Top 5 Mistakes Students Make on the SHSAT
Common Mistakes Students Make on the SHSAT
Many SHSAT test-takers struggle due to poor time management, ignoring one section (Math or ELA), underestimating the Revising/Editing portion, failing to review mistakes, and starting prep too late. To succeed, students should balance their study time, practice under real test conditions, and review incorrect answers regularly.
The Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT) is the gateway to New York City’s top public high schools, and it’s no easy feat. Every year, thousands of students sit for this challenging exam, but many fall into the same traps that cost them admission. Understanding the most common mistakes—and how to avoid them—can significantly boost your chances of success.
1. Neglecting Time Management
Mistake: Students spend too much time on difficult questions and run out of time before finishing.
How to Avoid It: Learn to pace yourself. The SHSAT is 3 hours long with no set time per section, so practice allocating your time evenly. Skip time-consuming questions and come back if there’s time left.
2. Focusing Too Much on Math or ELA Alone
Mistake: Some students concentrate only on the section they feel weaker in, ignoring the other.
How to Avoid It: Balance your study schedule. Both the English Language Arts (ELA) and Math sections are equally important. A lopsided score can keep you below the cutoff.
3. Overlooking the Revising/Editing Section
Mistake: Students underestimate the Revising/Editing portion of the ELA section.
How to Avoid It: Practice spotting grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure errors. This section is quick and can be a great way to score easy points if you’re prepared.
4. Not Reviewing Mistakes
Mistake: Students keep practicing new questions without understanding why they got previous ones wrong.
How to Avoid It: Always review incorrect answers. Understanding your errors helps you avoid repeating them and deepens your conceptual understanding.
5. Cramming Instead of Planning Ahead
Mistake: Many students start preparing too late and try to cram in the final weeks.
How to Avoid It: Begin preparing several months in advance. Create a study plan with regular practice, mock tests, and targeted review sessions.
How to convert HSPT raw score to standard score?
On the HSPT (High School Placement Test), your raw score is simply the number of correct answers. However, this raw score isn’t what schools use directly. Instead, it’s converted into a standard score using a scaled process that accounts for the difficulty of the test and normalizes results across test-takers.
Here’s how the conversion works:
Count correct answers in each section (no penalty for wrong answers).
Raw scores are converted using a scaled chart created by the test publisher, which adjusts for any slight variations in test versions.
The resulting standard scores typically range from 200 to 800 per section.
These scores are then used to generate percentiles and composite scores.
Example:
If you answer 55 out of 60 correctly in Verbal, your raw score = 55
That raw score might convert to a standard score of 760, depending on the year’s curve.
Since the actual conversion chart isn’t published publicly, the exact standard score varies slightly by test version and date. Schools receive official score reports with all standardized metrics already calculated.
Final Tip
The SHSAT isn’t just about raw knowledge—it’s about test strategy and endurance. Focus on practice under timed conditions, stay consistent, and learn from your mistakes.
FAQ
Ideally, 6–9 months before the test date to allow steady, stress-free preparation.
Absolutely. Full-length practice tests simulate the real exam environment and improve pacing.
Read widely—novels, newspapers, and nonfiction—and make flashcards for unfamiliar words.
