A computer-adaptive test needs a different kind of prep.
The SHSAT now adjusts to every answer a student gives in real time, which means the way you prepare for it has to be just as deliberate. The four-week SHSAT Prep Course is built specifically for how the test works today.
One test. One score. And a format that responds in real time.
The SHSAT has always been high stakes: a single score decides admission to eight of New York City's specialized high schools. No essay, no interview, no report card. Just one score.
What catches most students off guard is how the test behaves once they sit down to take it.
It's computer-adaptive. Answer well, and the questions get harder and are worth more. Miss a few, and they ease up. And in most cases, once an answer is submitted, there's no going back to fix it later.
That last part changes everything about how a student should approach test day.
"Skip it and come back" used to be smart advice on the old paper test.
On this one, it is often not even possible.
But the basics haven't changed:
- 180 minutes
- 114 questions, split between English Language Arts and Math
- No calculator
- No penalty for wrong answers
Put it together, and it's easy to see why so many students walk in without a real plan.
A test that reacts to every answer in real time deserves prep that's actually built for that.
Introducing the SHSAT Prep Course
Four weeks. Twenty video lessons. Built from the ground up around the new adaptive format for students applying to Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech, and the rest of New York City's specialized high schools.
Every section is taught.
Every strategy is trained under the real test conditions.
And every student starts with a diagnostic, so their prep is built around their own results.
This isn't a repacked study guide. It's a course that treats the adaptive shift as the biggest thing to prepare for, because it is.
ENROLL NOWHere is what you get:
WEEK 1
Revising & Editing
Students start by learning how the adaptive SHSAT works, then take a full diagnostic to set their baseline.
From there, they cover the most learnable section on the exam: every sentence-level grammar rule and passage -editing skill the test relies on, and a set of rules they'll use in this section of the exam.
WEEK 2
Reading Comprehension
The biggest block of points on the test comes from six reading passages: informational, literary, and poetry.
This week replaces front-to-back reading with a faster method: skim, map, predict and answer, then find the proof. Students apply it to every question type the SHSAT asks, then put it under real-time pressure in a full reading checkpoint.
WEEK 3
Math Part One
No calculator means the real skill is avoiding ugly arithmetic altogether, and that's what this week focuses on.
Students train fast, accurate work with fractions, decimals, and percents, then move through number sense, algebra, word problems, and the grib-in questions that come with no answer choices to fall back on.
WEEK 4
Math Part Two & Test Day
The math finishes here: geometry, area and volume, data, and probability. Then the course shifts into pure strategy, smart guessing, elimination, and the pacing an adaptive test specifically requires.
Students close out with a full, timed practice test and a complete test-day plan, so nothing about test day is a surprise by the time they get there.
BUILT INTO EVERY WEEK
The SHSAT Prep Journal
Alongside the lesson, every student works through the SHSAT Prep Journal: a tracker for diagnostic and checkpoint scores, guided practice questions, and a system for sorting every missed question into what actually went wrong.
It's the single place where a student's prep actually adds up to a plan, rather than just a stack of finished lessons.
After four weeks, your child will be able to:
- Explain how the computer-adaptive SHSAT works and adjust their pacing accordingly
- Point to a personalized study plan built from their own prep results
- Apply a specific strategy to every question type on the test, not just a general sense of the material
- Show measurable progress across two section checkpoints and a full practice test
- Sit the real exam having already experienced the time, pressure, and the format firsthand
- Walk into test day feeling prepared, focused, and confident
The SHSAT Prep Course isย a good fit if:
- Your child is preparing for the SHSAT and applying to one or more of New York City's specialized high schools
- You'd rather they follow a structured plan than piece together random practice materials
- They've never seen a computer-adaptive test before and need to before test day
- Test-taking itself is the harder part for them, not the underlying material
- You want them to walk in with a real shot at their top-choice school
Why choose Top Grade Test Prep?
Every course we build starts from the same place: a student should never walk into an exam this important without knowing what to expect.
The SHSAT Prep Course wasn't written from a textbook or adapted from someone else's material. It comes from an educator who has worked with real students preparing for this exact test in real New York City classrooms and has spent time understanding what the shift to computer-adaptive testing actually changes about how a student should prepare.
That's the difference between a course that teaches the SHSAT in general, and one that teaches the SHSAT as it exists now.
Enroll in the SHSAT Prep Course
A complete, four-week plan through the adaptive SHSAT, from first diagnostic to test day.
- 20 video lessons across four weeks, covering every section of the exam
- Quizzes and time practice built into every week
- A study plan personalized to your child's own diagnostic results
- A full mock exam under real, timed conditions
- The SHSAT Prep Journal
FAQ
What exactly is the SHSAT?
What does "computer-adaptive" actually mean for my child?
Who should take this course?
How is the course structured?
Does my child need to have already started prepping?
Can my child go at their own pace?
My child struggles with tests in general. Is this still worth it?
My child has already been prepping elsewhere. Is this redundant?
There's no calculator. How does the course handle that?
Know the format. Own the score.
The students who score highest on this exam aren't guessing their way through an adaptive test on the day it counts. They've already seen how it behaves, and they know exactly how to answer it.
Give your child four structured weeks to get there.
ENROLL NOW