At Clear Concepts, ISEE prep is one-on-one tutoring with me, Nico, at your home or online. We tailor a plan for your student around a diagnostic, a target stanine for each school on their list, weekly timed practice, and regular practice tests. I've prepared students for Harvard-Westlake, Campbell Hall, Buckley, and the Westside schools for over 13 years.
The ISEE (Independent School Entrance Exam) is the admissions test used by most Los Angeles independent schools — Harvard-Westlake, Campbell Hall, Buckley, Oakwood, Windward, Crossroads, Brentwood, Archer and Marlborough among them. ERB offers it in three testing seasons (Fall, Winter, Spring/Summer) with one sitting allowed per season, and most LA applications are due in January or February, so the Fall season is the one most families plan around.
It comes in four levels; most of my students take the Middle Level (applying to grades 7–8) or Upper Level (applying to grades 9–12).
Scores are reported as stanines: a 1-to-9 scale where your child is compared against other independent-school applicants (not the general population). A stanine 5 doesn't mean your kid is "average"; it means they scored average among an already-competitive pool. That's why a 2–3 stanine gain strengthens an application so much.
Admissions offices read the four section stanines individually, so a 9 in math doesn't hide a 4 in reading. Thus, we prepare all four sections and the essay (unscored, but still sent to schools and considered).
These are the schools my ISEE families are usually applying to. Each links to where I work with that school's students.
Most Los Angeles independent schools close applications in January or February, which makes the Fall testing season the main event and the Winter season the safety net. Count backward from your schools' dates — I confirm each one in the consultation.
A full timed practice ISEE to find the real starting stanines before anyone commits to a plan.
Weekly sessions on the weakest sections, with a target stanine set for each school on the list.
The primary sitting, after several full timed rehearsals — scores back in time for every deadline.
One planned retake window if a section needs it — a strategy built in from day one, not a scramble.
No handoffs, no curriculum binder from head office. I build the plan, I teach every session, and you hear from me after each one.
most families book 12–20 weeks out ↓A full timed practice ISEE before anything else. You see the real starting stanines; nobody prepares blind.
We set a target stanine for each school on your list and work backward from your test date to build the weekly plan.
Each section rewards different habits — vocabulary systems for Verbal, estimation for Quantitative, pacing drills for Reading. We train them separately.
Real sections under real time, every 3-4 weeks, with the score sheet reviewed together so we can identify specific areas to improve in.
“He was extremely patient and really made me feel confident… helped me get an A in a class I previously had a C in.”
“All his fear vanished when he started getting tutored by Nicolas… from Beverly Hills High all the way through UC Irvine.”
Most students take the ISEE in the fall or early winter of their application year — for fall 2027 entry, that means testing between August and December 2026.
ERB divides the year into three testing seasons (Fall, Winter, Spring/Summer), and a student may test once per season. We usually plan a primary date with one season in reserve.
Harvard-Westlake doesn't publish a cutoff, but competitive applicant pools at the most selective LA schools generally sit in the 7–9 stanine range.
In the consultation I'll be straight with you about where your child's diagnostic lands relative to the schools on your list — and what a realistic target looks like for the time we have.
Twelve to twenty weeks of weekly sessions is the range that produces the two-to-three stanine gains my students typically see.
Short-term prep can still help, but cramming is the one thing I'll tell you honestly doesn't work well for this test.
The level is set by the grade your child is applying to: Lower Level for entry to grades 5–6, Middle Level for grades 7–8, Upper Level for grades 9–12.
Most of my LA students sit the Middle or Upper Level for 7th- or 9th-grade entry. The sections are the same at every level; the difficulty and the comparison group change.
ERB offers the ISEE at Prometric test centers around Los Angeles, at some schools on campus, and as an at-home online test with remote proctoring.
Seats at the popular fall dates fill early — we pick the format and date in the consultation and register well ahead so the calendar drives the prep, not the other way round.
Yes — once per testing season, up to three times in a twelve-month application cycle.
Schools see the scores you choose to send. A planned retake is a strategy, not a failure; we build the calendar around it from day one.