This blog post serves as a guide for students to be able to get their study habits together. We are outlining the best ways that you can get it together and begin to study for the SHSAT. Or, if you have already started, the ways to best optimize your progress. If you’re wondering how to study for the SHSAT, look no further. We’ll outline strategies for reading comprehension, math concepts, editing/revising grammar rules, topics that are guaranteed to be on the SHSAT, how we can help, the best SHSAT prep books, how to study on your own, the importance of the SHSAT handbook and motivating videos, online tutoring, and practice exams. Read on to learn how you can master the SHSAT and get into the school of your dreams.
By now, you’ve probably heard of the specialized high school test prep online free. The SHSAT is an exam that over 30,000 eighth graders and 3,000 ninth graders take each year in order to gain admission to the best high schools in New York City. It is no simple feat to be one of the 4,000 students or 13.33% who get into their dream school through the eighth-grade exam. Even harder is being one of the 108 ninth-graders who get into their dream school – only 3.6% of students are able to accomplish this. Training yourself to get a score high enough to get into these schools is similar to training for a marathon. It takes time, effort, practice, and motivation. Without those four things, no one will be able to get into the elite high schools or succeed once there.
How to Study for the SHSAT Reading Comprehension & Poem: Reading Shortcuts and Tips
Shortcuts and Tips
English Language Arts is a huge part of every student’s academic journey, teaching students how to express themselves through written and verbal methods and determine the meaning of an author’s words. The SHSAT aims to test every student’s understanding of these foundational concepts on the ELA section of the exam. The Reading Comprehension subsection of the SHSAT ELA section is comprised of 46 questions and about 6-8 passages. You have about 90 minutes to complete the ELA section, or more if you feel that you need it. The reading comprehension part of the exam asks students to apply the knowledge they learn in the passages to four types of questions: global, detail, inference, and function questions.
- Global: How does this fit into the central idea of the passage?
- Detail: What does this specific detail imply and what does it add to the passage?
- Inference: How can you extend the information in the passage to make generalizations?
- Function: What is the purpose of including this information or quote?
Passages range in topic from social studies to science to poetry to fiction and more. Of course, the most general tip to improve your performance in this section is to read more and to read varied material. Try reading your parent’s newspaper or a poetry book – it might help more than you think. But we also have some more specific tips for you.
- Read and reread when it doesn’t make sense! Comprehension is crucial to your ability to answer the problems. Don’t skim all the time, only do so when you have a comprehensive grip on the content of the passage.
- Don’t make assumptions. Only use the knowledge contained in the text. You could be misremembering certain facts and don’t want them to affect your score.
- Create short summaries of each paragraph next to them in order to make it easier to go back to the passage when you are answering problems.
- Read the questions for key words before you read the passage. This will help you be more active in your reading.
- Be sure to keep track of time. If you’re nearing the end of your time and feel like you really don’t know the answer, make an educated guess. Remember, you aren’t penalized for incorrect answers.
How to Study for the SHSAT Math: Learn Math Concepts
The SAT math section makes up half of the exam, testing students not only on what they have learned in school but also on more advanced concepts that they are required to learn on their own. There is no calculator allowed on the math section, so learning shortcuts is your best bet for being as quick and efficient as you can be. There are 57 questions, 52 of which are multiple-choice and 5 of which are grid-ins. These problems are ideally finished within the 90 minutes suggested time. Formulas are not provided on the exam, diagrams are not to scale, and fractions must be reduced to the lowest terms. We’ve compiled some general tips for you to keep in mind while answering math questions on the exam.
- Use the method that you think is most effective for each question. This isn’t school, so no one will be checking your work. If you have an unconventional method that you know is full-proof, use it.
- Make sure you don’t skim over the problem. Word problems often contain traps to catch students who are not reading as carefully as they should be.
- If you are running out of time, make your best educated guess. You won’t be penalized for wrong answers, but you will gain points for correct ones!
We also have some more specific tips for concepts that will show up on the exam.
1. Circles and Area
Tackle this problem by finding r and then using it to calculate the circumference of the circle. Since we know that the area of the entire circle is πr2 and that 1/8th of the circle is shaded, we know that the area of the shaded portion is ⅛ πr2 and that it equals 18π. We solve for r to get 12 and then plug 12 into the circumference formula to get c = 2πr or 24π. This is a multistep problem, so the most important thing is to read through all the details in order to solve the question.
2. Word Problems
This question requires knowledge of the foundational properties of math. First, since we know that the total number of stamps that Josef has is j and that Mai will have j – 500 stamps, we can set up an equation. The total number of stamps should be j + (j – 500), which can be simplified to 2j – 500. We can set up cross multiplication since we know Josef has 60% of the stamps. = When we cross multiply, we get 100j = 60(2j – 500). Next, using the distributive property, multiply to get 100j = 60(2j – 500). Then use the additive inverse property to subtract 120j from both sides and get -20j = -30,000. Finally, divide by -20 to get j = 1,500. Specialized high school test prep online free Diploma may be your ticket for graduating high school as well as your springboard to a first-rate education.
3. Distance, Rate, Time and Conversions
The first step here is to convert Kim’s jogging time into minutes. One hour and 40 minutes will make a total of 100 minutes. Next, you should convert kilometers to meters. Since kilo means thousand, 8 kilometers is 8,000 meters. All you have to do next is divide 8,000 meters by 100 minutes to get 80 meters per minute.