What SHSAT Score Do You Need to Get Into Stuyvesant?

If your child is aiming for Stuyvesant, the question every NYC parent asks is the same: what SHSAT score do you actually need? The honest answer is that there is no fixed number — but there is a reliable range, and Stuyvesant's bar is the highest of all eight specialized high schools. Below we break down the most recent verified cutoffs, how the SHSAT is scored, how the matching process really works, and roughly what test performance puts a student in Stuyvesant territory.

The short answer: Stuyvesant's recent cutoff scores

The "cutoff" is simply the lowest score that earned an offer in a given year. It is set after the fact by the pool of test-takers, so it moves a little every cycle. Here are the verified lowest-qualifying composite scores for Stuyvesant over recent years:

• 2026: 561
• 2025: 556
• 2024: 561
• 2023: 561
• 2022: 563
• 2021: 559

So for the last several years, the Stuyvesant cutoff has hovered in the 556–563 range, on a composite scale that tops out around 700. In every single year on record, Stuyvesant has had the highest cutoff of any specialized high school — typically 30 to 60 points above schools like Brooklyn Tech or Brooklyn Latin.

The practical takeaway: a student who can reliably score around 560 or higher is competitive for Stuyvesant. A safer target — one that protects against a tough test day or an unusually strong cohort — is 570+.

Take our free SHSAT diagnostic for an estimated score today. Its scores top out at 516, below the Stuyvesant cutoff, so to measure against that line, use our full-length practice test. We send it free after a 15-minute consultation.

How the SHSAT is scored: raw to scaled

This is the part that confuses most families. Your child's score is not just the number of questions they got right. Scoring happens in two stages:

1. Raw score

The SHSAT has two sections, English Language Arts (ELA) and Math. From the fall 2026 administration each section has 50 questions, 100 in total, and the exam is computer-adaptive: it opens at average difficulty and adjusts what it serves next based on each answer. There is no penalty for wrong answers, so the practical advice is to answer everything. Earlier administrations used 57 questions per section on paper, so older guides describing 114 questions no longer match the test your child will sit.

2. Scaled score

The NYC Department of Education then converts each section's raw score into a scaled score using a process called equating. Equating adjusts for slight differences in difficulty between test versions, so a given scaled score means the same thing year to year. Each section is scaled to roughly the 100–400 range, and the two are added to produce the composite score (maximum around 700) — and the composite is the only number used for admissions.

Two things matter here. First, the conversion is non-linear: near the top of the scale, every additional correct answer is worth more scaled points, because so few students are scoring there. Missing two or three questions can be the difference between a Stuyvesant offer and none. Second, the DOE has never published the exact formula, and it changes every year — which is why no one can promise "X correct answers = Y score."

What raw performance maps to a Stuyvesant score?

Because equating shifts annually, this is an estimate, not a guarantee. But based on historical conversions, a Stuyvesant-competitive composite (roughly 560+) corresponds to answering about 91% of questions correctly across both sections — in the ballpark of 50–52 of 57 correct in each section, depending on the year and how the difficulty splits between Math and ELA.

A few realities worth internalizing:

• Balance matters. Because both sections are scaled and summed, a student who is brilliant in Math but weak in ELA can be out-scored by a more balanced test-taker. Stuyvesant admits the balanced profile.
• The top of the curve is crowded. Thousands of strong students sit this exam, so small mistakes are magnified at the high end.
• Speed is part of the test, and skipping back is mostly gone. Students get 180 minutes for 100 questions and choose which section to open first. On the adaptive test, Math items and stand-alone ELA items cannot be revisited once answered; only inside an ELA passage set can answers change, and only until that set is submitted. The old habit of flagging a hard question and returning at the end no longer works, which makes deciding in the moment a skill worth practising.

How rank-order matching actually works

Here's what surprises many parents: you don't apply to Stuyvesant — you rank it. Before the exam, students list the specialized high schools in order of preference. After scores come in, the DOE runs a single match:

1. The highest-scoring student is placed at their first-choice school.
2. The next-highest student is placed at their first choice — and so on, in strict descending score order.
3. When a school fills, the next student who listed it is bumped to their next available choice.

This continues until every seat at all eight schools is filled. The SHSAT score is the only criterion — there are no essays, grades, interviews, or recommendations. Because Stuyvesant is the most-requested school and has the highest-scoring applicant pool, its cutoff naturally lands highest.

One strategic note: always rank Stuyvesant first if it's your top choice, but list every school you'd genuinely attend. Ranking a school can only help you — you are only ever considered for schools you listed, and listing more does not lower your chances at higher-ranked ones.

The bottom line for Stuyvesant-bound families

Aim for a composite of 560+ as the competitive line and 570+ as a comfortable cushion. On an adaptive test that no longer translates into a tidy number of questions to get right: scoring weights the difficulty of the items served, so two students with the same number correct can finish with different scores. What it does translate into is sustained accuracy on harder material, because answering difficult items correctly is what moves the estimate up. Cutoffs also vary year to year, 556 one cycle and 563 another, so the goal isn't an exact number; it's enough margin that a normal off-day doesn't cost the offer.

The most reliable way to know where your child stands is to measure it. Start with our free SHSAT diagnostic for an estimated score today. For a read against the Stuyvesant line, our full-length practice test is the better measure.

Frequently asked questions

What SHSAT score do I need to get into Stuyvesant?

In recent years the lowest score that earned a Stuyvesant offer ranged from 556 to 563 — most recently 561 (2026). A composite of 560+ is competitive and 570+ gives a safer cushion. There is no guaranteed number because the cutoff is set each year by that cycle's test-takers.

Is the Stuyvesant cutoff the highest of all specialized high schools?

Yes. In every year on record, Stuyvesant has had the highest cutoff of the eight testing specialized high schools, usually well above schools like Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech, and Brooklyn Latin.

How many questions can I get wrong and still get into Stuyvesant?

Roughly speaking, a Stuyvesant-level score corresponds to about 91% correct — in the neighborhood of 50–52 of 57 per section. Because scoring is non-linear at the top, missing even a few extra questions can drop you below the cutoff. The exact conversion changes yearly.

Does ranking Stuyvesant first hurt my chances at other schools?

No. The match places you at the highest-ranked school where your score still qualifies. Ranking Stuyvesant first and listing other schools below it can only help — you're only considered for schools you list, and a lower-ranked choice never costs you a higher one.

Cutoff figures reflect the most recently published lowest-qualifying scores through the 2026 admissions cycle. Because the DOE sets cutoffs after each exam and does not release the exact raw-to-scaled formula, all raw-score estimates are approximate and provided for planning purposes.