| The SHSAT, or Specialized High School Admissions Test, is used for admissions to the specialized high schools in New York City. It is administered to eighth and ninth grade students in the city in late October. The Ivy Key program provides students with strategies and test-taking methods to master the SHSAT's English and Math sections. Students are taught how to answer multiple choice questions efficiently and accurately.
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Test Overview
There are usually more than 26,000 students competing to get into the specialized high schools each year. The cut-off scores for each school vary yearly, determined by the number of open places in each school and how the candidates score. Students are notified of their scores in February. Once a student is granted admission into a specialized high school, students have until the end of February to make their decisions.
Students must choose which schools they wish to apply to (up to 8) and indicate them in order of preference on the day of the exam. The test is offered to all eighth and ninth grade students residing within the five boroughs of New York City.
The SHSAT is used for admission to the following schools:
- Bronx High School of Science
- Brooklyn Technical High School
- Brooklyn Latin School
- High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College
- High School of American Studies at Lehman College
- Queens High School for the Sciences at York College
- Staten Island Technical High School
- Stuyvesant High School
Admission to the remaining specialized high school, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, is determined by audition rather than by examination.
The Test
The SHSAT tests for logical thinking and high ability in both English and mathematics. Both sections consist of multiple-choice questions. There is a time limit of two and a half hours for both sections, with no break in between. The exam is only offered once a year, and can be taken in both the eighth and ninth grades.
Verbal
- 45 Multiple Choice Questions
- 30 Reading Comprehension (5 Reading passages with 6 questions each)
- 10 Logical Reasoning questions
- 5 Scrambled Paragraph (worth 2 points each)
Mathematics
- 50 Multiple Choice Questions
- Various mathematical topics tested (basic math, pre-algebra, algebra, geometry, basic coordinate graphing)
- Logic
- Word Problems (covers all topics)
Grading
There is no penalty for unanswered questions. The total number of correct answers (the raw score) is converted into a scaled score through a formula that the Department of Education varies from year to year. This scaled score, typically between 200 and 800 points, is used to determine a student's standing. The student's absolute score does not matter as long as it is higher than the cutoff score, which is determined from the results of all the students who took that score that year.
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Available In : Private Lessons Group Sessions Learning Center Classes |
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