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New York City SHSAT Prep 2022 & 2023: 3 Practice Tests + Proven Strategies + Review



New York City SHSAT Prep 2022 & 2023: 3 Practice Tests + Proven Strategies + Review PDF

Author: Kaplan Test Prep

Publisher: Kaplan Test Prep

Genres:

Publish Date: March 1, 2022

ISBN-10: 1506277365

Pages: 540

File Type: Epub

Language: English

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Book Preface

Common Questions About the SHSAT

You’re using this book because you’re serious about attending high school at Brooklyn Latin, Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech, City College, Lehman College, Staten Island Tech, or York College. You probably already know that if you want to go to one of these specialized high schools, you have to take the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT). Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to maximize your score. Essentially, you need to:

  • Understand the structure of the test
  • Hone your Math and English Language Arts skills
  • Develop strategies and test-taking techniques
  • Practice what you’ve learned

The Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT) is a standardized test. It’s certainly not easy, but it is a fairly predictable test. This means that you can prepare for the content and question types that you’ll see on Test Day.

Before delving into the specific content and strategies you will need to perform well on the SHSAT, you should know some basic information about the test. Please note that Kaplan strives to provide the most up-to-date information based on the latest publicly-released data provided by the New York City Department of Education.

Why Should I Take the SHSAT?

If you want to attend high school at Brooklyn Latin, Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech, City College, Lehman College, Staten Island Tech, or York College, you must take the SHSAT. It is the sole criterion for admission. This means that your grades, extracurricular activities, and so on play no role in the admissions process. Do not take the test if you are not serious about attending one of the schools! If you score high enough to be accepted at a school, you will be expected to attend.

Who Administers the Test?

The New York City Department of Education administers the test. The Department of Education is composed of teachers and administrators who decide what students at New York City high schools need to learn.

SHSAT EXPERT NOTE

The full name of the test is the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test. SHSAT is just a bit easier to say.

How Is the Test Scored?

Composite Score

The Composite Score is based on 800 points. The number of correct answers from the Math and English Language Arts (ELA) sections determines the Composite Score. In calculating the Composite Score, the Math and ELA sections are weighted equally.

Raw Score

The Raw Score is the sum of the correct answers from each section. There are 57 questions per section; however, 10 questions per section are experimental. The experimental questions are not scored. Therefore, the maximum number of scored answers per section is 47. Overall, the highest Raw Score for the total test is 94. The Raw Score is converted to the 800-point scale to determine the Composite Score.

Experimental Questions

The 10 experimental questions per section are mixed in with the scored questions. You will not know if a question is experimental or scored. Therefore, you should answer all questions as if they will be scored.

What Is a “Good Score”?

That’s a good question, but there is no magic number that will guarantee admission. Admission to each specialized high school works like this: the Department of Education identifies the number of places available at each school. If there are 500 spaces available at Stuyvesant, the Board of Education accepts the top 500 scorers who identified Stuyvesant as their first choice. Therefore, you should just work to get the best score you can.

What Should I Bring to the Test?

You need your admissions ticket, two or more No. 2 pencils, an eraser, and a watch that does not contain a calculator. You may not bring a calculator to the test.

Taking Advantage of the SHSAT’s Structure

You can be confident that the test will look very similar to the test-like practice in this book. Therefore, you can take advantage of the test’s predictability and use what you know about the structure to raise your score.

You Do Not Need to Answer the Questions in Order

Usually, when taking a test, you automatically answer the questions in the order that they’re written. However, there are a lot of questions on the SHSAT, and you may be able to make it easier on yourself by doing the questions you find easier first. For example, if you’re good at Reading Comprehension questions, build your confidence and grab some quick points by doing them first. Or if you have a tough time with coordinate geometry, skip the coordinate geometry questions and go back to them when you have time.

You Can Move Between Sections

Most standardized tests don’t let you move between sections or go back and check your work on a section you’ve already completed. On the SHSAT, however, you can go back to the English Language Arts section after you’ve finished the Math section.

There Is No Penalty for Wrong Answers

A correct answer is a correct answer. It makes no difference to your score if you get the question correct by solving the question or by guessing. Of course, you should solve the questions you know, but there’s no harm in guessing when you don’t know how to answer a question or are running out of time. Remember, you have a 0 percent chance of getting a question correct if you leave it blank. Your chances of getting a multiple-choice question correct if you guess are at least 25 percent. Go with the odds.

Answer Grid Tips

Don’t lose valuable points on the test by misgridding! The answer choices are labeled A–D and E–H to help you keep track of answers.

Always circle questions you skip in your test book.

Whenever you choose not to answer a question, circle the entire question in your test book. This can help you in two ways. The first is that it will be easier to find the questions you skipped if they’re circled. The second is that you are less likely to misgrid when you skip questions if you clearly mark the ones you skip. Anything that will help you approach the test efficiently is worth doing. Circling questions that you skip is relatively effortless and can save you time. Just make sure to go back and erase any extra marks on your answer grid before you’re done.

Always circle the answer you choose in your test book.

A great way to avoid careless gridding errors is to circle your answers in the test book. If you circle your answers, you can quickly check your circled answers against your gridded answers to make sure that you did not misgrid. Additionally, if you have time to recheck your answers, it’s easier to do this if the answers are circled.

Grid your answers in blocks of five.

Don’t grid in each answer after you answer each question. Instead, grid in your answers after every five questions. As you’re entering the answers into the grid, think to yourself, “1, A,” “2, G,” and so on. This will help you to avoid any omissions. Since questions alternate between A–D choices and E–H choices, you should be able to catch a mistake if you have skipped a question or entered answers onto the wrong line.

Approaching SHSAT Questions Strategically

As important as it is to know the setup of the SHSAT, it is equally important to have a system for attacking the questions. You wouldn’t venture onto the subway for the first time without looking at a map, and you shouldn’t approach the SHSAT without a plan. Remember, the more knowledge you have about the test and the questions, the better you’ll be able to take control of the test. The following is the best way to approach SHSAT questions systematically.

Think About the Questions Before You Look at the Answers

It’s hard to emphasize strenuously enough precisely how important this strategy is. Basically, it’s really, really important! One of the most damaging mistakes that students make when taking the SHSAT is that they jump immediately from the question to the answer choices without stopping to think first. This is particularly true with the Reading Comprehension questions, but it is a problem with most question types. Here’s what will happen if you read the questions and then go directly to the answer choices: you will be confronted with very tempting, but very wrong, answer choices. If you take the time to think before looking at the choices, you will be much less likely to fall for the traps.

SHSAT EXPERT NOTE

Try to predict the answer–or at least think about it–before you look at the answer choices. If nothing else, you may realize what the answer won’t be. This will help you to avoid the tempting “traps” set by the test maker.

Use Strategies and Guess Strategically

You’ll learn more about Kaplan’s strategies later, but the gist of them is that sometimes there are shortcuts to solving problems and guessing strategically. No one sees your work, so you do not have to solve problems the way you would in school. Any method that gets you the correct answer is the “right” way on the SHSAT. Additionally, because there is no penalty for wrong answers, don’t leave any questions blank!

Pace Yourself

The SHSAT gives you a lot of questions in a relatively short period of time. To get through the test, you need to be in control of your pace. Remember, although you should enter an answer for every question, you don’t have to answer every question correctly to score well. There are a few strategies you can employ to take control of your pace.

  • Don’t spend too much time on any one question. You can always circle a question and come back to it later.
  • Give yourself a rough time limit for each question—move on if you run out of time.
  • Be flexible—you can answer questions out of order.
  • Don’t spend more than 5 minutes on any one Reading passage—keep reading and move on. Remember, your points come from answering the questions.
  • Practice under timed conditions.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART ONE: GETTING STARTED

Chapter 1: SHSAT Basics

Chapter 2: Inside the SHSAT

PART TWO: SHSAT ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

Chapter 3: Introducing SHSAT English Language Arts

Chapter 4: The Kaplan Method for Revising/Editing Text & Sentence Structure

Chapter 5: Punctuation & Usage

Chapter 6: Knowledge of Language

Chapter 7: Organization & Topic Development

Chapter 8: The Kaplan Method for Reading Comprehension

Chapter 9: SHSAT Reading Question Types

Chapter 10: SHSAT Science Passages & Elimination Strategies

Chapter 11: SHSAT Fiction & Poetry

PART THREE: SHSAT MATH

Chapter 12: Introducing SHSAT Math

Chapter 13: Math Foundations

Chapter 14: Arithmetic

Chapter 15: Algebra

Chapter 16: Geometry

Chapter 17: Word Problems

Chapter 18: Advanced Math

PART FOUR: READY, SET, GO!

Chapter 19: Countdown to the Test

Chapter 20: Stress Management

PART FIVE: SHSAT PRACTICE TESTS AND EXPLANATIONS

Practice Test 1

Practice Test 2

Practice Test 3


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