Specialized High Schools Admissions Test

The Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT) is a test given to eighth and ninth grade students living in New York City. Students take this test if they wish to get into Specialized high schools in New York City.^[1] About 30,000 students take the test but only 3,000 can be accepted.^[2] According to U.S. News & World Report the eight specialized schools all rank among the top 200 high schools in the US.^[3]

The schools

The SHSAT is used to get into any of the following eight specialized high schools.^[a]^[5]

Bronx High School of Science
Brooklyn Latin School
Brooklyn Technical High School
High School of American Studies at Lehman College
High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College
Queens High School for the Sciences at York College
Staten Island Technical High School
Stuyvesant High School

Examination format

The SHSAT has both English and math questions. Both sections is made up of multiple-choice questions. It is recommended that students spend more than 75 minutes on each section, but students can use the time in any way you wish. There is no break in between the sections. The exam happens only once a year. Calculators cannot be used in the test.

Verbal

45 Multiple Choice Questions

30 Reading Comprehension (5 Reading passages with 6 questions each)
10 Logical Reasoning questions
5 Scrambled Paragraphs (worth 2 points each)

Mathematics

50 Multiple Choice Questions

Many math topics tested

Basic math

Algebra

Factoring

Substitution

Geometry

Basic Coordinate Graphing

Logic

Word Problems

Notes

↑ The ninth specialized school is Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Here acceptance is by audition, the student's portfolio and their records.^[4]

References

↑ Lawrence Zimmerman; et al., Barron's New York City SHSAT Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (Hauppauge, NY: Barron's Educational Series, 2008), p. 1
↑ "Welcome to SHSAT Info". SHSAT.org, New York, USA. n.d. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
↑ Grace Meng (September 22, 2014). High-School Admissions Test has Served New Yorker's Well. https://nypost.com/2014/09/22/high-school-admissions-test-has-served-new-yorkers-well/. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
↑ "Specialized High School Admission Test (SHSAT)". Elite Academy. n.d. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
↑ Darcy Galane, Kaplan New York City Specialized High School Admissions Test (New York: Kaplan Publishing, 2013), p. xiii

Other websites

SHSAT Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Archived 2014-11-04 at the Wayback Machine
Specialized High School SHSAT Cutoff Scores for 2014 Archived 2014-11-02 at the Wayback Machine

[5] The ninth specialized school is Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Here acceptance is by audition, the student's portfolio and their records.^[4]

[1] Lawrence Zimmerman; et al., Barron's New York City SHSAT Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (Hauppauge, NY: Barron's Educational Series, 2008), p. 1

[2] "Welcome to SHSAT Info". SHSAT.org, New York, USA. n.d. Archived from the original on October 21, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2014.

[3] Grace Meng (September 22, 2014). High-School Admissions Test has Served New Yorker's Well. https://nypost.com/2014/09/22/high-school-admissions-test-has-served-new-yorkers-well/. Retrieved October 26, 2014.

[4] "Specialized High School Admission Test (SHSAT)". Elite Academy. n.d. Retrieved October 26, 2014.

[6] Darcy Galane, Kaplan New York City Specialized High School Admissions Test (New York: Kaplan Publishing, 2013), p. xiii

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