I bought this for my son's high school (9th grade entry) prep, and we literally devoured this book. He felt very prepared as a result and did as well as he could (more on this below). But I'd say it's not necessarily for everyone esp. if the assumption is "this book will prepare the kid to score 100%" (and I don't think any single book would). In summary:
Pros:
- Plenty of practice questions by categories in a a very diverse fashion. One could choose to focus on particular section (e.g., synonyms for vocab, statistics for math) to work on areas that need development.
- Good organization overall - the diagnostic test upfront helps assess the areas the one needs to work on and then choose to work specific sections (as above). One can also take the whole practice test toward the tail end of the book to simulate the time pressure and a mixed set of questions that you'd see in a real test---we tried taking the same practice test a few times and the repetition was still helpful in solidifying learning.
Cons:
- Answer keys don't come with explanations (except for scant examples at the beginning of each section). This wasn't a problem for us, as I was highly engaged in checking answers and was able to explain why the answers were what they were.
- But this means that, if you expect your child/student to be completely independent and to self-learn from the book, some of the questions (esp. in math, like trigonometry, imaginary numbers, etc) may not be digestible as an 8th grader who's only finishing up halfway through her curriculum, as test is taken by January, around when most high school application deadlines seem to fall.
Also, vocab practices are great thanks to their volume in this book, but it should be pretty obvious to everyone that to score on vocab well, one needs to read a lot and have a habit of looking up the words (in context) than simply looking up the meaning of the words through practice tests, although *any* practice is still helpful. This is one area that my son couldn't score more than 50-60% simply from this book. (He reads voraciously, but doesn't have a habit of look up words.)
And one more note on another review that pointed that the book doesn't compute the actual scaled score from the percentages of correct answers---that is true, but I'm afraid the scaled scores may not be all that relevant, as emphasis on ISEE performance seems to lie more on Stanines (9-level relative distribution, like quartile, except 9 levels instead of 4), and given fluctuation of questions, ISEE report card seems to put more emphasis on the stanines than the 760-940 scale that they do compute.
Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
Frequently bought together
$37.99
Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14
In Stock
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Similar items that may deliver to you quickly
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2019
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2017
Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2017
Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2019
Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2017
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2023
