SHSAT Score Calculator
Enter how many questions you answered correctly. See your estimated composite score, where it lands against all eight specialized high school cutoffs, and exactly how many more questions you need.
Estimates only. The 2026 SHSAT is computer-adaptive: official scores depend on which questions you answered correctly and how hard each one was, so two students with the same number right can receive different scores.
Where you land against the 2026 cutoffs
A school's cutoff is the lowest composite score that received an offer. All eight below are the 2026 admission cutoffs, released with offers in March.
| School | Borough | Cutoff | Gap |
|---|
The gap column shows how many more correct answers you would need, not how many points. One extra correct answer is worth more the higher you climb, so 75 points near the top costs far fewer questions than 75 points near the bottom.
How the 2026 SHSAT is scored
Starting with the fall 2026 test, the SHSAT is taken on a DOE computer and adapts as you go. You get 50 ELA and 50 Math questions in 180 minutes. The first question is average difficulty; after that a correct answer tends to lead to a harder question and a miss to an easier one.
Your ELA and Math results are each converted to a scaled score between 200 and 400, and the two are added into a composite between 400 and 800. Students are ranked by composite and each specialized high school fills its seats from the top down. The last score admitted becomes that school's cutoff.
The curve above is calibrated where the cutoffs actually sit, roughly 70 to 90 percent correct. Below about 60 percent the estimate gets loose in absolute terms, though the ranking against the schools still holds.
Old test vs. 2026 test
Most prep books and past handbooks still describe the paper test: 57 reading and 57 math questions over three hours, with questions you could skip and return to. If your practice test came from one of those, switch the toggle above to the 57 + 57 format so the percentages line up. The cutoff scores themselves are on the same 400–800 scale either way, which is why old cutoffs still tell you something useful.
Reference: correct answers needed per school
If you would rather work backwards, this is roughly how many of the 100 adaptive questions you need correct to reach each cutoff.
| School | Cutoff | Correct answers | Accuracy |
|---|
What counts as a good SHSAT score
There is no single answer because there is no single bar. A composite of 495 was enough for the Brooklyn Latin School in 2026 and 561 was needed for Stuyvesant. Anything above 561 would have cleared every cutoff that year, while a score in the low 500s clears some schools and misses others.
A more useful way to read your number is by what it opens. Use the table above and ask which of the eight you clear, then decide whether the gap to the next school is worth the extra practice. Moving from 77 to 82 percent correct is a realistic eight-week project. Moving from 77 to 86 percent is a different kind of commitment.
Questions
How is the 2026 SHSAT scored?
50 ELA and 50 Math questions in 180 minutes on a computer. Each section converts to a scaled score of 200–400 and the two add into a 400–800 composite. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so answer everything.
What is the highest possible SHSAT score?
800, which is 400 from each section. A perfect raw score does not guarantee exactly 800 because the scale is curved and set after each test administration, but it lands you at the top.
How many questions do I need right for Stuyvesant?
Stuyvesant's 2026 cutoff was 561, which works out to roughly 85 of the 100 questions. That is about 42 or 43 correct in each section. Cutoffs shift every year with the applicant pool, so treat it as a target rather than a fixed number.
Does the SHSAT deduct points for wrong answers?
No. Nothing is subtracted for a miss. On the adaptive test you also cannot freely skip ahead and come back, so pacing and committing to an answer matter more than they did on paper. Guess on anything you cannot solve.
Why does my score show a range instead of one number?
Because on an adaptive test the same raw score can produce different scaled scores depending on which questions you got right. A student who answered harder questions correctly is scored differently from one who answered easier ones. The range reflects that spread rather than hiding it.
Is this calculator official?
No. It is an independent estimating tool and is not affiliated with the New York City Department of Education. Official scores come only from the DOE. Use this to plan practice, not to predict an admission decision.