Breakdown of Specialized Highschool Admissions

Everything you need to know

What is the SHSAT?

All specialized high schools except for the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, require students to take the SHSAT exam. Your guidance counselors have most likely discussed the process of opening a MySchools account with you. This account will allow you to apply to both regular high schools and register for the SHSAT exam. It is very important to research the nine specialized high schools to determine which one would be the best fit for you. When registering for the SHSAT, there will be options for test-taking times. Choose a time that will be most convenient for you. You will also have to rank the high schools depending on your preferences. The deadline to register for the SHSAT is January 15th. Testing for the SHSAT will begin on January 27th.

Where do I sign up?

Create an account on the MySchools website.
Insert the unique account creation code.
Create a User ID and Password.
This is where you will apply for high schools and register for the SHSAT (exam optional but highly recommended). Your MySchools account will hold all the acceptance/denied letters for the High Schools you applied to. Additionally, it will contain the waitlist offers. Do not lose your username or password because this account is the only way you can accept offers.

Test Sections

The SHSAT has two sections that can be which are ELA and Math. These sections can be further broken down in to Reading Comprehension, and Revising & Editing. For the math section, there are 5 grid-in questions and then a multiple-choice section.

ELA Section

The questions are based on a single sentence/paragraph in this section and the questions are all based on a single, multi-paragraph text. You should be able to identify and correct language mistakes and enhance the overall writing standard. Consequently, there will be 5-6 texts followed by 6-10 questions, including knowledge and literature, where you need to understand, evaluate, and interpret texts from a wide range of genres.

Math Section

The Math section consists of either multiple-choice or grid-in word and computational questions In format. There are five grid-in questions for math and 52 questions for multiple choices. Questions from the Math section on the Grade 8 evaluation forms are based on Grade 7 material used in the New York City curriculum. Math questions on the Grade 9 evaluation forms are based on Grade 8 content. If you are planning on taking the test look back to past 7-8th grade math standards and do math topics that you were previously weak in.

ADVICE FOR STUDENTS

Do the practice tests on handbooks and time yourself accordingly.
- If you did not receive a link for the textbook please DM us here or on our website and we will send you a copy!
Make sure to brush up on past 7th and 8th grade ELA and Math skills.
Remember everyone gets stressed out because of these exams and auditions. Ensure that you have practiced for the SHSAT and your audition. It is important to do so because the material presented on both will be difficult. Try your absolute best and use the resources you have been provided with while taking the exam or auditioning.
Do not skip any questions on the SHSAT exam! There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so if you really do not know the answer, the best option is to guess and move on.
Answer the easy questions first to get them out of the way.
Do not spend a lot of time on questions. You only have 180 minutes. That might seem like a lot, but time will move fast. So, if you don’t understand a question, come back to it later.
It might help to split up your time accordingly: 90 minutes for the ELA section and 90 minutes for the Math section. But, take the exam in any way you feel would be best for you, so that you leave no questions unanswered and that you do your very best.

How is the test graded?

Scaled score:

Since there are many types of SHSAT, it is not possible to compare raw scores from multiple test forms explicitly. The test types are built to be as similar as possible, but they are not the same. A raw score must be translated into another type of score that takes into account the variations between test types, in order to allow valid score comparisons. The transformation from the raw for each section, the score to the scaled score is conducted independently (ELA and Math).

The use of two conversions are:

Calibration: any minor variations between different test types are taken into account in calibration.

Normalization: Normalization adapts scores to match a normal distribution.

Calibration, as well as normalization, are also non-linear. The raw scores and scaled scores are not equivalent, as a consequence. This suggests that an increase in one raw score point does not necessarily correspond to the same increase in scaled score points. The closer you get to every question in a correct section (or every question wrong), the higher your scaled score for that section goes up (or down).

Raw Score:

SHSAT scores are determined by the number of correct responses, which is called a raw score, marked on scored questions.

The test will have 10 field questions which will not count towards any score. It doesn't matter which specific questions you get correct or incorrect in each segment (ELA and Math).

You should not waste too much time on any one question so you don't get more raw score points for a question that you find 'harder' than one that you find 'easier.

There is no penalty for wrong answers.

Every question counts the same (one raw score point).

Composite Score:

The composite is calculated as the sum of the scores scaled by ELA and Math. To assess admission to a specialized high school, a cumulative score is used.

SHSAT CUT-OFF SCORES

Stuyvesant:560
Queens Science at York College:485
Bronx Science:517
Staten Island Tech:525
HSMSE @ CCNY:515
HSAS @ Lehman:507
Brooklyn Technical:492
Brooklyn Latin:481

Auditioning for Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts

Fiorello H. La Guardia has a different process of applying compared to the rest of the specialized high schools. Since this school is based on performing arts and music you will need to audition as a form of application. Students need to register for auditions by February 23. Registration for your audition can be done through your MySchools account as well. LaGuardia is split up into six programs. Students will be able to audition for all programs if they wish, or select programs based on their preference. Your audition is required to be submitted by March 1. Due to COVID, all auditions will take place virtually.

Discovery Program

For qualifying rising ninth-grade students who take the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT) and score right below the cutoff score, the Discovery program is a summer enrichment program. Eligible scores will differ from year to year and will be dependent on the availability of seats. Students will only be eligible at the Specialized High School(s) they list on their SHSAT response sheet for Discovery programs. A Specialized High Schools applicant must be qualified for the Discovery program with one or more of the following: a student from a low-income family, a student in temporary accommodation, or an English Language Learner who has moved to NYC in the past four years. You must have scored on the SHSAT within a certain range under the cutoff score or attended a high-poverty school. The DOE will let these students be aware in the spring of whether students are eligible to participate in the Discovery program. To review the Discovery program application, families of qualifying students should then meet with their current school guidance counselor. For individuals in the Discovery program, 20% of seats at each specialized high school were reserved.

What determines your getting into a specialized high school?

All students take the SHSAT and list their school options in their order of preference on the SHSAT answer sheet. Students list only the eight Specialized High Schools where the SHSAT is focused on admissions.
All grades are sorted from the highest score to the lowest score for the students who took the exam.
In their first choice, the student with the highest composite score is put (highest listed school).
Each student, in turn, is put in the highest mentioned school of that student in which seats are still open, starting from the highest score on down. Therefore, if all the seats in the first choice of a student’s school were provided to the students who scored higher, and if seats are open, the student is put in their second choice school.