ISEE Essay: A 30-Minute Writing Sample
What the section tests
The ISEE Essay gives you 30 minutes and one prompt asking you to describe an experience, a person, a goal, or an opinion. It is not scored by the ISEE, but a copy is sent to the schools you apply to, so it functions as a writing sample and a glimpse of your voice.
Core rules
- Spend the first 3–5 minutes planning. Choose one specific incident rather than a broad topic, and write one sentence stating the point you want the reader to take away.
- Open with a scene, not an announcement. “Halfway up the climbing wall, my left foot slipped” beats “I have faced many challenges.”
- One idea per paragraph, each supported by concrete detail - names, times, sounds, numbers.
- Close by reflecting: what changed in you, or what you would do differently.
- Reserve two minutes to reread for sentence fragments, tense consistency, and spelling.
Worked example
Prompt: “Describe a time you faced a challenge.” A weak plan lists several challenges in general terms. A strong plan picks one: the day the robot’s gripper failed twenty minutes before the regional competition. Paragraph one shows the failure in scene. Paragraph two explains the diagnosis - a stripped servo - and the choice to cannibalize the practice robot. Paragraph three states the outcome and what you learned about working under a deadline. The prompt is answered, and the reader sees evidence rather than adjectives.
Traps that cost marks
- Retelling events chronologically with no reflection or point.
- Answering an adjacent question, such as describing a hobby instead of a challenge.
- Reaching for thesaurus vocabulary that misused words expose.
- A long wind-up that leaves no room for the ending, which is where the meaning lands.