Cutoff score
The minimum composite required for admission to a specific specialized high school. Each school sets its own.
Definition
A cutoff score is the minimum SHSAT composite required to receive an admission offer to a specific specialized high school. Each of the eight SHSAT-based specialized high schools has its own cutoff, determined each year by the seat count and the distribution of student scores.
How cutoffs are determined
Cutoffs are not set in advance — they’re determined after the test by the matching process. The NYC DOE ranks every test-taker by composite, and admission offers go out in descending order of composite, matched to school rankings on each student’s MySchools application. The cutoff for a specific school is simply the composite of the lowest-scoring student who received an admission offer there.
This means cutoffs reflect two factors:
- Seat count: More seats = more students admitted = lower cutoff. Brooklyn Tech’s 1,800 seats produce a lower cutoff than Stuyvesant’s 850 even though both schools draw highly capable applicants.
- Score distribution: If a particular year produces an unusually strong test-taking cohort, cutoffs rise across the board. Conversely, weaker cohorts produce lower cutoffs.
2025–2026 cutoffs
The published cutoffs for the most recent cycle, in order from highest to lowest:
- Stuyvesant: 556
- Staten Island Tech: 527
- Queens Sciences (York): 527
- HSMSE at CCNY: 526
- Bronx Science: 518
- HSAS at Lehman: 516
- Brooklyn Tech: 505
- Brooklyn Latin: 493
LaGuardia, the ninth specialized high school, admits by audition rather than SHSAT score, so it has no SHSAT cutoff.
How cutoffs change year to year
Cutoffs are stable but not static. Year-over-year shifts of 5–15 points are normal. Larger shifts happen occasionally, usually because of changes in test format, demographic shifts in the test-taking pool, or unusual cohort strength. The shift from paper to digital CAT in 2024 produced some movement, but the overall cutoff landscape has been relatively consistent.
Why families should plan with a buffer
Practice test scores are noisy. A student who consistently scores 530 on practice tests is not guaranteed to score 530 on the actual SHSAT. Reasonable test-day variance can be ±15 points or more. So a student targeting a school with a 527 cutoff should aim for practice composites of 540+ to have meaningful confidence of clearing the cutoff on test day.
This is why our school pages recommend “target composite” buffers above the actual cutoff. A target composite isn’t a prediction — it’s a planning floor that accounts for normal variance.
Common misconceptions
“Last year’s cutoff is what I need to beat.” Approximately, but the actual cutoff this year may be slightly higher or lower. Treating last year’s cutoff as the target without buffer is risky.
“I need to beat the cutoff exactly.” No. Cutoffs are a floor — you need to be at or above the cutoff. Scoring 600 doesn’t change anything once you’ve cleared 556 for Stuyvesant; admission is admission.
See historical cutoffs and current targets on our cutoff scores page.