ISEE: Sections Overview — What Students & Parents Need to Know

The Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE) is one of the most widely used admissions tests for private and independent schools in Los Angeles and across the country. For many students, it’s their first real experience with a high-stakes, multi-section standardized test—and understanding its structure is the key to preparing effectively.

This guide breaks down each section of the ISEE so families know exactly what to expect and how to help their child succeed.

What Is the ISEE?

The ISEE (Independent School Entrance Exam) is used by independent, private, and magnet schools as part of admissions decisions.It comes in four levels:

• Primary Level (Grades 2–4)

• Lower Level (Applicants to Grades 5–6)

• Middle Level (Applicants to Grades 7–8)

• Upper Level (Applicants to Grades 9–12)

The exam includes five scored sections plus one unscored essay.

SECTION 1: Verbal Reasoning

This section measures vocabulary, language reasoning, and a student’s ability to understand relationships between words.

What’s Covered:

The Verbal Reasoning section of the ISEE is designed to test far more than simple vocabulary memorization. It evaluates how well students understand words, use context to determine meaning, and recognize relationships between ideas. On both the Middle and Upper Level exams, students will encounter synonym questions and sentence completions that require them to choose the most appropriate word based on tone, nuance, or context clues. Because the vocabulary level can be significantly above grade expectations, this section often challenges even strong readers. It’s less about knowing every word and more about being able to reason through unfamiliar language.

What It Measures:

Breadth of vocabulary

Verbal logic

Ability to use context clues

Student Challenges:

Advanced vocabulary far above grade level

Sentence completions with multiple plausible answers

Time pressure when reading quickly

SECTION 2: Quantitative Reasoning

This is not a traditional math section—it focuses on mathematical thinking, not computation.

What’s Covered:

The Quantitative Reasoning section of the ISEE is often the most surprising for students because it doesn’t look like traditional school math. Instead of testing straightforward computation, this section focuses on how well a student can think mathematically. The problems emphasize logic, number sense, estimation, comparison, and the ability to navigate unfamiliar word problems. Students might face questions that involve spotting patterns, evaluating the relationship between quantities, or choosing the most reasonable answer without doing extensive calculations. Because the questions are designed to test reasoning rather than memorized formulas, the section challenges students to apply flexible thinking and interpret mathematical information in new ways.

What It Measures:

How well students think through unfamiliar math problems

Critical reasoning skills

Math intuition, not memorization

Student Challenges:

Problems that look “nothing like school math”

Being tricked by comparison questions

Overthinking simple logic

SECTION 3: Reading Comprehension

This section tests a student’s ability to read quickly, understand deeply, and analyze effectively.

What’s Covered:

The Reading Comprehension section of the ISEE challenges students to engage with a range of passages—from literature and history to science and contemporary topics—and extract meaning under time pressure. Each passage is followed by questions that require students to identify the main idea, understand supporting details, infer meaning, interpret vocabulary in context, and analyze the author’s tone or purpose. The texts are intentionally dense, with advanced vocabulary and complex sentence structures that may be above a student’s current grade level. Success in this section depends on a student’s ability to read efficiently, stay focused, and quickly determine what information is essential.

Students must identify main ideas, inference, tone, organization, and details.

What It Measures:

Reading stamina

Critical thinking

Ability to extract information from challenging texts

Student Challenges:

Dense passages with advanced vocabulary

Overly literal reading

Time management

SECTION 4: Mathematics Achievement

This is the content-heavy math section—very different from Quantitative Reasoning.

What’s Covered:

The Mathematics Achievement section of the ISEE assesses a student’s grasp of formal math content taught in school, making it the most traditional academic portion of the exam. Unlike Quantitative Reasoning—which focuses on logic and pattern recognition—this section measures concrete skills such as arithmetic, fractions, decimals, percentages, pre-algebra, basic algebra, geometry, and word problem-solving. Students are expected to compute accurately, apply formulas, work through multi-step problems, and demonstrate a clear understanding of the foundational concepts taught up to their grade level. Because the range of topics is broad, this section often reveals gaps that may have developed over several years.

What It Measures:

What students have actually learned in school

Their ability to compute, apply formulas, and solve traditional math problems

Student Challenges:

Gaps in foundational math from earlier grades

Algebraic manipulation

Geometry formulas

Long word problems requiring multiple steps

SECTION 5: Essay (Unscored)

The essay is not graded, but it is sent directly to admissions officers, making it a crucial part of the application.

What’s Covered:

Students respond to a single prompt—personal, creative, or opinion-based—within 30 minutes.

What It Measures:

Writing organization

Clarity and coherence

Thoughtfulness

Ability to compose under time constraints

Student Challenges:

Freezing up during brainstorming

Weak structure without guidance

Running out of time

Writing too little or too much

What Makes the ISEE Challenging?

✔ It uses advanced, above-grade-level vocabulary and reasoning

Many students see material they have never encountered in school.

✔ It’s longer and more mentally demanding than most middle school tests

Especially for younger students applying to competitive LA schools.

✔ Scoring is comparative

Students are assessed against other test-takers, not just a raw score.

Know the Test, Own the Test.

Understanding the structure of the ISEE is the first step toward conquering it.With consistent practice, smart strategies, and personalized support, students can turn a challenging exam into an opportunity to shine.

For families in Los Angeles ready to begin ISEE prep, LA Math Tutoring is here to help every step of the way.

Book a consultation today to start your child’s personalized ISEE prep plan.