New here? Take the tour first. It shows you where everything is.
Every math topic on the test, how to recognize it, the fastest way in, and worked examples you can try against the clock. Rate each topic honestly. The ones marked "Not yet" become your practice list.
Quantitative Reasoning. Word problems plus Column A vs. Column B comparisons. Rewards logic and estimating. About 57 seconds each.
Mathematics Achievement. Closer to school math: compute, solve, apply a formula. About 51 seconds each.
No formula sheet. No guessing penalty, so every bubble gets filled. You're compared only with students applying to your same grade.
You can take the ISEE once per testing season: Fall (Aug–Nov), Winter (Dec–Mar), and Spring/Summer (Apr–Jul). After a fall test, the next chance is in December. Register through ERB.
Leave at home: phone, smartwatch, calculator, books, rulers.
Packing list from ERB's ISEE Quick Facts guide. Check your Verification Letter for anything specific to your test site.
Master every topic in an ISEE category, then pass its shield check, to earn the shield. Tap a shield to see what's left.
One category at a time. Pick a test section, then tap a category. Everything else steps aside so you can go deep on that one thing, one topic at a time.
There's no official number. What the research on learning does show clearly: practice spread over several days beats the same amount crammed into one, and answering from memory beats rereading or watching. So count reps and the number of different days.
Plus 4–6 full timed sections before test day.
Untimed. Walkthrough open. Goal: understand why the fastest move works.
Timer on, walkthrough closed. Mix in other topics so you have to recognize which one it is.
A few days later. Cold and timed, with no warm-up on that topic first.
One good night isn't enough. That's often short-term memory. The second day proves it stuck.
About 700 problems across every topic. Spread over the weeks you have:
| WEEKS LEFT | PROBLEMS / DAY | ABOUT |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 10 | 15 min |
| 8 | 13 | 20 min |
| 6 | 17 | 25 min |
| 4 | 25 | 40 min |
Starting early matters more than any one long session.
Take a timed section. Sort every miss into one of the three types below.
Rate topics. Not yet and Shaky get the most reps. Got it gets one quick check a week.
Learn → Practice → Prove it, spread across days.
Retake a timed section. The miss list should shrink. Same topic keeps coming back? Change the approach, not just the reps.
A content gap. Fix: open that topic card and do the Learn reps.
Answered a different question, misread, or picked the trap. Fix: underline what's asked, check the red flags.
Blanks at the end, or stuck too long. Fix: circle-and-move-on at one minute, and bubble every blank before time is called.
Every topic card has a "Try more" link to the right Khan Academy course. Those courses stop at the right level. If a video or lesson title has any of the red words below, it's harder than the ISEE asks for. Close it and go back to the card.
Go down the ladder. Stop at the first "yes" and use that move. This takes about five seconds once it's a habit.
PEMDAS is something you do, not something you recite. Box every × and ÷ chunk first. Plus and minus are walls: nothing crosses a wall until every box is done. Then tap each step in order.
1 P parentheses2 E exponents3 M D × ÷, left to right4 A S + −, left to right
Every rating and practice answer you give lands here. Tap anything on your practice list to go straight to it.
One topic at a time: finish it, then tap "Next topic" (or jump with the list). Each card shows what the topic looks like on the test, so you can spot it. Open "See it in action" to try real-style questions one at a time with a pace timer. If you miss one, the walkthrough opens up. Then rate yourself: Got it, Shaky, or Not yet.
Each bar shows the likely range of questions out of 47. Algebra is the biggest slice, so Algebra gaps cost the most. These are estimates from Test Ninjas' analysis of practice exams, not official ERB numbers.
Section labels show where a topic usually shows up. Any topic can appear in either section. The pace bar's yellow target is a goal for that question type; the red line is one minute, the "circle it and move on" point.
Pick a problem, then tap test numbers. Watch for the moment the winner flips. A flip means the answer is (D).
| x | COLUMN A | COLUMN B | BIGGER |
|---|
Two rules: if both columns are plain numbers with no letters, the answer can never be (D). And never multiply or divide both columns by something that might be negative or zero.
Each one takes a second to spot. Crossing out even one wrong answer makes a guess much better.
The mean always sits between the smallest and largest numbers. Anything outside is wrong.
Sort first. With an odd count, the median is one of the numbers in the list. With an even count, it's halfway between the middle two.
The mode is the number that shows up most, so it has to be one of the numbers you were given.
One huge or tiny number drags the mean (and the range) a lot. The median barely moves. “Which changes most?” is usually the mean or range.
The answer is between the two averages and closer to the larger group. So 85 (the plain middle) and anything over 90 are out.
A new number above the mean pulls it up. Below the mean pulls it down. Equal to the mean leaves it the same.
For numbers that go up by the same step, the mean is just the middle number. No adding needed.
Lengths and areas are positive. Probability is between 0 and 1. A part can't be more than the whole.
Decide which way the answer should move before you do any math.
Squaring makes them smaller. Square roots make them bigger. Dividing by them makes the answer bigger.
Taking a part of a part is smaller than either part.
If you combined the two numbers on either side of a + or − before doing the × next to them, the answer is wrong. Box the × chunks first.
Add exponents only when you multiply. Cancel only things that are multiplied. Square, then subtract: 25 − 9 = 16, not (5 − 3)² = 4.
Taking away a number 100 times smaller can't make the answer bigger, or much smaller.
Any choice where an even power of a negative came out negative is wrong.
If the answer must be even, every odd choice is out.
Multiply only the last digits. Any choice with a different last digit is wrong.
The long side is longer than each leg but shorter than the two legs added together.
A triangle's third side must be more than the difference (9 − 4) and less than the sum (9 + 4).
Each triangle angle is under 180°, and the biggest angle sits across from the longest side.
Area grows by the square of the scale. Volume grows by the cube.
When it says not to scale, don't trust your eyes. When it doesn't say that, eyeballing a length is fair.
Two people or pipes working together always beat the faster one alone.
Use total distance ÷ total time. The answer leans toward the speed you spent longer at.
The chance of both happening is smaller than either one. The chance of either happening is bigger than each.
Choosing a group gives fewer ways than lining people up in order.
The result of your first step is often a choice. If a hard question felt instant, reread what was asked.
A choice that just repeats a number from the problem is rarely right.
Check the units in the question before you bubble.
Many misses come from one word, not the math. If a word below isn't instant, that's the fix.
Whole numbers and their negatives. No fractions or decimals. Whole numbers start at 0.
Rational can be written as a fraction of integers. Irrational can't: its decimal never ends or repeats.
Factors divide into the number evenly. Multiples are what you get by multiplying it.
Exactly two factors: 1 and itself. 1 is not prime, and 2 is the only even prime.
The answers to adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing.
Flip the fraction. A number times its reciprocal is 1.
In a row with no gaps. Consecutive even or odd numbers go up by 2.
The letter is the variable. The number multiplying it is the coefficient. The number standing alone is the constant.
Same letter with the same power. Only like terms can be combined.
An expression has no equals sign, so you simplify or evaluate it. An equation has one, so you solve it.
A rule that gives exactly one output for each input. f(3) means “put 3 in for x.”
Congruent figures match exactly. Similar figures have the same shape and angles, but sizes can differ.
Distance around, space covered inside, space filled in 3D. The units tell you which one.
Center to edge, edge to edge through the center, and the distance around.
Parallel lines have the same slope. Perpendicular slopes multiply to −1.
Memory hook: C comes before S, and 90 comes before 180.
A square is a regular quadrilateral. A rectangle that isn't square isn't regular.
A fold line where both halves match exactly.
Corner, side line, flat surface. Vertices is the plural of vertex.
Quartiles cut sorted data into four equal groups. The IQR is the spread of the middle half, the box on a box plot.
A value far from the rest. It pulls the mean and range, but barely moves the median.
How spread out the values are from the mean. Bigger means more spread.
How two things move together on a scatter plot. Scattered points with no pattern mean no correlation.
One doesn't change the other's chance, so multiply. Drawing without replacement is not independent.
A smaller group that stands in for the whole. A fair sample is chosen at random, not just from one club or class.
Spend the first 30 seconds of the math sections copying the ones you tend to forget. Then they're in front of you the whole time. Rate each one, and open “See it in action” for a quick question that uses it.
Each one opens on its own page. Learn one, use it in your topics for a few days, then come back for the next.