SHSAT Tutoring

As a full-time professional tutor, Kenny Tan is very familiar with the material that appears on the SHSAT (Specialized High School Admission Test), having taken it himself for admission to Stuyvesant (Class of 2010). His proven approach to SHSAT tutoring has been cultivated over a decade of teaching the SHSAT to hundreds of students and receiving detailed feedback after the exam. Kenny is also the author of the Ultimate Guide to SHSAT Poetry¹, which has helped hundreds of students master what is likely the most difficult section of the exam.

Schedule a complimentary consultation now to begin planning your child’s SHSAT preparation. Together, we’ll get your child on track to attend a Specialized High School.

¹Paid link – as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Bonus: As a thank you for visiting our website today, you may download a free copy of our SHSAT Black Book. This eBook is filled with tips and study strategies for the SHSAT and includes free access to 22 practice tests.

Students seeking to attend any of New York City’s testing Specialized High Schools are required to take the SHSAT to be considered for admission. The competition to get into these schools is intense, and the SHSAT is challenging. No other factors—such as grades or essays—are considered for admission, which means an outstanding test score is crucial.

There are two entry points to the Specialized High Schools: the 9th and 10th grades. The SHSAT is usually administered in November to 8th and 9th grade students living in New York City. The standard time limit for the test is three hours. Starting with the Fall 2026 administration, the SHSAT will consist of 100 questions divided equally between two sections (English Language Arts and Math). The 9th grade test is structured the same way, but the Math content is significantly more challenging than on the 8th grade exam.

Because the SHSAT is the first time most students are taking a standardized exam that will have a significant impact on their future, anxiety can be a significant factor for many students. While I am an expert at helping students contend with anxiety, I recommend getting started on preparation at least six months prior to the test. Many students who have a specific school in mind begin preparation a full year or more before the exam.

A Difficult Test. An Easy Choice.

Having taken the SHSAT (Specialized High School Admission Test) for admission to Stuyvesant, and with over a decade of experience teaching the SHSAT, Kenny knows all the material that will appear on the exam. His personalized, one-on-one SHSAT preparation will ensure your child is positioned to achieve his or her greatest potential.

Not every student has the aspiration or aptitude to attend a Specialized High School, but for those who do, Kenny has a proven approach to SHSAT tutoring that’s been cultivated from years of hands-on experience helping students get outstanding results. He will design a plan and strategy to help your child become an elite student who attends a Specialized High School.

When is the test taken?

Students who attend a NYC public school that terminates in the 8th grade will take the test on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, at their current school.

Eighth-grade students who attend charter or private school, who are homeschooled, or who attend a NYC public school with grades 6-12 will take the test on Saturday, November 15, 2025, or Sunday, November 16, 2025, at a central NYC public school location, which will be listed on the test ticket.

All ninth-grade students will take the test on Saturday, November 22, 2025, or Sunday, November 23, 2025, at a central NYC public school location, which will be listed on the test ticket.

Click here for the full admissions timeline.

When should preparation begin?

One of the most frequent questions I am asked about the SHSAT is when students should begin preparing, and the answer varies depending upon the following factors:

Is the student working or above at grade level?
Are there concepts or material on the SHSAT that require significant review?
Does the student typically perform well on important tests and standardized exams?
Is anxiety a factor in performance?
Is motivation an issue?
Does the student have a learning disability that needs remediation?
Is the student able to focus full attention on preparation?
Does the student have time to complete homework assignments as part of preparation?
Is the student applying to the most competitive Specialized High School (Stuyvesant), where a high score is more imperative?
How important is it to the student to gain admission to a Specialized High School? Is it a high priority?

Some students begin SHSAT preparation as early as 6th grade, but most start sometime in 7th grade. Especially with students in this age range, it’s vital not to be in the position of “cramming” a few weeks or months before the exam. My experience has proved that getting started early and investing in calm, measured preparation spread over a longer period absolutely reduces pressure and makes a substantial difference in results. Rushing to prepare immediately before the SHSAT generates significant pressure and can sometimes cause debilitating anxiety in students who have never previously exhibited symptoms of being anxious. Even high-performing students generally begin preparation a year or more before the exam. I am mindful of how pressure can adversely affect performance, which is why my professional SHSAT test preparation is designed to alleviate anxiety and improve test-taking skills relevant to the SHSAT.

I recommend completing an initial assessment as early as possible. In some instances, it will be apparent the student is well positioned for the exam and doesn’t need to begin at that point; in other instances, we may identify significant areas that need to be addressed over a longer period. If you have doubts or questions about the ideal time to begin SHSAT prep, contact me and I can help you make an informed decision.

What’s on the SHSAT?

The test is 3 hours long and consists of two sections:

English Language Arts (50 Questions): The ELA section consists of two parts—Revising/Editing and Reading Comprehension—as described below.

Revising/Editing
- Number of Questions: 7–10
- Skills Assessed: ability to recognize and correct language errors and improve overall quality of writing
- Format:
  - Part A: each question is based on its own sentence/paragraph
  - Part B: all questions are based on a single, multi-paragraph text

Reading Comprehension
- Number of Questions: 40–43
- Skills Assessed: ability to understand, analyze, and interpret texts from a variety of genres
- Format: 5-6 texts, including poetry, informational, and literary, followed by 6–10 questions

Mathematics (50 Questions): The Math section consists of word and computational questions, mostly multiple-choice. There are also a handful of Technology-Enhanced items. Math questions on the Grade 8 test forms are based on the New York State Next Generation Learning Standards (NYS NGLS) through Grade 7. Math questions on the Grade 9 test forms are based on NYS NGLS through Grade 8.

How is the SHSAT scored?

Each item has an established difficulty parameter, all of which are placed on the same measurement scale. Performance scores are calculated based on the student’s pattern of correct and incorrect responses in relation to item difficulty. As the test progresses, the student’s estimated score updates after each response (or set of responses tied to a passage). At the conclusion of the test, the final performance score is computed and subsequently transformed into the reported SHSAT score.

The process for converting performance scores to final reported scores remains consistent with previous SHSAT administrations. Performance scores on each subtest are transformed through a standardization process into scaled scores, and these scaled subtest scores are then added together to produce a composite score used for rank ordering.

How are the results used?

Students are ranked according to their composite score and assigned to a school depending on their rank, the priority in which they placed schools on their application, and the seats available at each school.

How are the results reported?

The results are reported as scaled scores. Students receive scaled scores for the ELA and mathematics sections of the test, which are added together to make their composite score.

When are the SHSAT scores released?

The results from the Fall 2026 administration of the SHSAT will be released on March 3, 2027.

Will students and families have an opportunity to review their exams after scores are released?

Students who sit for the SHSAT in Fall 2026 will have the opportunity to sign up for a Test View in the Spring of 2027. Once your child’s score is released, complete the SHSAT Family Survey to sign up for a Test View.

The Test View is solely an opportunity to view your child’s test and see the answers that she/he selected during the test administration. This is not an appeals process.

What is a good SHSAT score?

Determining a “good” SHSAT score is complicated by the variables involved in deciding the cutoffs for each school, which vary from year to year. For example, the cutoff for Stuyvesant (typically the most popular and competitive school for admissions) can range from the high 550s to the low 560s, depending, among other factors, on how many students select it as their first choice school in a given year. I’m very familiar with the requisite score ranges for each school and can advise students as to whether they are in contention for the school(s) they are targeting.

Get Started

No matter where you are in deciding next steps for your child to take the SHSAT, it is never too early to speak to me to begin the planning process. As stated, the SHSAT is a difficult exam for the vast majority of students, and it is therefore important to ensure you put your child in the best position to excel and perform to his or her greatest potential. Please contact me now to get started today.

Featured SHSAT testimonial

Kenny was great and helped our son get a score high enough to comfortably get into his first choice school, Stuyvesant. Kenny is patient, calm, and meticulous. He's also a good listener and pushes his students to understand and explain their thought processes to get them to reflect on strengths and weaknesses and embrace concrete plans to improve. With Kenny, our son took test prep seriously and he described test prep sessions as interesting and even fun.

- Jonathan Conning