Scott Duddy is the Director of Admissions & Enrollment Management at Dexter Southfield School in Brookline, Massachusetts, and brings with him 14 years of professional experience in the world of independent schools. He has served as a secondary school counselor at The Fessenden School and as Director of Financial Aid at Westminster School.
In this conversation with Test Innovators’ CEO, Edan Shahar, Scott talks about the admissions process from two perspectives: that of an educator helping students find their next school, and that of an admissions director deciding which applicants will be the best fit.
This year, some K-12 independent schools have made test scores an optional part of their applications. However, new at-home testing options for two of the most widely-used admissions exams, the ISEE and SSAT, have made testing feasible once again.
Applying to independent schools can be daunting for students, families, and educators alike, and the testing component is no exception. When they begin the admissions process, few students have experience with high-stakes admissions tests. However, with the right preparation—including sufficient practice test opportunities—students can improve their test scores to help...
The ISEE, which stands for the Independent School Entrance Exam, is an admissions exam published by ERB. Many independent and private schools in the United States use the ISEE to evaluate candidates as part of their admissions process.
The Verbal Reasoning section of the ISEE is designed to assess vocabulary, including the ability to identify synonyms and complete sentences with missing parts.
Fast Facts
First and shortest section of the ISEE
Lower Level: 20 minutes with 34 questions
Middle and Upper Levels: 20 minutes with 40 questions
Made up...
Did you make it through the ISEE’s four multiple-choice sections? You’re not quite done yet!
The fifth and final section on the ISEE is an essay section.
Most students can tell you all about their favorite subject in school. Some kids love reading and writing stories, while others are enthralled by a perfectly puzzling math question.
These individual preferences can often correlate with a child’s success on certain ISEE sections, but it’s essential to thoroughly assess a student’s...
The Verbal Reasoning section is meant to assess vocabulary, and requires students to identify synonyms and interpret analogies.Fast FactsElementary Level: 20 minutes with 30 questionsMiddle and Upper Level: 30 minutes with 60 questions30 synonyms, 30 analogiesMade up of two question types:Synonym QuestionsAnalogy QuestionsQuestion TypesSynonymSynonym questions ask students to choose the...
Over the past five years, Test Innovators has helped more than 60,000 students prepare for the SSAT and the ISEE, the high school admissions tests required for applications to the most competitive independent schools in the country. Every year we review our data from thousands of test-takers to find out...
The most important rule of reading comprehension is that the passage will always provide all of the information needed to answer the question. This means that reading comprehension is really like a scavenger hunt, and your objective is to get as good as possible at sleuthing, finding the lines that...
