Resources
Articles, guides, research, and tools from Bell Curves.
What Are the New SHSAT Math Practice Tests Actually Testing?
Algebra and proportional reasoning make up about half the math on the 2025 and 2026 SHSAT practice tests. Most of that math comes from Grade 6 and 7 standards, which is what you'd expect from an exam taken in the fall of eighth grade.
The SHSAT Has a 20-Minute Problem
Navigating the digital SHSAT could take 16 to 24 minutes of the 180-minute exam. That's time spent clicking, advancing, and working the interface, not reading or solving. We measured it, and here's why it matters for a test that decides admission to NYC most selective public high schools.
The New SHSAT Is Adaptive. Its Online Practice Tests Aren’t.
The online practice tests aren’t adaptive. Unless that changes, the first time students encounter the SHSAT adapting to their performance will be on test day.
SHSAT Math: What the Practice Tests Reveal About Scoring More Points
Not all SHSAT math topics appear equally often. Our analysis of official practice tests shows where the questions are concentrated and how families can use that information to focus preparation, spend study time wisely, and earn more points.
Score Signal
Compares an SAT or ACT score with each college's enrolled score range and test policy, then returns a submit, test-optional, or retake answer for every school.
Admission Test Database
SAT and SHSAT figures, version by version, each tied to the technical document it came from.
Highly Rejective
A classification of colleges with undergraduate admit rates below 30%, and why “selective” is the wrong word for how those schools enroll.