Award-Winning ISEE Courses & Classes in Chicago, IL

If you have a student who is gearing up to take the ISEE, you may benefit from enrolling them in a Chicago ISEE prep course provided by Varsity Tutors. The ISEE, or Independent School Entrance Examination, is used by independent and private schools to assess potential students entering grade levels 2 through 12. The exact content of the test will change depending on the level of the student, but regardless of your student's grade level, a Chicago ISEE course can provide support and get your student ready to do their best on the exam.

These prep classes are taught entirely online, and students will attend class discussions led by a qualified teacher, getting to grips with the ISEE alongside their peers. A group class can be a great way to get your student more involved in their ISEE prep, and a class will cover not only the content material of the course but also will provide knowledge as to how the test is structured and scored, so you can be sure your student is ready for test day.

What can a Chicago ISEE course do to help my student prepare?

The ISEE comes in four different formats. The Primary Level test is taken by students entering 2nd through 4th grade, the Lower Level is for 5th and 6th, the Middle Level covers 7th and 8th, and the Upper Level ISEE is for students entering 9th grade and above. Let's take a quick look at what will be covered on each of the levels of the ISEE, so you can have a better idea of what your student will be learning in a Chicago ISEE class.

The Primary Level ISEE includes Reading and Math sections, which will ask your student to show their reading comprehension skills and vocabulary, as well as their basic math skills, respectively. There is also a Writing section, in which students will be given a picture prompt and asked to write a simple story about the picture. The Writing section is not scored but is instead an opportunity for schools to get to know your student and see their creative side. For 2nd grade admission, there is also an Auditory Comprehension section, which will ask your student to listen to passages and answer questions about them.

The Lower Level ISEE consists of Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, Math Achievement, and Essay sections. For the Verbal Reasoning section, students will have to know age-appropriate vocabulary words and be able to use context to complete sentences. On the Quantitative Reasoning section, students will be tested on their skill with basic arithmetic and logic and will answer probability questions. The Reading Comprehension section will ask students to read passages and locate relevant information to answer questions. The Math Achievement section will require students to perform math operations, identify patterns, use decimals, and understand simple geometry. Last is the Essay section, where students will be able to respond to a prompt about a topic appropriate to their grade level. This section is an opportunity for the school to learn more about your student and their interests.

For the Middle Level of the ISEE, the sections and the time allotted for them are the same as the Lower Level. However, here the Verbal Reasoning section will expect students to have a middle school to high school-level vocabulary and to be able to use suffixes, prefixes, and context to understand words. The Quantitative Reasoning section will ask students to understand how to find variables, length of lines, and the areas of quadrilateral shapes, as well as work with square roots and formulas. The Reading Comprehension section will ask students to contrast information from passages, infer non-explicit information, and understand figurative and non-figurative language. The Math Achievement section will cover prime factorization, ratios and proportions, and geometry involving quadrilaterals and triangles. Students will also complete an Essay section with a prompt suited to students entering high school.

Finally, we come to the Upper Level ISEE. Here the Verbal Reasoning section will demand a high school-level vocabulary and put an emphasis on using context clues to discern meaning. The Quantitative Reasoning section will require students to demonstrate a real understanding of mathematical thought, rather than just performing operations, through problem-solving and probability questions. The Reading Comprehension will ask students to infer information, understand cause and effect in written arguments, understand literary genres and their relationships, and to be able to read authorial intent into a passage. At this level, the Math Achievement section will add word problems, and solving equations here will require knowledge of geometry, algebra, and math problem-solving. There will be an Essay section, which will ask students to write an essay based on a prompt and show their ability to write a grammatically, structurally, and mechanically sound essay.

How will a Chicago ISEE class prepare my student?

We know that both you and your student may have very full lives, and adding a prep course to your schedule might seem like a challenge. This is why these courses are designed to be accessible to a wide variety of students with diverse needs. These courses are taught in an online classroom, where your student will engage with their peers in discussion sessions and be taught by a knowledgeable instructor. This online classroom works just like a brick-and-mortar classroom, with the added advantage of no commute times and a range of class times to pick from. New classes start on a weekly basis, and both 2-week and 4-week class sections are available, so getting signed up is simple as well.

Working through material with other students can be an excellent way to learn, and has in fact been shown to promote understanding and retention of information. However, it can be useful to ask questions in a more private context, too. This is why, in addition to class sessions where the instructor will work on ISEE content material and test-taking skills with the group, your student will also be able to request one-on-one time with their teacher in order to brush up on any material they might struggle to understand. A Chicago ISEE course aims to provide you and your student with the options you need to pursue success on the exam.

How can I get my student signed up for a Chicago ISEE course?

No matter where your student is at in their ISEE prep, Varsity Tutors is providing Chicago ISEE courses that can suit your needs and schedule. A Chicago ISEE prep course can provide insight into how the test functions, and what skills your student can employ in their approach to the ISEE, which can build their confidence as they approach other standardized tests throughout their academic career. Contact us today and we can provide you with more information on our course offerings and get you signed up for a course that can deepen your student's understanding of the material they'll need to know to perform well on the ISEE, and set them up to pursue success throughout their academic career.