Partners With Parents - New York City Tutoring » Test Dates

SHSAT Test Dates 2010

jesse — Thu, 27 May 2010 10:52:37 +0000

The New York City Department of Education has announced the tentative test dates for the SHSAT (Specialized High Schools Admissions Test) in Fall 2010:

September 15 – October 6, 2010 – SHSAT Registration (through school counselors)

October 23 & 24, 2010 – SHSAT Test Days for 8^th graders

October 30, 2010 – SHSAT Test Day for 9^th graders, as well as 8th and 9th graders with testing accommodations

November 14, 2010 – SHSAT Test Day for all 9 ^th grade Sabbath observers, 8^th and 9^th grade Sabbath observers who need testing accommodations, as well as make-up tests (with permission only and must register by November 4^th)

Taking the SHSAT is a requirement for admission to the following high schools:

Bronx High School of Science
The Brooklyn Latin School
Brooklyn Technical High School
High School for Mathematics, Science and Engineering at the City College
High School of American Studies at Lehman College
Queens High School for the Sciences at York College
Staten Island Technical High School
Stuyvesant High School

If you are interested in more specific information about the SHSAT or other entrance exams for New York City’s public and independent schools (like the ISEE, SSAT, or COOP), please give us a call at (212) 928-5016 or e-mail us.

To read the bios of a few of our favorite SHSAT tutors, click here.

Last Chance To Register For The SAT in May

jesse — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 21:51:59 +0000

Reminder! Thursday, April 15th, is the final opportunity to register for the May 1st SAT and SAT Subject Tests. This is the late registration deadline. The costs of the tests, including the $23 late fee, are $68 for the SAT and $52 for SAT Subject Tests (+$20 for language tests with listening). You can sign up at http://sat.collegeboard.com/register

The next and final chance to take the SAT this school year is June 5th. The registration deadline for that exam date is May 5th. If you haven’t started preparing, what are you waiting for? It’s not too late to let us help.

Register for the SSAT

jesse — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:50:41 +0000

Reminder! Friday, November 20th, is the SSAT Registration deadline (by fax/mail) for the December 12th administration. You can still sign up for the SSAT online until the late registration closes on November 27th. The cost is $110, $140 if registering late. You can register here.

Last Chance to Register for the December ACT

jesse — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:23:25 +0000

Reminder! Friday, November 20th, is the ACT Registration deadline for the December 12th administration. This is the late registration deadline so the cost is $68 for the ACT with writing and $53 without (rather than $47 and $32, respectively). You can sign up at http://www.actstudent.org/regist/index.html

Standardized Test Prep

will — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:54:56 +0000

During the fall, it seems every week we encounter a new ISEE, SAT or ACT registration deadline or administration date. Most of the major standardized tests fall into certain periods of concentration. This is true for state and independent school exams, like the ISEE, SSAT, and the SHSAT, to college admissions exams like the SAT and ACT, as well as graduate school entrance exams like the GRE, GMAT and LSAT. We are about to enter a period of such clustering from mid-October through mid-December. There is also a concentration in the spring from mid-April through mid-June.

It is important to realize that test preparation cannot merely begin at the registration deadline, which is usually less than a month prior to the test date. To ensure a confident, level-headed approach on test day, the material must be examined and taken seriously well in advance. Standardized tests are not measures of any innate intelligence or ability; in a sense, performance on these exams is just an indicator of how well you perform on these exams. This is why our schools and universities rarely make test scores their first criteria in decision-making. Meaningful preparation that results in actual mastery of the material usually raises a student’s score substantially.

As you look ahead to your child’s exam schedule in the upcoming year, don’t miss your registration deadlines, but be sure you don’t forget to accommodate the learning process that comes far prior to registration, either. Make a study plan a year in advance that includes understanding how the test works. Take a practice test each month in real test conditions to develop ease with test-taking itself. Break down the test into discrete concepts and commit to learning one each week – triangles this week, probability next. Learn a new word or two each day. There are hundreds of resources for each standardized test at your disposal – books, word lists, worksheets, computer programs, etc. This kind of preparation will leave many students well-prepared for test day.

If you know your child faces a struggle with a standardized test, professional test prep is always an option. We all know this is a huge industry, with thousands of classes and private tutors in New York City alone. One piece of advice: Research your options and know how much you are willing to spend in total. It can get very expensive. Another piece of advice: If you know you are going to have a few sessions with a tutor, do the majority of them months in advance. That way, you’ll know where you stand and have the time to address areas of weakness. Then you can have the last couple of sessions right before the test date for lingering questions and final preparations. For self-disciplined learners, a good tutor will be able to identify gaps in knowledge and create a plan of action that the student can follow independently. For those students who need more attention, there are rigorous programs that provide step-by-step instruction over the course of months.

The bottom line: Make a plan! Get familiar with the test as well as the dates that serve you. If you don’t feel confident with some of the content, target those areas for extra attention. Seek outside resources. (You might as well start by checking out free or low-cost options before jumping right in with tutors who charge hundreds of dollars an hour.) Practice, practice, practice! Then, the night before the big day, relax a little. If you’ve done a thorough preparation, the confidence will be there, and the results will come.

Register for the ACT

jesse — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:01:16 +0000

Reminder! Friday, October 2^nd, is the ACT Registration deadline for the October 24^th administration. This is the late registration deadline so the cost is $68 for the ACT with writing and $53 without (rather than $47 and $32, respectively). You can sign up at http://www.actstudent.org/regist/index.html

Register for the SAT

jesse — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:57:03 +0000

Reminder! Thursday, October 1^st, is the SAT registration deadline for the November 7^th administration. The cost is $45 for the SAT and $29 for SAT Subject Tests (add $20 for language tests with listening). You can sign up at http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/reg.html