false positive” – a misleading, inaccurate reflection of the child’s abilities rather than an honest assessment of his performance on any given day. According to Davis, “preparing overly can be counterproductive” because the school could place the student into an environment he’s not actually prepared for.
Rather, Liggitt advises prospective students to “get a good night’s sleep and eat a good breakfast.” And she tells parents not to bring unwanted anxiety to the test by betraying their own nervous excitement. “Be calm about it,” she says, “because that transfers to your child.”
To help diffuse the worry, emphasize other aspects of the application procedure. A campus visit, for example, will allow you and your child to get a feel for the school and decide whether he’d thrive in that environment. For older kids, sitting in classes and hanging out with other students can be the most enlightening and stress-relieving part of the process.
But perhaps the best way to navigate admissions is to get started – the earlier the better, according to Liggit. She advises parents to respect deadlines and schedule test dates as soon as possible, to the benefit of both the school and the student. Comb the admissions information for each school on your list to ensure you have all the dates and details – that kind of excessive preparation is never a bad idea. And if you and your child are nervous about testing, try the most surefire method of stress relief available: getting it over with.
For more information about the ISEE and SSAT, please visit erblearn.org and ssat.org.
