SHSAT Cutoff Scores by Specialized High School
The "cutoff" is the lowest composite score that got an offer to each school. These are the official NYC Public Schools figures for 2026 admissions (students who tested in fall 2025), with the previous year alongside so you can see the direction. Cutoffs change every year, and the fall 2026 test is a new computer-adaptive format, so use them as a target range, not a line.
Lowest qualifying scores, 2026 admissions (9th-grade entry)
| School | Borough | 2026 admissions | 2025 admissions | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stuyvesant High School | Manhattan | 561 | 556 | +5 |
| HS for Mathematics, Science and Engineering at City College (HSMSE) | Manhattan | 539 | 526 | +13 |
| Queens High School for the Sciences at York College | Queens | 531 | 518 | +13 |
| The Bronx High School of Science | Bronx | 525 | 518 | +7 |
| Staten Island Technical High School | Staten Island | 517 | 527 | -10 |
| HS of American Studies at Lehman College | Bronx | 507 | 504 | +3 |
| Brooklyn Technical High School | Brooklyn | 506 | 505 | +1 |
| The Brooklyn Latin School | Brooklyn | 495 | 496 | -1 |
2026 admissions column: NYC Public Schools, "Lowest Qualifying SHSAT Scores for 2026 Admissions"(read 2026-10-11). 2025 admissions column: the DOE page no longer shows the prior year, so these are the figures compiled by third-party prep sites from the 2025 DOE release; they agree with each other but are not an official source.
10th-grade entry (students who test in 9th grade)
A small number of seats are offered for 10th-grade entry. The lowest qualifying scores for 2026 admissions, as published by NYC DOE, were:
| School | 2026 admissions, 10th-grade entry |
|---|---|
| Stuyvesant High School | 562 |
| HS for Mathematics, Science and Engineering at City College (HSMSE) | 554 |
| Queens High School for the Sciences at York College | 537 |
| The Bronx High School of Science | 652 |
| Staten Island Technical High School | 530 |
| HS of American Studies at Lehman College | 535 |
| Brooklyn Technical High School | 543 |
| The Brooklyn Latin School | 652 |
Same DOE source. The 652 figures at Bronx Science and Brooklyn Latin are as published; with only a handful of 10th-grade offers, the "lowest" score can be an individual student's score.
How to read these numbers
- Offers go in score order. Every student ranks the eight schools in MySchools. Starting from the top score, each student is offered the highest school on their list that still has seats. The last score that gets a seat at a school becomes that school's cutoff.
- A cutoff is a result, not a requirement. It depends on how many students scored above it and where they ranked that school. A year with a strong cohort pushes every cutoff up.
- Ranking matters as much as scoring. A student with a 540 who ranks Stuyvesant first and Bronx Science second gets Bronx Science (if 540 clears its cutoff), not nothing. Rank the schools you would attend, in the order you want them.
- The spread is wide. Sixty-six points separate Stuyvesant from Brooklyn Latin in the 2026 table. Many strong students who miss Stuyvesant comfortably clear three or four other specialized schools.
What score should my child aim for?
For a 2027 admissions target, plan for at least the most recent cutoff plus a margin of 15–20 points, because the number moves and the adaptive test is new. In our fall course, we set each student's target from a diagnostic mock in week one and track it through six full-length adaptive mocks; students who finish the course in the 650+ range have cleared every school's cutoff in every recent year.
See the fall SHSAT course →2026 test dates & deadlines
Frequently asked questions
What is an SHSAT cutoff score?
It is the lowest composite score that received an offer to a given school in a given year. It is not a fixed passing mark: offers are made in score order against each student's ranked list of schools, so the cutoff is simply where that school's seats ran out. It changes every year.
Which year does this table show?
The main column is for 2026 admissions, meaning students who took the SHSAT in fall 2025 and start high school in September 2026. Students taking the test in fall 2026 are in the 2027 admissions cycle, whose cutoffs will not be known until offers go out in spring 2027.
What score do you need for Stuyvesant?
For 2026 admissions, the lowest qualifying score for 9th-grade entry to Stuyvesant was 561, per NYC Public Schools. Aim higher than the most recent cutoff; the number moves several points from year to year and the 2026 test format is new.
Does the maximum score change?
The composite is the sum of two scaled section scores. NYC DOE does not publish a fixed maximum on its SHSAT page; in practice composites above 700 are rare. Compare scores only within the same year.
Why are some 10th-grade entry cutoffs so high?
Very few 10th-grade seats exist at some schools, so the lowest qualifying score can be whatever the one or two admitted students scored. A 652 at Bronx Science or Brooklyn Latin for 10th-grade entry reflects a tiny number of offers, not a harder standard. We reproduce the DOE figures as published.
ABCMath is not affiliated with NYC Public Schools. Cutoffs are republished for information; confirm current figures and policy on the official enrollment page before making decisions.