Both the ISEE and SSAT have a verbal section that students must complete. Whereas the ISEE's section tests students on synonyms and sentence completion, the SSAT's section tests students on synonyms and analogies.
The ISEE includes a quantitative comparison section. It tests areas in math that a student has not typically seen in school in an attempt to gauge the student's potential for learning in the future. The quantitative comparison section is an analytical and reasoning section of complex math problems and an area of the test with which many students struggle. There is no such section on the SSAT, as the SSAT tests areas in math to which the student has already studied to gauge achievement.
There is no penalty for wrong answers on the ISEE, which means students receive zero points for wrong answers. Therefore, students are encouraged to guess and leave no answers blank. For example, if questions are worth 1 point each and a student answers 40 questions out of 100 wrong, he receives a 60.
The SSAT does penalize students for wrong answers by taking away 1/4 point for every incorrect answer. For example, if questions are worth 1 point each and a student answers 40 questions out of 100 wrong, he receives a 50. Despite the penalty for wrong answers, students are still encouraged to take educated guesses.
Students receive 180 minutes to complete the entire ISEE, of which they receive 30 minutes to write one essay. Furthermore, there are four answer choices for every question on the ISEE. Students receive 155 minutes to complete the entire SSAT, of which they receive 25 minutes to write one essay. Furthermore, there are five answer choices for every question on the SSAT.