You’ve done it! You’ve made it through 5 sections, 150 questions, one essay, and over 2 and a half hours of testing. You may be ready to go home and take a well-deserved nap (or run around after sitting for so long) but before you breathe a deep sigh of relief, there’s one final section.
The experimental section is the shortest section of the test: only 15 minutes and 16 questions total. Unlike the other SSAT sections, the experimental section has a mix of question types: six verbal, five reading, and five quantitative. While you want to answer every question and try your hardest, don’t let the experimental section stress or overwhelm you: it is neither scored nor sent to schools.
So, if it’s not scored, why does this section exist? Writing a test like the SSAT can be difficult, and test writers use this last section to try out new questions. Test writers will evaluate the results of each question to determine if it is appropriate and reliable and ultimately if it will appear on the test in future years. Once you’ve finished those last 15 minutes, you can be proud of both conquering a long and difficult test and playing a role in shaping the test for years to come.
The team here at Test Innovators knows a thing or two about the anxiety surrounding testing. There are many different methods to relieving testing anxiety but we chose our top four favorites.
You took the ISEE, but when you get your scores back, they aren’t what you were hoping for. So you wonder, “Can I take the test again?” Yes, you can retake the ISEE. There are three testing seasons in every 12-month admission cycle, and you can take the test once...
Did you know there are over 300 boarding schools in the US? In fact, over 25 are scattered throughout California alone. Today’s boarding schools exude a college campus atmosphere that welcomes students from all over the world to study and learn in a supportive environment.
The SSAT at Home is the same test as the traditional SSAT— the only difference is that the test is administered on the computer rather than on paper. However, because the experience of taking a test at home on the computer is different from taking a test in person...
The Upper Level SSAT is taken by students applying to grades 9-12. The test is administered both on the computer and on paper and consists of six sections: Writing, Quantitative 1, Reading, Verbal, Quantitative 2, and Experimental.
The Prep Plan is one of the best places to see the targeted practice exercises you should be working on. You can access the Prep Plan by clicking on the tab on your Dashboard. Here are some insights into using the Prep Plan to help you succeed:
The saying “practice as you’d like to perform” is applicable to so many things, especially test preparation. Practice tests are the foundation of preparation for this very reason. Practice tests help simulate test day and expose you to the content and structure of the test.
But taking a practice test is...
One of the most common mistakes on the SSAT is misreading a question, usually due to reading too quickly. Be sure to take a few extra seconds on every question to avoid careless errors.
Underline important information
Underline words and numbers indicating the quantities, relationships, and calculations (less than, twice, product, etc.)...
