SHSAT FAQ: Eligibility, Scoring & Prep, Answered Directly
What is the SHSAT?
The SHSAT (Specialized High Schools Admissions Test) is the sole admissions criterion for eight of New York City's nine specialized high schools, including Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, and Brooklyn Tech. LaGuardia High School admits by audition or portfolio instead.
Who is eligible to take the SHSAT?
The SHSAT is available only to New York City residents. Most test takers are in 8th grade. Ninth graders may take the ninth-grade version of the exam for a limited number of seats that may open at the specialized high schools. Register through MySchools during the fall window.
When is the 2026 SHSAT?
The fall 2026 SHSAT is expected to run in a testing window from late October through December 2026, with registration opening in early October. Exact dates are set by the NYC DOE each fall and confirmed on each student's MySchools ticket.
How is the SHSAT scored?
The exam has 100 questions: 50 ELA and 50 Math. Each correct answer is worth 1 raw-score point. A confidential formula that changes year to year converts the raw score to a scaled score. Admission uses that scaled score together with school preference order and seat availability. See the full scoring breakdown.
What is a good SHSAT score for 2026?
There is no fixed passing score. Published 2026 values for the lowest score admitted were 561 at Stuyvesant, 506 at Brooklyn Tech, and 495 at Brooklyn Latin. Cutoffs are recalculated every year. See the full 8-school breakdown.
Do you need a perfect score to get into a specialized high school?
No. Published 2026 values show the lowest qualifying score across the eight SHSAT-based schools was 495 at Brooklyn Latin School. See our myths breakdown on the home page.
Is there a penalty for guessing on the SHSAT?
No. There is no extra penalty for an incorrect answer. On the computer-adaptive exam you must select an answer before you can move on, and you generally cannot go back, so eliminate what you can, guess, and keep moving. The rumor that you should always guess C is false; correct answers are distributed across choices.
How long is the SHSAT?
Students have 180 minutes total to complete both the ELA and Math sections. You choose which section to start with and set your own pace within a section. You finish one full section before starting the other.
Can you skip questions or go back on the SHSAT?
You have to answer a question before you can move to the next one, and once you move on you generally cannot go back. You can still choose which section to start with. In ELA, a passage is treated as a mini-section: you can change answers while you are still in that passage, but not after you leave it.
Can you retake the SHSAT?
No. The SHSAT can only be taken once per admissions cycle. There's no retake option within the same year if a student is unhappy with their score. A student who tests in 8th grade may, separately, take the 9th-grade version the following year for a limited number of seats.
What's the difference between SHSAT prep options?
Self-study with official free materials suits strong independent students but requires discipline to stay consistent. Group courses build stamina and routine at a fixed pace. One-on-one tutoring targets a student's specific gaps with adaptive-format practice and typically produces the fastest gains for a given time investment. See the full prep timeline.
Is there a free Bell Curves SHSAT course?
SHSATinfo readers can request one of 20 beta seats in Bell Curves' self-paced SHSAT course. It is free and includes 5 updated SHSAT tests and 9 months of access. Seats are first come, first served. See the free course beta page.
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