Hunter College High School Exam

Parents Forum
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I recently scored well on my SAT’s and my neighbor asked me to help her son study for the Hunter College High School Exam. I was told that the test is similar to the SAT’s. Is this true? How are they like the SAT’s? How are they different? Any input would be highly appreciated.</p>

2

<p>Hey,</p>

<p>I took the Hunter test a while back, and it is sort of similar to the SAT; I would even argue that the Math sections are about the same difficulty.</p>

<p>The Hunter test is divided into 3 parts: 75 points worth of Math, 75 points worth of English, and an essay. There are about 100+ questions total. Admissions are based on Hunter test performance, passing the essay, and ethnicity. In most years, a ~90 with a passing essay will get an admit; but, like college admissions, easier for minorities except Asians, harder for Asians, medium for whites.</p>

<p>For the Math part, there are very few questions on trigonometry (I didn’t know trig when I took it, but still did fine), mostly it is geometry, algebra, e.g. stuff that would’ve been covered in school, but taken to the next level. He should be very very comfortable with using algebra to solve word problems, geometric figures and looking at charts/graphs/other data. </p>

<p>The English section, from what I remember, was mostly reading passages and answering critical reading questions. The child should be able to read fast, and, even if he doesn’t have a large vocabulary, be apt at getting meaning from context. Lots of reading and critical-reading problems will certainly help. </p>

<p>As for the essay, they give you a prompt and two lined pages, and you write. For that, I’m not sure how they score it; I can’t really give you anything, except that for me, the prompt was an important, adventurous moment. A couple of years after that, it was an essay on your favorite food. Be ready for anything, and just be a good writer in general. </p>

<p>I hope this helps! Hunter is a really extraordinary school, best of luck to your neighbor’s son!</p>

3

<p>gl!! That school seems awesome</p>

4

<p>No offense to OP, but why would a parent opt for a tutor unfamiliar w/ the test when there are plenty of companies (Kaplan, Princeton Review) offering courses of the Hunter and Sci High exams, as well as experienced private tutors?</p>

5

<p>I go to hunter</p>

<p>there’s no affirmative action at hunter (your race/name is not written on the test when it’s graded/essay is evaluated), so ethnicity is not a factor</p>

6

<p>yes, I was curious about this statement about how difficult it was for Asians (don’t they dominate in numbers at Hunter?). I use to work there years ago and I know that was no identification of race on these exams. Another urban legend</p>

7

<p>Can anyone tell me about books or online courses that can help me prepare for the Hunter High School Admissions?</p>