How to Prepare for the SHSAT The SHSAT is taken by 8th and 9th grade students in New York City to determine if they can attend one of the area’s nine specialized schools. Each year there are about 20,000 students who register and take the test but a small fraction of that are ever offered admission into one of the schools. The test is given to the students in October and November and they get their results by February. When a student receives an offer for admission they have until the end of February to decide whether or not they will attend that school the following fall. What Students Should Expect There are two sections included in the SHSAT. One assesses mathematical knowledge and the other is verbal in nature and assesses the student’s comprehension of the English language as well as logical thinking skills and higher level thinking skills. The English section is comprised of 45 questions in a multiple choice format and 10 reading questions to assess logical reasoning. The math section covers a wide range of mathematical and problem solving skills. Incorrect answers do not count against the score, the total number of correct answers is used to determine their score that lands somewhere between 200 and 800. This scaled score is used to determine the student’s standing. SHSAT Test Prep There are many options available to students who are preparing to take the SHSAT. Many prefer to purchase books as study aides and study on their own, others attend a test prep center and some choose private tutoring in NYC. For those who desire to get into one of these top schools in NYC, preparation is a must. Some of the basic steps students can take may include: •
Start studying for the SHSAT early on
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Learn the test format
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Study practice questions and practice tests
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Purchase and use a study guide as a resource
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Consider SHSAT tutoring
Best SHSAT study aides There are a couple of resources published by the NYC Board of Education which are free. Each year they release two full-length tests which are included in their information packet. Each school should have copies of these booklets. These tests are invaluable and will be the best example of what taking the test is actually going to be like. There are also books distributed by major publishers like Barron’s and Kaplan that can be valuable resources. Some students use study guides for ISEE and SSAT to help guide their selfstudies. Advanced students can use SAT and ACT study guides for a resource. Studying the Math Portion of the SHSAT The two tests distributed by the NYC Board of Education are useful for getting an idea of the material covered on the math portion of the test. Be sure that you know how to work the various types of problems. Sometimes the problems are worded in a tricky way to determine if the student truly understands the material or not. It is also a good idea to obtain SHSAT tutoring for help and practice materials. Studying for the Reading Portion of the SHSAT The reading portion of the SHSAT contains two separate sections: logical reasoning and scrambled paragraphs. In the scrambled paragraphs section students are given a beginning sentence and then have to link the remaining 5 or 6 sentences together properly to form a paragraph. The key is to find the words that properly link the sentences. Sometimes the answers are obvious and include cues such as “first,” or “next.” But some of these can contain much more subtle clues. The logical reasoning portion contains questions that are very similar to the law school aptitude test. It is series of questions that require the student to think logically about their answers. Basic Strategies for Answering Reading Questions In order to master the reading comprehension portion of the test, it’s important to develop good habits. One of these is to always look back at the passage for the answer. Another strategy is to think of your own answer prior to looking at the choices for answers. Then you can select the one which matches most closely with your own answer. Look at the choices and find the four that do not match your answer rather than just the one that matches. Be careful to watch out for your time as you want to select as many answers as
possible in the allotted time. Students can also help improve their reading scores by becoming a more insightful reader and spending more time reading difficult materials.