Accomplish Academics, Accomplish Academics LLC, Los Angeles

Test Preparation

Students are often required to take standardized exams to gain admission into some of our nation's best private schools and universities. Many private elementary, middle, and high schools need students to take the ISEE or the HSPT. Some colleges or universities require students to take the SAT or ACT, designed to determine a student's college readiness. These exams test students' reading, writing, and math skills and help schools make admissions decisions.

Test-Optional

In recent years, most colleges and universities have decided to become test-optional, so they do not require applicants to take the SAT or ACT. If students can take one of these exams and perform well, their scores will boost their applications, improving their chances of gaining admission into these schools.

Approach to Standardized Exams

Our approach to these standardized exams involves teaching the content covered in the sections and many effective test-taking strategies. These strategies will help students eliminate the wrong answers and more easily determine which answer choice is the best fit.

Independent Schools Entrance Examination (ISEE) is an admissions assessment administered to students entering grades 2-12. Students must take different exam levels depending on which grade they are applying to. The Lower Level is for students applying to Grades 5-6. The Middle Level is for students applying to Grades 7-8, and the Upper Level is for students applying to Grades 9-12. These exams consist of four sections: Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, and Mathematics Achievement, as well as an essay prompt at the end. The length of the tests varies depending on the level.

High School Placement Test (HSPT) is a three-hour multiple-choice admissions test administered to students in eighth grade applying to ninth grade. This test is used primarily by Catholic high schools such as Notre Dame and Loyola. The test contains the following sections: Verbal Skills, Quantitative Skills, Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, Mathematics, and Language. The test has 298 questions and does not have an essay.

Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) is a three-hour multiple-choice exam comprised of four sections: reading comprehension, writing and language, math without a calculator, and math with a calculator. There is also an optional essay which most universities no longer require. We give students a practice test for both the SAT and ACT to ascertain which one would be better for them. As a rule, the SAT provides more time per question than the ACT, and the difficulty level of the questions is higher than that of the ACT.

American College Testing (ACT) is a three-hour multiple-choice exam comprised of four sections: English, math (with a calculator), reading comprehension, and science. The ACT also has an optional essay that most universities no longer require. As we mentioned, we like our students to take a practice test for both the SAT and the ACT to determine which test is better. The ACT provides more questions and less time than the SAT, but the difficulty level is slightly lower than that of the SAT.