Doctor SHSAT

NYC Specialized High School Test Tutor

Why Take the SHSAT?

The Specialized High Schools Admission Test (SHSAT) is taken each year by thousands of students hoping to gain admission to New York City's Specialized High Schools, including Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Technical, Staten Island Tech, Lehman, Queens Science @ York College, Brooklyn Latin, HSMSE @ CCNY, and HSAS.

For better or worse, scoring above the cut-off score for your chosen school on the SHSAT is the sole criteria for admission and competition for the limited number of places is fierce.

Hence, if your child wishes to attend one of the above schools, they must be familiar with the questions that can appear on the SHSAT exam.

SHSAT Overview

Learn everything your need to know about the Specialized High School Admission Test, including new content, question breakdown by topic, and scoring scale, and see how these changes will impact you and your child's chances for admission.

Click on the links below to learn more:

  1. About the SHSAT
  2. Contact Dr. Donnelly about SHSAT lessons
  3. Read our students' reviews
  4. How is the SHSAT scored?
  5. SHSAT Exam - Section by Section
    1. SHSAT Verbal Section
    2. SHSAT Math Section
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Private SHSAT lessons

The whole application process for NYC's prestigious high schools is currently very competitive, so your child will need a great score on the SHSAT to be accepted.

Luckily, Dr. Donnelly can show your child how to improve his or her scores greatly.

Dr. Donnelly offers private in-person SHSAT lessons at his San Diego office or (depending upon the time of year) at our Manhattan-based office in New York City. Online SHSAT lessons are also available throughout the year.

Dr. Donnelly has helped hundreds of students improve their SHSAT test scores and achieve their academic goals over the years. We are confident that he can do the same for you.

Contact Dr. Donnelly Today

What our students say

about Dr. Donnelly!

Best SHSAT Tutor in NYC

5 star review

"Oliver got into his first choice! BRONX SCIENCE. SCORE 536. He would not have made it without you. Thank you!"

Charles B., Queens, New York.

Best SHSAT Tutor in NYC

5 star review

"I just want to thank you for helping Zoraiz prep for the SHSAT. She made it into Stuyvesant! Thank you once again."

Asia I., Manhattan, New York.

Best SHSAT Tutor in NYC

5 star review

"Both my sons were tutored by Dr. Donnelly in preparation for the New York City SHSAT test and he was of great help to them. Both improved their practice scores steadily, scored well on the exam and were accepted to their top choice schools. We couldn't be more pleased.”

John L., Manhattan, New York.

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The SHSAT Exam

What you need to know

SHSAT Overview

The Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT)

The SHSAT lasts 3 hours and has two sections: English Language Arts (ELA) and Math - each lasting 90 minutes with 57 questions. The section order is up to the student. Students may complete the English Language Arts or Mathematics section first. Click on the links above to learn more about each section.

i. English Language Arts (ELA),

ii. Math Section.

English Language Arts (ELA)

English Language Arts (ELA) of the SHSAT

The English Language Arts (ELA) section of the SHSAT lasts 90 minutes and consists of 57 multiple-choice questions - 47 are scored questions, and 10 are unscored field test items. You will NOT know which questions are scored and which are field test items, so you should answer all questions in this section.

There are two parts to the ELA section: Revising/Editing and Reading Comprehension.

The Revising/Editing section assesses students' ability to recognize and correct language errors and to improve the overall quality of a piece of writing. This section may have up to 20 total questions and is divided into Parts A and B.

Part A includes up to eight questions, each based on its sentence or paragraph.

Part B includes questions based on one or two passages.

The Reading Comprehension section requires students to read five or six passages, each of which is followed by up to ten questions assessing students' ability to understand, analyze, and interpret what they have read.

Math Section of the SHSAT

SHSAT Math section

The Math section of the SHSAT lasts 90 minutes and consists of word problems and computational questions in either a multiple-choice or grid-in format. There are five grid-in Math items and 52 multiple-choice items. Each multiple-choice question has four answers to select from. Only 47 questions are scored - the remaining 10 are unscored field test items. You will NOT know which questions are scored and which are field test items, so you should answer all questions in this section.

The Mathematics section asks students to solve word and computational problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Some word and computational problems will also include working with fractions, decimals, and statistics. Various mathematical topics tested include Basic math, Pre-Algebra, Algebra, Factoring, Substitution, Geometry (9th grade), Basic Coordinate Graphing (8th grade), Logic, and Word Problems (cover all topics).

SHSAT Cutoff Scores

SHSAT cut-off scores

Students are notified of their scores in February and earn a “raw score” based on the number of questions they get right. There are no penalties for wrong answers, so students receive one raw point per correct answer - note that only 47 questions in each section are scored, with the other ten serving as experimental questions. You will not be able to distinguish between these. This raw score is converted into a “scaled score” for each section of the test and a “composite score” for the entire test. The highest possible composite score is 700.

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. Although the NYC Department of Education does not release official cutoff scores, the estimated cut-off / high scores during 2019 were:

i. Stuyvesant - 560 / 665

ii. Staten Island Tech - 527 / 688

iii. Bronx Science - 525 / 696

iv. HSAS @ Lehman - 524 / 617

v. HSMSE @ CCNY - 519 / 620

vi. Queens Science @ York College - 514 / 524

vii. Brooklyn Technical - 498 /631

viii. Brooklyn Latin - 488 / 505

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