What’s a Good Score on the ISEE?

So you’ve taken an initial ISEE practice test, and when you get your score back you’re not really sure what it means.

At school, you know how well you’ve done based on how many answers you got right or wrong. But the ISEE, like other standardized tests, is different because it’s scored normatively. So a “good” score depends on how you did compared to other students. You don’t even have to get every answer correct to get the highest score!

The first step to understanding what a “good” score is on the ISEE, is understanding how it’s scored to begin with. If you don’t already feel like you have a solid understanding of that, check out our post on how the ISEE is scored.

Once you understand the elements of your score report, it’s important to understand where you are right now so that you can gauge your improvement as you prepare. So that means you need to take an ISEE practice test early so you can assess what you already know, and what topics and strategies you should spend time focusing on and learning.

The next thing to consider is which schools you want to apply for. Obviously a higher score will nearly always make for a stronger application, but every school is a little different in what they’re looking for. For example, many excellent schools are going to look for students with percentile rankings ranging from the 60th percentile and above and will consider other aspects of the application with more weight—like community service, teacher recommendations, or your interviews. But if you want to apply to attend a super-competitive prep school, you’re probably going to want to aim for a percentile ranking in the 90s.

When we get down to brass tacks, a “good” score on the ISEE is going to be different for everybody. That means you need to do a bit of leg work to figure out what score you want to get, and then put in the work to achieve that score. Start by picking the schools you want to apply to, and see if you can find any competitive information on them. We have an extensive list of target ISEE scores for schools — this is a great place to get a start on setting your goals.

Once you have your benchmark score and know what schools you want to apply to, you can set a goal and figure out what a good score on the ISEE is for you.