Barron's New York City SHSAT: Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (Barron's SHSAT) Third Edition

Answer to what you want to know: yes, it worked for us!My (highly motivated) daughter used this book to help her prep for the SHSAT test and passed the test with flying colors, getting into her first choice of schools in NYC. We did complement this book with some basic test-prep at school, but even they were just using pages from this book.How did she prepare? She worked through the practice problems in the front of this book, and learned how to tackle each type of test question. She spent extra time on the ones she felt least comfortable at. Then she did a few of the practice tests in the back of the book, which were VERY similar to the actual SHSAT test she took a few months later.The SHSAT test is a weird test. It CAN be learned. Even the smartest kid, faced with with this test without preparation, will not do THAT well on it. The question types are strange and can be learned and practice will make a smart kid better at them.I would not say that a below average student could use this book and suddenly pass the test, but a smart kid could use this book to get that all-important high test score to get into a specialized school. Consider it like putting good fuel into a sports car- it will enhance the performance.We also used the Kaplan's test prep book which was equally good.So maybe a good approach for a self-motivated young student is to use this Kaplan book, the Barron's book, and perhaps some light test prep course in addition. But honestly, if the student used just the two books and went through them completely, the test prep would be unnecessary.

We were told to buy this and others plus about almost $4000 for the one-on-one sessions to learn the nonsense required to get passed the gate-keepers of the system. The deal is, if you are willing to work hard enough to learn all this (which is not taught in school) and get a high enough score you may be admitted to the school you want. You are learning the keys to a higher score. Most who takes these tests don't even prepare and it is laughable they even show up for the test which they barely even come near to complete.So you are really only competing with those smart enough to prepare, not all the people on line, mostly who are fools, which you will soon learn during the test.

Having been through the whole "getting ready" process and looked at all these books I will share the knowledge I wish someone shared in a review when I was trying to figure out the best option. Among books, Barron's is the best option. If you are buying more than 1 book Won Suh's SHSAT : TJHSST Edition, oddly enough, is a close runner up just lacking the same amount of tips. A couple more are okay and a few others a waste. Test prep books are limited though! If you are buying several books or willing to spend a few more bucks, the absolute best value in SHSAT/TJHSST preparation is testprepSHSAT.com. It's a lot more like an online tutor without the cost. If money is no object then research a local tutor or test prep course like PrepMate because they will provide the most practice and, more importantly, teach you how to take the test.

Not a great representation of the actual test, and definitely harder than the other 3rd party books out there, but some decent questions to help with prep.

Bought this prep book for my daughter's preparation for Thomas Jefferson HS for Science and Tech in Northern VA. There is no prep book for the TJ exam so I thought the one the NYC schools would be a great alternate choice. To my surprised when I received the book, one of the authors, Mr. ZImmerman, was my MSI math teacher at Brooklyn Tech in the early '80s. Hence my review might be bias.Good selection of questions and clear explanation of answers (both correct and incorrect choices). I only wish the book could be thicker with more sample tests. Overall, an excellent choice for the price.

This book was a great resource while I prepared for the TJAT. Each section includes skill builders, so you can tackle the math problems that you have trouble with. There's also practice workouts for all the sections. I liked that. This book included lots of practice problems along with information instead of just pages of tips. For me, that's the way to study.Also, the practice tests are challenging and very well written. Although, the scores you receive on these practice tests might not fully correlate to the scores you would receive on the SHSAT Official handbook. It will probably be lower due to the difficulty of the test.

Not good. Nothing was on shsat

i believe this book has helped me so much, i don't regret buying it. when the test day came i was able to understand the question better. thank you Barron's i hope i will pass the test and get in to Brooklyn tech, i really want to...