The High School and Middle School Test Prep courses at MEK have been proven, time and time again, to yield results and help students attend the high schools of their dreams. Through a rigorously tested and curated process, students not only learn the content on the test, but also learn how to utilize it through test-taking strategies.
Unlike the school curriculum, MEK teaches highly effective test taking strategies by first teaching students about the test at the most fundamental level. In order for students to accurately prepare for the tests they are taking, they must first understand them. By the end of our programs, students are trained to think like test creators and are able to analyze tests.
Unlike the SAT or ACT, High School and Middle School Test Prep is not for everyone. It is designed for students who wish to apply to private and magnet schools and aspire for a higher level of education.
*A note about COVID-19
During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we are offering a variety of options for students based on their needs and preferences. Most of our group courses consist of a virtual live class through Zoom and virtual testing or on-site testing in our newly renovated and highly safe Closter campus. One-on-one tutoring is also available both in-person and virtually.
BCA Prep Overview
About the Test
Bergen County Academies (BCA) is a public magnet school within the Bergen County Technical Schools District. Also included in the BCTS District is Bergen County Technical High School in Teterboro (BT), and along the same wavelength is Academies @ Englewood (A@E). All three schools are well-known STEM schools in Bergen County, offering higher level education and academic opportunities, while also being tuition-free.
They have extremely competitive applicant pools, and since 1999, MEK has sent record numbers of students to BCA, BT, and A@E through our Spring, Summer, and Fall Prep courses.
About the MEK Program
MEK’s BCA Prep program is designed to not only get students into the Bergen County magnet schools, but have them succeed there. The program consists of the following:
Through student and parent feedback, the BCA Prep program is constantly improved to best fit each year’s admissions cycle.
Available Online
BCA PrepAvailable Online
Pre-High School PrepAvailable Online
Exam Prep 8Fall Phase I & Fall Phase II
Our BCA Prep course is an extensive test training program for current 8th-graders, divided into two phases. In Fall 2021, courses are held through a winning combination of virtual and on-site classes and on-site testing in a professionally proctored, realistic environment.
Getting Started
Please note that students need to fulfill minimum requirements before being accepted into this course. All students begin with an initial evaluation test.
Program Details:
Phase I: 9 weeks
The focus of Phase I of the BCA Prep course is to break old habits and build new, effective test-taking skills. Through live virtual lecture and on-site testing, students are taught strategies to conquer the 40-question math exam and critical literary essay. Students learn to pinpoint the pattern of their mistakes and develop their own test-taking strategies.
Through Phase I, students become analytical mathematicians and writers, learning to handle numbers and write about their literary analysis in effective ways.
Phase I includes weekly practice exams, homework assignments, and expert lectures. It also includes expert application essay help and guidance throughout the program.
Phase II: 9 weeks
The focus of Phase II is to use what students have learned in Phase I for intensive test training. Through on-site lectures and on-site testing, students are trained to apply their learning to tackle a huge variety of questions and test-day circumstances, pushing students to step out of their comfort zones, build mental endurance, manage their testing time, and develop test-taking techniques to allow them to excel.
Through Phase II, students learn to think like test creators, as they are taught to expect the unexpected.
Phase II includes weekly practice exams, homework assignments, and expert lectures. It also includes expert interview training by our expert admissions counselors.
Class Placement & Shuffle
Class placement is determined by students’ individual skill levels and progress. Because students’ progress vary on an individual scale, MEK ensures that each student receives the care they need by placing them in the level that best addresses the student’s needs.
Every three weeks, students are reevaluated and shuffled based on their progress. Students who show exceptional progress are moved up to higher levels, while those who do not make enough progress may stay in the level they are in, or move down to address more foundational concerns.
Schedule: Specific schedule is determined by class placement and shuffles. Detailed information will be released in the Fall 2021 catalog.
Season: Fall 2021
See Fall 2021 Schedule
This Spring-only course is designed as a test prep boot camp for 7th graders who are planning on applying to magnet, private, or parochial schools. This course gives students a head start on mastering the key content and skills required to ace the BCA, SSAT, and ISEE tests.
Students build reading, verbal, and math skills that they do not learn in the school classroom, but by doing so, they are given the skills to excel in the 7th grade classroom and ace their PARCC exams, both of which are important for increasing their admissions chances to BCA and private schools.
READING
Through a wide variety of reading passages, from poetry to non-fiction to political cartoons, students learn to read closely, find evidence, and tackle words in context, all under a time limit. Unlike the school classroom, the MEK classroom exposes students to all types of reading material that prepares them for all potential test-day curveballs. This class helps students build strong reading comprehension foundations for their future BCA or SSAT/ISEE prep.
VERBAL
BCA, SSAT, and ISEE tests demand an expansive vocabulary from students, which is not available in the conventional school textbook, but rather in novels, articles, and everyday texts. Through uniquely formulated class texts and materials, MEK makes sure that students are fully prepared for any vocabulary word that comes their way.
MATH
In school, students learn math at a huge variety of levels, making it difficult to prepare for admissions tests. At MEK, students are trained to master math concepts at the level of the test, with the methods that are proven to be the most effective, while being introduced to the joys of problem solving. They are taught how to use numbers, making them more analytical and methodical thinkers.
Schedule: 20 sessions
Season: Spring only
This course is the Summer version of Pre-High School Prep, teaching the same curriculum in a condensed timeframe. Students who were in Pre-High School Prep in the Spring are not recommended to take Exam Prep 8.
Students build reading, verbal, and math skills that they do not learn in the school classroom, but by doing so, they are given the skills to excel in the 8th grade classroom, which is important for increasing their admissions chances to BCA and private schools.
READING
Through a wide variety of reading passages, from poetry to non-fiction to political cartoons, students learn to read closely, find evidence, and tackle words in context, all under a time limit. Unlike the school classroom, the MEK classroom exposes students to all types of reading material that prepares them for all potential test-day curveballs. This class helps students build strong reading comprehension foundations for their future BCA or SSAT/ISEE prep.
VERBAL
BCA, SSAT, and ISEE tests demand an expansive vocabulary from students, which is not available in the conventional school textbook, but rather in novels, articles, and everyday texts. Through uniquely formulated class texts and materials, MEK makes sure that students are fully prepared for any vocabulary word that comes their way.
MATH
In school, students learn math at a huge variety of levels, making it difficult to prepare for admissions tests. At MEK, students are trained to master math concepts at the level of the test, with the methods that are proven to be the most effective, while being introduced to the joys of problem solving. They are taught how to use numbers, making them more analytical and methodical thinkers.
Schedule: 23 sessions
Season: Summer only
SSAT/ISEE Prep Overview
About the Tests
The Secondary School Admissions Test (SSAT) and Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE) are entrance exams for admissions to private secondary schools. The two tests share two key similarities: their purpose and their scope. Both SSAT and ISEE scores are accepted by private high schools. Students only have four months during which they can register to take the exams before their applications are due, so MEK prepares students for both so they can use the better score for their applications.
About the MEK Program
MEK’s SSAT and ISEE Prep program takes a three-step approach, with students starting in the Spring and continuing test prep through the Summer and Fall. We approach the SSAT and ISEE tests simultaneously, teaching students the necessary skills and concepts to succeed on both exams.
Our SSAT/ISEE Prep program consists of the following features:
Available Online
SSAT/ISEE Prep 8Available Online
Pre-High School PrepAvailable Online
SSAT/ISEE Group ClassThis summer only course is a test training class for students who have completed MEK’s Spring Pre-High School Prep program and are ready to begin early test training for the October or November SSAT or ISEE.
This course is also ideal for students with exceptionally high SSAT evaluation scores (generally 2000+) and are advanced enough to skip our summer foundational class (Exam Prep 8) to go straight into test-training.
Students will learn test-taking strategies and content-related skills to boost their performance on the Verbal, Reading, and Math sections of the SSAT and the ISEE.
This course meets twice a week for 7 weeks during the summer. All students must first complete a qualifying evaluation before enrolling in the course.
Schedule: 16 sessions–twice a week for 8 weeks
Season: Summer only
This Spring-only course is designed as a test prep boot camp for 7th graders who are planning on applying to magnet, private, or parochial schools. This course gives students a head start on mastering the key content and skills required to ace the BCA, SSAT, and ISEE tests.
Students build reading, verbal, and math skills that they do not learn in the school classroom, but by doing so, they are given the skills to excel in the 7th grade classroom and ace their PARCC exams, both of which are important for increasing their admissions chances to BCA and private schools.
READING
Through a wide variety of reading passages, from poetry to non-fiction to political cartoons, students learn to read closely, find evidence, and tackle words in context, all under a time limit. Unlike the school classroom, the MEK classroom exposes students to all types of reading material that prepares them for all potential test-day curveballs. This class helps students build strong reading comprehension foundations for their future BCA or SSAT/ISEE prep.
VERBAL
BCA, SSAT, and ISEE tests demand an expansive vocabulary from students, which is not available in the conventional school textbook, but rather in novels, articles, and everyday texts. Through uniquely formulated class texts and materials, MEK makes sure that students are fully prepared for any vocabulary word that comes their way.
MATH
In school, students learn math at a huge variety of levels, making it difficult to prepare for admissions tests. At MEK, students are trained to master math concepts at the level of the test, with the methods that are proven to be the most effective, while being introduced to the joys of problem solving. They are taught how to use numbers, making them more analytical and methodical thinkers.
Schedule: 20 sessions
Season: Spring only
SSAT/ISEE Prep is a test training class, ideal for 8th-graders working to ace the upper level SSAT and ISEE, the two most popular admission exams required by selective private or parochial high schools. This test is used to gauge students’ academic performance aside from report cards, similar to the way colleges use SAT/ACT.
During Fall 2020, students meet with their instructor once a week through live virtual sessions to learn proven content-related and test-taking strategies to boost their SSAT/ISEE scores on the Reading, Verbal, and Math sections. They also come to MEK’s campus to complete weekly full-length tests in an environment that simulates an official test-day atmosphere.
This course is divided into two groups: SSAT/ISEE Prep Advanced and SSAT/ISEE Prep.
Class placement is determined by an initial evaluation test, target high school list, and our counselors expert recommendations.
Schedule: 10 weeks
Season: Fall 2021
Dates: September 10 – November 12
Specific schedule determined by class placement. Refer to Fall catalog for more information.
See Fall 2021 ScheduleAvailable Online
SSAT/ISEE Private TutoringThroughout the year, MEK provides one-on-one tutoring for both the SSAT and the ISEE for the lower, middle, and upper level versions of the test. Students can prepare for both tests simultaneously or only one test depending upon the private schools to which they are applying.
One-on-one tutoring allows students to prepare for these challenging tests in a one-on-one setting with an expert instructor. During private sessions students will learn strategies for mastering vocabulary, sentence completions, analogies, reading comprehension, quantitative reasoning, advanced problem-solving, and the ISEE/SSAT essay.
The length and frequency of the sessions is customized to the individual student, but all students will get practice with simulation tests, homework and quiz packets, and learn expert strategies.
Schedule: Recommend 15-20 sessions
Season: All Year
By appointment only
Spring & Fall Hours:
Tuesday – Friday 3:30pm – 8:30pm
Saturday 9:00am – 5:00pm
Summer Hours:
Monday – Friday: 8:30am – 5:30pm
BCA Prep Overview
About the Test
Bergen County Academies (BCA) is a public magnet school within the Bergen County Technical Schools District. Also included in the BCTS District is Bergen County Technical High School in Teterboro (BT), and along the same wavelength is Academies @ Englewood (A@E). All three schools are well-known STEM schools in Bergen County, offering higher level education and academic opportunities, while also being tuition-free.
They have extremely competitive applicant pools, and since 1999, MEK has sent record numbers of students to BCA, BT, and A@E through our Spring, Summer, and Fall Prep courses.
About the MEK Program
MEK’s BCA Prep program is designed to not only get students into the Bergen County magnet schools, but have them succeed there. The program consists of the following:
Through student and parent feedback, the BCA Prep program is constantly improved to best fit each year’s admissions cycle.
Available Online
BCA PrepAvailable Online
Pre-High School PrepFall Phase I & Fall Phase II
Our BCA Prep course is an extensive test training program for current 8th-graders, divided into two phases. In Fall 2021, courses are held through a winning combination of virtual and on-site classes and on-site testing in a professionally proctored, realistic environment.
Getting Started
Please note that students need to fulfill minimum requirements before being accepted into this course. All students begin with an initial evaluation test.
Program Details:
Phase I: 9 weeks
The focus of Phase I of the BCA Prep course is to break old habits and build new, effective test-taking skills. Through live virtual lecture and on-site testing, students are taught strategies to conquer the 40-question math exam and critical literary essay. Students learn to pinpoint the pattern of their mistakes and develop their own test-taking strategies.
Through Phase I, students become analytical mathematicians and writers, learning to handle numbers and write about their literary analysis in effective ways.
Phase I includes weekly practice exams, homework assignments, and expert lectures. It also includes expert application essay help and guidance throughout the program.
Phase II: 9 weeks
The focus of Phase II is to use what students have learned in Phase I for intensive test training. Through on-site lectures and on-site testing, students are trained to apply their learning to tackle a huge variety of questions and test-day circumstances, pushing students to step out of their comfort zones, build mental endurance, manage their testing time, and develop test-taking techniques to allow them to excel.
Through Phase II, students learn to think like test creators, as they are taught to expect the unexpected.
Phase II includes weekly practice exams, homework assignments, and expert lectures. It also includes expert interview training by our expert admissions counselors.
Class Placement & Shuffle
Class placement is determined by students’ individual skill levels and progress. Because students’ progress vary on an individual scale, MEK ensures that each student receives the care they need by placing them in the level that best addresses the student’s needs.
Every three weeks, students are reevaluated and shuffled based on their progress. Students who show exceptional progress are moved up to higher levels, while those who do not make enough progress may stay in the level they are in, or move down to address more foundational concerns.
Schedule: Specific schedule is determined by class placement and shuffles. Detailed information will be released in the Fall 2021 catalog.
Season: Fall 2021
See Fall 2021 Schedule
This Spring-only course is designed as a test prep boot camp for 7th graders who are planning on applying to magnet, private, or parochial schools. This course gives students a head start on mastering the key content and skills required to ace the BCA, SSAT, and ISEE tests.
Students build reading, verbal, and math skills that they do not learn in the school classroom, but by doing so, they are given the skills to excel in the 7th grade classroom and ace their PARCC exams, both of which are important for increasing their admissions chances to BCA and private schools.
READING
Through a wide variety of reading passages, from poetry to non-fiction to political cartoons, students learn to read closely, find evidence, and tackle words in context, all under a time limit. Unlike the school classroom, the MEK classroom exposes students to all types of reading material that prepares them for all potential test-day curveballs. This class helps students build strong reading comprehension foundations for their future BCA or SSAT/ISEE prep.
VERBAL
BCA, SSAT, and ISEE tests demand an expansive vocabulary from students, which is not available in the conventional school textbook, but rather in novels, articles, and everyday texts. Through uniquely formulated class texts and materials, MEK makes sure that students are fully prepared for any vocabulary word that comes their way.
MATH
In school, students learn math at a huge variety of levels, making it difficult to prepare for admissions tests. At MEK, students are trained to master math concepts at the level of the test, with the methods that are proven to be the most effective, while being introduced to the joys of problem solving. They are taught how to use numbers, making them more analytical and methodical thinkers.
Schedule: 20 sessions
Season: Spring only
Available Online
Exam Prep 8This course is the Summer version of Pre-High School Prep, teaching the same curriculum in a condensed timeframe. Students who were in Pre-High School Prep in the Spring are not recommended to take Exam Prep 8.
Students build reading, verbal, and math skills that they do not learn in the school classroom, but by doing so, they are given the skills to excel in the 8th grade classroom, which is important for increasing their admissions chances to BCA and private schools.
READING
Through a wide variety of reading passages, from poetry to non-fiction to political cartoons, students learn to read closely, find evidence, and tackle words in context, all under a time limit. Unlike the school classroom, the MEK classroom exposes students to all types of reading material that prepares them for all potential test-day curveballs. This class helps students build strong reading comprehension foundations for their future BCA or SSAT/ISEE prep.
VERBAL
BCA, SSAT, and ISEE tests demand an expansive vocabulary from students, which is not available in the conventional school textbook, but rather in novels, articles, and everyday texts. Through uniquely formulated class texts and materials, MEK makes sure that students are fully prepared for any vocabulary word that comes their way.
MATH
In school, students learn math at a huge variety of levels, making it difficult to prepare for admissions tests. At MEK, students are trained to master math concepts at the level of the test, with the methods that are proven to be the most effective, while being introduced to the joys of problem solving. They are taught how to use numbers, making them more analytical and methodical thinkers.
Schedule: 23 sessions
Season: Summer only
SSAT/ISEE Prep Overview
About the Tests
The Secondary School Admissions Test (SSAT) and Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE) are entrance exams for admissions to private secondary schools. The two tests share two key similarities: their purpose and their scope. Both SSAT and ISEE scores are accepted by private high schools. Students only have four months during which they can register to take the exams before their applications are due, so MEK prepares students for both so they can use the better score for their applications.
About the MEK Program
MEK’s SSAT and ISEE Prep program takes a three-step approach, with students starting in the Spring and continuing test prep through the Summer and Fall. We approach the SSAT and ISEE tests simultaneously, teaching students the necessary skills and concepts to succeed on both exams.
Our SSAT/ISEE Prep program consists of the following features:
Available Online
SSAT/ISEE Prep 8Available Online
Pre-High School PrepThis summer only course is a test training class for students who have completed MEK’s Spring Pre-High School Prep program and are ready to begin early test training for the October or November SSAT or ISEE.
This course is also ideal for students with exceptionally high SSAT evaluation scores (generally 2000+) and are advanced enough to skip our summer foundational class (Exam Prep 8) to go straight into test-training.
Students will learn test-taking strategies and content-related skills to boost their performance on the Verbal, Reading, and Math sections of the SSAT and the ISEE.
This course meets twice a week for 7 weeks during the summer. All students must first complete a qualifying evaluation before enrolling in the course.
Schedule: 16 sessions–twice a week for 8 weeks
Season: Summer only
This Spring-only course is designed as a test prep boot camp for 7th graders who are planning on applying to magnet, private, or parochial schools. This course gives students a head start on mastering the key content and skills required to ace the BCA, SSAT, and ISEE tests.
Students build reading, verbal, and math skills that they do not learn in the school classroom, but by doing so, they are given the skills to excel in the 7th grade classroom and ace their PARCC exams, both of which are important for increasing their admissions chances to BCA and private schools.
READING
Through a wide variety of reading passages, from poetry to non-fiction to political cartoons, students learn to read closely, find evidence, and tackle words in context, all under a time limit. Unlike the school classroom, the MEK classroom exposes students to all types of reading material that prepares them for all potential test-day curveballs. This class helps students build strong reading comprehension foundations for their future BCA or SSAT/ISEE prep.
VERBAL
BCA, SSAT, and ISEE tests demand an expansive vocabulary from students, which is not available in the conventional school textbook, but rather in novels, articles, and everyday texts. Through uniquely formulated class texts and materials, MEK makes sure that students are fully prepared for any vocabulary word that comes their way.
MATH
In school, students learn math at a huge variety of levels, making it difficult to prepare for admissions tests. At MEK, students are trained to master math concepts at the level of the test, with the methods that are proven to be the most effective, while being introduced to the joys of problem solving. They are taught how to use numbers, making them more analytical and methodical thinkers.
Schedule: 20 sessions
Season: Spring only
Available Online
SSAT/ISEE Group ClassAvailable Online
SSAT/ISEE Private TutoringSSAT/ISEE Prep is a test training class, ideal for 8th-graders working to ace the upper level SSAT and ISEE, the two most popular admission exams required by selective private or parochial high schools. This test is used to gauge students’ academic performance aside from report cards, similar to the way colleges use SAT/ACT.
During Fall 2020, students meet with their instructor once a week through live virtual sessions to learn proven content-related and test-taking strategies to boost their SSAT/ISEE scores on the Reading, Verbal, and Math sections. They also come to MEK’s campus to complete weekly full-length tests in an environment that simulates an official test-day atmosphere.
This course is divided into two groups: SSAT/ISEE Prep Advanced and SSAT/ISEE Prep.
Class placement is determined by an initial evaluation test, target high school list, and our counselors expert recommendations.
Schedule: 10 weeks
Season: Fall 2021
Dates: September 10 – November 12
Specific schedule determined by class placement. Refer to Fall catalog for more information.
See Fall 2021 ScheduleThroughout the year, MEK provides one-on-one tutoring for both the SSAT and the ISEE for the lower, middle, and upper level versions of the test. Students can prepare for both tests simultaneously or only one test depending upon the private schools to which they are applying.
One-on-one tutoring allows students to prepare for these challenging tests in a one-on-one setting with an expert instructor. During private sessions students will learn strategies for mastering vocabulary, sentence completions, analogies, reading comprehension, quantitative reasoning, advanced problem-solving, and the ISEE/SSAT essay.
The length and frequency of the sessions is customized to the individual student, but all students will get practice with simulation tests, homework and quiz packets, and learn expert strategies.
Schedule: Recommend 15-20 sessions
Season: All Year
By appointment only
Spring & Fall Hours:
Tuesday – Friday 3:30pm – 8:30pm
Saturday 9:00am – 5:00pm
Summer Hours:
Monday – Friday: 8:30am – 5:30pm
At MEK Review, we help students write a lifetime story of success. Whether the focus is admissions test prep or classroom support at any level or grade, our students build the right skills and mindset for mastering the toughest of academic challenges.
This Session, follow your dreams!
“As I received my college acceptances, Yale and West Point among them, I had flashbacks of memories made in MEK. I sincerely thank you.”
Sooyong K., MEK alumnus
accepted to Yale University
"I want to say thank you for everything you have done for me since the 7th grade. You have always been there to support me, believe in me, and most importantly push me to achieve greater things. I would not be where I am without your constant presence."
Jasmine S., MEK alumnus
accepted to Princeton University
“The BCA Exam Prep Program, the SAT Prep and the Road Map to College Program led to my daughter’s acceptance to the University of Chicago.”
Haiti T.C., MEK parent
accepted to University of Chicago
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