Find out about the highest SHSAT score ever recorded in this article. As an eighth and ninth grader in New York preparing for the SHSAT or awaiting the test results.
One thing that will be blogging your mind is the test scores, considering the fact that it is what actually determines whether you make it into any of the specialized high schools in New York.
First, the Specialized High School Admission Test (SHSAT) is a standardized entrance exam mandated by the designated specialized high schools in New York to admit new students.
The City of New York has nine specialized high schools, and eight out of these specialized high schools use this SHSAT to test the aptitude of the gifted eighth and nine graders in New York.
The test is designed to be challenging in the quest to evaluate the academic faculty of aspiring eighth and nine graders looking to get into one of the specialized high schools.
The eight schools each have a cutoff score for applicants taking the test each year and the highest SHSAT score ever recorded fell within one of the years.
Out of the 29,000 plus applicants that take the test yearly, only a handful make it into one of the eight specialized high schools.
A student has to beat the cutoff scores of his or her preferred specialized high school in order to be considered for the limited available placement into the eight schools. Check out my earlier post on how SHSAT scores are calculated for specialized schools.
This fit is quite a gigantic task to accomplish considering how competitive the SHSAT is each year.
What is the highest SHSAT score ever recorded?
The most outstanding applicants recorded 700 points to become the highest SHSAT mark scored to date.
The SHSAT comes in two parts, English Language Art (ELA) and Mathematics. These two sections are supposed to answer within 180 minutes.
The ELA has 57 multiple-choice questions and the Mathematics has 52 multiple-choice and 5 grid-in questions. However, the SHSAT doesn’t have a penalty for wrong answers.
The total number of correct answers (the raw score) is converted into a scaled score( an integer between 20 and about 350) through a formula that the Department of Education does not release, and it varies from year to year.
The scaled score is then used to determine the composite score, which varies from year to year, an integer between 40 to around 700.
The highest possible SHSAT score is 800 and a student can score a perfect score of 800. It’s however disputed since is it speculated by many who have studied the SHSAT scores that the scaled scores cannot reach the perfect score of 400 for each section.
There is scarce data on the highest SHSAT score ever recorded due to the fact that the scaling changes each year, and the Department of Education, New York doesn’t release official figures on the test scores.
That’s all on the highest SHSAT score ever recorded. Thank you for reading and please don’t forget to subscribe.