SHSAT Exam Prep

It is all about passing the SHSAT for admission to any of the outstanding Specialized Public High Schools in NYC. In this guide, we will share everything that you should know regarding the entrance test, including the most important change in decades. You may contact us at 1 (800) 631-1757 or www.KwellerPrep.com.

Article by Ben Davidov, CEO of Kweller Prep Tutoring.

What’s Changed: The SHSAT Is Now Computer-Adaptive

1. Starting with the Fall 2026 administration, the SHSAT is a computer-adaptive test (CAT). Students testing this fall for September 2027 admission are the first class to take the test in its adaptive form.
2. The difficulty of the questions asked depends on the answers of your child – if answered correctly, the subsequent question may be harder; if answered incorrectly, it may be an easier one. All the students will answer the same amount of questions of the same grade level content standard.
3. Navigation is strict. Students have to answer questions before moving on to others and they are not allowed to go back except for the question sets in the ELA passages wherein answers can still be revised until the student goes on to the next passage. First-pass accuracy is now very important.
4. The digital test includes Technology-Enhanced Items (TEIs) — drag-and-drop, multi-select, and graphing question formats beyond traditional multiple choice.
5. Students take the exam on DOE-provided computers either at their respective schools or at designated testing centers. The DOE’s NYC SHSAT Portal offers a tutorial and online practice tests for students to take prior to the examination date.

SHSAT FAQs

Q1: What Are The Specialized High Schools In New York City?

The Specialized High Schools of New York City include Stuyvesant High School, Bronx High School of Science, Brooklyn Technical High School, Brooklyn Latin School, Queens High School for the Sciences at York College, High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College, Staten Island Technical High School, High School of American Studies at Lehman College, and Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.

Q2: Why Should My Child Try To Attend One Of These Schools?

Specialized High Schools are completely free. The students enrolled in these specialized high schools usually perform better on the Regents, APs, SAT, ACT, and other standardized tests than those enrolled in other high schools. They also tend to have greater chances of admission into top universities.

Q3: How Does My Child Get Into A Specialized High School?

All students must take the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) and achieve the required score set by each school. LaGuardia is the one exception — it requires an audition or portfolio instead.

Q4: Does Where We Live Affect Admission?

No. Admission to a Specialized High School depends ONLY on your child’s SHSAT score and on the order in which you rank the schools on the application.

Q5: Do My Child’s Middle School Grades Affect Admission?

No. Admission depends ONLY on the SHSAT score. Your child’s GPA is not a factor in Specialized High School acceptance.

Q6: How Can I Find Out More About Each School?

Visit the DOE website and MySchools for more information. The schools host open houses in the weeks leading up to the SHSAT.

Q7: What Is Tested On The SHSAT?

English Language Arts and Math. The English portion will assess your child’s Reading Comprehension and Revising/Editing skills (i.e., grammar, usage, and editing abilities). The Math portion will measure your child’s arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and statistics & probability skills (word problems and computation). Your child must be familiar with all 8th grade math knowledge, despite the fact that the SHSAT is administered in the Fall of 8th grade, when most of this information has not yet been covered in school. That is exactly why summer preparation matters.

Q8: What Is The Breakdown Of The SHSAT?

The SHSAT is a 3-hour (180-minute) digital exam with two sections: ELA and Math. Students answer 50 scored questions per section under the new adaptive format. There are no individually timed sections on the ELA/Math split — but under the adaptive format, students cannot move back and forth between questions the way they could on paper.

Q9: Will I Get Penalized For Wrong Answers?

No — there is no guessing penalty, so answer every question. Just keep in mind that to be a competitive applicant for Stuyvesant and other schools, your child will need to get almost all of the questions correct.

Q10: Can I Predict My Score By Multiplying My Percentage Correct By 800?

No. The raw score is converted to a scaled score, and this is done privately by the DOE. With adaptive testing, the scaled score takes into account the difficulty level of the questions such that students who have answered the same number of questions correctly may have different scaled scores.

Q11: Will I Have To Write An Essay?

No. There is no essay that will be required on the SHSAT. It is only multiple choice questions and the new technology-based types of questions. However, you should not ignore grammar exercises because the Revising and Editing part of the ELA section tests your knowledge in these areas.

Q12: Will I Have To Be Interviewed?

No. Although the Baccalaureate School for Global Education (taken in Grades 6 and 8) requires an interview, the SHSAT and the Hunter Entrance Exam do not.

Q13: Can I Take The SHSAT Multiple Times?

There are two opportunities for you to take the SHSAT test – one when your child is in 8th grade and another when he/she is in 9th grade. The competition level for taking the test in 9th grade is extremely high since there are hardly any seats available. Avoid thinking about taking the test “as practice” in 8th grade and “seriously” in 9th grade – you stand a much higher chance of getting in during 8th grade. Stuyvesant accepts 800+ kids in Grade 8 but only a few in Grade 9.

Q14: When Is The SHSAT Given?

The test is administered in the fall season, which may be from late October to early November for 8th graders (most of whom take the test in their own schools during school hours), and from early December for 9th graders. Dates are provided by the DOE.

Q15: How Do I Register To Take The SHSAT?

8th graders at DOE schools sign up for the test with the help of their school counselors via MySchools; your school will inform you about the date of the start of registration, which is usually the beginning of September. If you go to private, parochial, or charter school, you have to take the test at a DOE facility, usually on a weekend a few weeks after the main test date, with the location assigned by the DOE. Homeschooled students should contact a DOE Family Welcome Center to register. 

NOTE: If your child is in a private institution, the guidance counselor in that private institution is supposed to, according to the law, provide your child the chance to register for the SHSAT. There might be some private institutions which would not like students leaving their institutions, but your child has the legal right to take the test. Be sure that your child gets that opportunity!

Q16: Can I Just Walk In To Take The Test?

No. Your child must have an admission ticket to take the test. 

Q17: How Much Does The Test Cost?

It is completely free.

Q18: How Can I Get Into The Specialized High School Of My Choice?

You must score above that school’s cutoff score, which you can have an idea of based on their cutoff scores in years prior. Rank the schools on your application in your TRUE order of preference; you will only be considered for schools in the order you rank them.

Q19: What Are The Cutoff Scores For Each School?

Cutoffs change every year based on that year’s applicant pool. Typically, Stuyvesant has the highest cutoff, followed by Bronx Science. However, PLEASE, focus on the SCHOOL, not the cutoff. Visit every school in person. Do not choose schools based on cutoff scores alone; each school is very different in terms of their strengths.

Q20: How Many Months In Advance Should My Child Prepare?

Depending on your child’s level, we recommend at least 6 months of serious preparation. And since the test is now adaptive in nature, your child cannot prepare without the use of computers any more. It is time-consuming and costly, but the Specialized High Schools are among the best in the country — and completely free.

Q21: What Is The Best Way To Prepare For The SHSAT Test?

Kweller Prep, of course! Students will complete multiple practice tests on their computers with full score reports and get assistance with the most challenging math and English problems from tutors who have taken the SHSAT before and received excellent scores on the test. Our program is developed specifically for the computerized adaptive test version— including the technology-enhanced question types and first-pass accuracy strategies the CAT rewards.

We provide intensive SHSAT classes, and students attend for a year starting in the fall of 7th grade. The SHSAT itself takes place in the fall of the 8th grade; it would be a HUGE MISTAKE to begin your preparation in September of 8th grade if you want to be fully prepared.