Which tests should my child take?

1. Tour the schools first

Each high school decides which test it accepts, so your list of schools decides your child's tests. Build that list before you plan any prep.

• NYC public high schools

  The MySchools directory covers every public high school and program in the city, and anyone can search it all year. Its events calendar lists school open houses and tours.

• The city's own sessions

  NYC Public Schools scheduled online information sessions for families of 8th graders in October and November 2026. The topics included exploring schools, registering for the SHSAT and how offers are made.

• Catholic and private schools

  These schools run their own visits. In fall 2026 Fordham Prep held open houses on Oct 15 and Oct 31, and Xavier held one on Oct 17 with student visit days from Sept 28 to Dec 11.

• The timing problem

  In 2026 those visits fell in the same weeks as test sign-up. TACHS registration closed on Oct 28 and SHSAT registration closed on Oct 30.

  Try this: Build the school list in 7th grade, so the fall of 8th grade is left for the tests.

Four questions to ask on every visit

• Which test do you accept, and is it required?

  Answers differ by school. Loyola School takes the ISEE, SSAT or HSPT and is not a TACHS school. Xavier takes the TACHS, HSPT, SSAT or ISEE. Dominican Academy encourages the TACHS.

• Where and when is the test given?

  The HSPT has no national test day. Each school or diocese picks its own.

• Can my child take it more than once?

  The TACHS allows one attempt, and the HSPT's publisher recommends taking it only once.

• Does my child's current school change the rules?

  It can. Fordham Prep and Xavier both tell students at Catholic middle schools to take the TACHS, whether or not they also take the HSPT.

Sources: Loyola School, application process; Fordham Preparatory School, how to apply; Scholastic Testing Service, HSPT test dates; NYC Public Schools, High School admissions; Xavier High School, how to apply; TACHS (Riverside Insights); Dominican Academy, how to apply; TACHS, frequently asked questions; Scholastic Testing Service, taking the HSPT more than once.

2. Match the schools to the tests

Find the kinds of schools on your list. The test follows from the school.

Sources: NYC Public Schools, Specialized High Schools; TACHS (Riverside Insights); Archdiocese of New York, TACHS; Regis High School, entrance exam; Loyola School, application process; Fordham Preparatory School, how to apply; Xavier High School, how to apply; Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of Newark, COOP process; Archdiocese of Philadelphia schools, scholarship testing; Bishop O'Dowd High School, HSPT.

3. Be practical about how many

Each test added to the list costs your child time and attention. These are the numbers to weigh.

• Every test is its own format

  The SHSAT gives 100 questions in 180 minutes, about 1 minute 48 seconds each. By the section times Regis publishes, the HSPT gives 298 questions in 143 minutes, about 29 seconds each. The TACHS has six timed parts and does not publish its question counts.

  Try this: Count each added test as a new format your child has to learn, on top of the math and reading.

• Most are one shot

  The TACHS allows one attempt, and the HSPT's publisher recommends taking it only once.

• Test days stack up

  In fall 2026 a child taking all three could have tested three weekends in a row: the TACHS on Nov 6 or 7, the SHSAT on Nov 14 or 15, and the HSPT at Fordham Prep or Xavier on Nov 21.

• The odds are public

  For fall 2026 entry, 26,123 students took the SHSAT and 4,023 got an offer. That is about 15 in every 100.

  Try this: Keep at least one school your child likes that does not depend on a single test score.

• A near miss costs less than it feels

  A study of Boston and New York exam schools compared students just above and just below the admission cutoffs. It found that getting in had little effect on later test scores or on the quality of college attended.

  Try this: Tell your child this before test day.

• Be careful with promised gains

  We have not found a published study that measures how much test prep adds on the SHSAT, TACHS or HSPT. This is our own search, and we may have missed one.

  Try this: Ask any prep company, Prepwick included, where its numbers come from.

Sources: NYC Public Schools, SHSAT; Regis High School, entrance exam; TACHS, frequently asked questions; Scholastic Testing Service, taking the HSPT more than once; TACHS (Riverside Insights); NYC Public Schools, High School admissions; Fordham Preparatory School, how to apply; Xavier High School, how to apply; Chalkbeat New York, July 10, 2026; NYC Public Schools InfoHub, admissions outcomes; Abdulkadiroglu, Angrist and Pathak (2014), The Elite Illusion: Achievement Effects at Boston and New York Exam Schools, Econometrica; Prepwick's own search of published research, October 2026.

4. Keep your child in it

Prep runs for months, and a 12-year-old has to want to open the book. This is what the research says about keeping that going.

• Short sessions with questions

  A review of ten study techniques rated two as the most useful: practice testing and spreading practice out over time. It found that rereading and highlighting do not consistently improve performance.

  Try this: Choose a few short sessions of practice questions across the week over one long evening of rereading notes.

• Praise the work

  In six studies with fifth graders, children praised for being smart did worse after a setback than children praised for effort. They kept at the task for less time, enjoyed it less and scored lower.

  Try this: Name what your child did, such as checking every answer.

• Give real choices

  Across 41 studies, having a choice raised motivation, effort and task performance. The effect was stronger for children than for adults.

  Try this: Let your child pick which schools to visit first and which skill to practice today.

• If you use rewards, tie them to effort

  Randomized trials in more than 250 city schools found that paying students for the work itself raised achievement, and paying for results did not.

  Try this: Reward the sessions finished, and leave the practice test score out of it.

• Keep prizes small

  A review of 128 experiments found that tangible rewards lowered people's own interest in a task, more so for children than for college students. Positive feedback raised it.

• Nerves can help

  In six randomized experiments, a 30-minute online lesson improved how students responded to stress. It taught two ideas: ability grows with practice, and the body's stress response can fuel performance.

  Try this: Before a timed practice test, tell your child the jitters are the body getting ready.

These summaries come from each study's published abstract. None of the studies tested the SHSAT, TACHS or HSPT.

Sources: Dunlosky and others (2013), Improving Students' Learning With Effective Learning Techniques, Psychological Science in the Public Interest; Mueller and Dweck (1998), Praise for intelligence can undermine children's motivation and performance, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology; Patall, Cooper and Robinson (2008), The effects of choice on intrinsic motivation and related outcomes, Psychological Bulletin; Fryer (2011), Financial Incentives and Student Achievement: Evidence from Randomized Trials, Quarterly Journal of Economics; Deci, Koestner and Ryan (1999), a review of experiments on rewards and intrinsic motivation, Psychological Bulletin; Yeager and others (2022), A synergistic mindsets intervention protects adolescents from stress, Nature.