ISEE, SSAT & SHSAT — what parents need to know.

If your child is applying to a private, independent, or selective public school in New York, they will almost certainly need to sit one of three standardised admissions tests — the ISEE, the SSAT, or the SHSAT. Each serves a different pool of schools and measures different things. Understanding which test your child needs, what it measures, and how to prepare for it is the first step toward a coherent admissions strategy.

This guide breaks down all three tests, what they cover, when to start preparing, and what the most effective preparation looks like.

The three tests at a glance

Test	Full name	Used for	Grades tested	Who administers
ISEE	Independent School Entrance Exam	Private & independent schools	Entry grades 2–12	ERB (Educational Records Bureau)
SSAT	Secondary School Admission Test	Private & boarding schools	Entry grades 5–12	Enrollment Management Association
SHSAT	Specialized High School Admissions Test	NYC specialized high schools only	Entry grades 9 & 10	NYC Department of Education

The ISEE — private school standard

The ISEE is the most widely accepted admissions test for private and independent schools in New York. Schools such as Dalton, Brearley, Collegiate, Trinity, Horace Mann, Spence, and Chapin all accept or require ISEE scores. It is administered at four levels — Primary (grades 2–4), Lower (grades 5–6), Middle (grades 7–8), and Upper (grades 9–12).

What the ISEE measures

• Verbal Reasoning — synonyms and sentence completion. Vocabulary is heavily weighted at the Upper level.
• Quantitative Reasoning — mathematical problem-solving and word problems, with an emphasis on reasoning rather than computation.
• Reading Comprehension — passages across fiction, science, history, and social studies, with inference and analysis questions.
• Mathematics Achievement — curriculum-aligned math covering arithmetic through algebra and geometry depending on level.
• Essay — unscored but sent to schools with the score report. Schools do read it.

ISEE scores are reported as stanines (1–9) with percentile ranks. Schools typically focus on the stanine — a score of 7 or above is considered competitive at most selective schools. The test penalises guessing through a quarter-point deduction per wrong answer, which means leaving a question blank is often the correct strategy when uncertain.

The SSAT — boarding school and broader independent school use

The SSAT overlaps significantly with the ISEE in terms of which schools accept it, but is more commonly used for boarding school applications and is the preferred test for some schools that accept both. In New York, schools including Fieldston and some independent day schools accept the SSAT alongside or instead of the ISEE.

What the SSAT measures

• Verbal — synonyms and analogies. The analogy section differentiates SSAT from ISEE significantly — it requires pattern recognition and relational thinking.
• Quantitative (two sections) — math reasoning at the student's grade level.
• Reading Comprehension — similar to ISEE but without a penalty for guessing in some formats.
• Writing Sample — unscored, sent to schools.

The SSAT also uses scaled scores and percentile ranks. One important distinction: SSAT percentiles are calculated against other SSAT test-takers — a highly self-selected, competitive group. A 70th percentile SSAT score does not mean the same thing as a 70th percentile score on a general standardised test.

The SHSAT — New York's specialized high schools

The SHSAT is in a different category entirely. It is the sole admissions criterion for eight of New York City's nine specialized high schools — Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech, Staten Island Tech, Brooklyn Latin, High School of American Studies at Lehman, Queens High School for the Sciences, and High School for Mathematics, Science and Engineering at City College. Admission to Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School uses auditions, not the SHSAT.

There is no application process, portfolio, interview, or teacher recommendation that influences admission. Your child's score on a single test determines whether they receive an offer — and to which school, based on cutoff scores that shift each year based on the applicant pool.

What the SHSAT measures

• English Language Arts — revising and editing passages, and reading comprehension. The editing section tests grammar, usage, and sentence structure at a sophisticated level.
• Mathematics — five-choice grid-in problems covering number theory, algebra, geometry, statistics, and probability. The math section is notably harder than standard grade-level curricula.

The SHSAT is taken in grade 8 for grade 9 entry, and in grade 9 for grade 10 entry. Cutoff scores vary significantly by school — Stuyvesant's cutoff is consistently the highest and typically requires a near-perfect score. Brooklyn Tech has the lowest cutoff among the most competitive schools but still requires substantial preparation.

ISEE vs SSAT — which should your child take?

For most New York families applying to private day schools, the ISEE is the safer choice — it is more widely accepted and schools that accept both often have more experience interpreting ISEE scores. If your child is applying to boarding schools or to schools that explicitly prefer the SSAT, take the SSAT.

If you are applying to schools that accept both, consider which test plays more to your child's strengths. The SSAT analogy section rewards students who think in patterns and relationships — this can be a significant advantage for some students and a challenge for others. The ISEE's sentence completion format rewards vocabulary depth and contextual reasoning.

Practically, there is no harm in taking both — but preparation should focus on one test at a time.

When to start preparing

The most common mistake is starting too late. Families who begin preparation in September for a November or December test date often run out of time to close foundational gaps before the exam.

Recommended preparation timelines

• ISEE Primary / Lower (grades 2–6 entry) — 3 to 4 months of structured preparation. Focus on reading fluency, vocabulary development, and arithmetic confidence.
• ISEE Middle / Upper (grades 7–12 entry) — 4 to 6 months minimum. Vocabulary development at the Upper level requires sustained work — it cannot be crammed.
• SSAT — 4 to 5 months. The analogy section benefits from extended exposure; pattern recognition improves over time rather than through intensive cramming.
• SHSAT — 6 to 12 months. The SHSAT math section covers content that is not part of the standard grade 7–8 curriculum. Students need time to learn new material, not just practise existing skills.

What effective preparation looks like

The least effective preparation is working through a test prep book cover to cover without identifying where the student actually has gaps. The most effective preparation starts with a diagnostic — a realistic simulation of the test under timed conditions — followed by targeted work on the specific question types and content areas where the student underperforms.

The components of strong preparation

• Diagnostic first. Before committing to a preparation plan, understand exactly where your child is performing below the competitive range for their target schools.
• Gap-specific instruction. A student who scores in the 4th stanine on ISEE Verbal needs a fundamentally different programme than one who scores in the 6th.
• Timed practice under realistic conditions. Many students perform differently under time pressure. Timed practice should begin early, not just in the final weeks.
• Consistent review. Material covered in week two of preparation should still be reviewed in week ten. Spaced repetition is more effective than massed practice.
• School-specific strategy. The cutoff for Stuyvesant is different from the cutoff for Brooklyn Tech. Preparation should be calibrated to the actual target, not a generic competitive standard.

The role of a specialist tutor

General academic tutors who do not specialise in admissions test preparation often underestimate the gap between curriculum knowledge and test performance. A student who receives A grades in school math can still struggle with SHSAT grid-in problems — not because they lack mathematical ability, but because the SHSAT tests mathematical reasoning and speed in ways that school assessments do not.

Tutors who specialise in ISEE, SSAT, or SHSAT preparation have worked with the test format extensively. They know which question types yield the highest return on preparation time, where the common traps are, and how to build a student's confidence under test conditions — which is as important as content knowledge.

At Xmission, our admissions test tutors are matched to students based on the specific test, level, and target school — not just the general subject. A tutor who has helped ten students through Stuyvesant preparation brings a different kind of precision than one who tutors general math.