NYS Regents Math Tutoring NYC: Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II Prep at SOMATH

The short answer: the New York State Regents math exams \u2014 Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II \u2014 are the three highest-leverage tests a New York high school student will take before the SAT. A 65 unlocks a Regents diploma. An 85 on all three earns the Mastery in Math designation that strong colleges actually notice. The gap between those two scores is rarely about intelligence. It is about whether the student has had structured, expert-led Regents math tutoring built around the official exam blueprint. At SOMATH on the Upper West Side, that is exactly what we run.

This is a complete guide for NYC families navigating the Regents math sequence. Official 2026 dates from NYSED, the question-by-question structure of each exam, what scoring really means, and how serious math tutoring in NYC should be designed if your target is Mastery and not just a pass.

2026 NYS Regents math exam dates

According to the NYSED Regents Examination Schedule, the 2026 math administrations are:

• January 2026: Algebra I \u2014 Wednesday, January 21 (afternoon). Algebra II \u2014 Thursday, January 22 (afternoon). Geometry \u2014 Friday, January 23 (afternoon).
• June 2026: Algebra II \u2014 Wednesday, June 10 at 9:15 a.m. Algebra I \u2014 Wednesday, June 17 at 9:15 a.m. Geometry \u2014 Tuesday, June 23 at 1:15 p.m.
• August 2026: All three math Regents are offered the week of Tuesday, August 18.

June is by far the most common sitting. The Uniform Admission Deadline is 10:00 a.m. for morning exams and 2:00 p.m. for afternoon exams \u2014 students who arrive after that cannot sit, and students who finish early cannot leave before it. Confirm your child's exact school reporting time with their guidance office; some schools have students arrive earlier than the state minimum.

How each Regents math exam is structured

All three math Regents share the same four-part architecture, the same 3-hour time limit, and the same graphing-calculator requirement. What changes is the content and the difficulty curve. Knowing the structure cold is the single highest-yield first step of any Regents math tutoring plan.

Algebra I Regents

• 37 questions worth 86 raw points, converted to a 0\u2013100 scaled score.
• Part I: 24 multiple-choice questions, 2 points each (48 points).
• Part II: 8 short constructed-response questions, 2 points each (16 points).
• Part III: 4 medium constructed-response questions, 4 points each (16 points).
• Part IV: 1 long constructed-response question, 6 points.

Content focus: linear and quadratic functions, systems of equations and inequalities, exponential functions, statistics and data interpretation, sequences, and applied word problems. The hardest sub-score for most students is Part IV \u2014 not because the math is harder, but because it requires structured multi-step written reasoning that the school year often doesn't drill.

Geometry Regents

• 35 questions worth 86 raw points, also scaled to 0\u2013100.
• Part I: 24 multiple-choice, 2 points each (48 points).
• Part II: 7 short constructed-response, 2 points each (14 points).
• Part III: 3 medium constructed-response, 4 points each (12 points).
• Part IV: 2 long constructed-response, 6 points each (12 points).

Content focus: congruence and similarity proofs, transformations, right-triangle trigonometry, circles, coordinate geometry, volume, and three-dimensional reasoning. The proof questions on Parts III and IV are where most score variance lives \u2014 partial-credit rules reward students who write clear, properly cited statement-reason work, even when the final answer is shaky.

Algebra II Regents

• 37 questions worth 86 raw points, scaled to 0\u2013100.
• Part I: 24 multiple-choice, 2 points each (48 points).
• Part II: 8 short constructed-response, 2 points each (16 points).
• Part III: 4 medium constructed-response, 4 points each (16 points).
• Part IV: 1 long constructed-response, 6 points.

Content focus: polynomial, rational, exponential, logarithmic, and trigonometric functions; complex numbers; systems; sequences and series; probability; and statistical inference. Algebra II is the Regents math exam where the curve is steepest \u2014 the difference between a 75 raw score and an 85 scaled score can come down to two carefully written multi-step responses.

What the scores actually mean

Three scoring tiers matter to New York families. Every Regents math tutoring plan should be designed against one of them.

• 65 \u2014 Pass. Meets the math requirement for a Regents diploma. This is the floor, not the goal.
• 65+ on all three math Regents \u2014 Advanced Regents diploma. The strongest standard credential a New York public school student can earn.
• 85+ on all three math Regents \u2014 Mastery in Math designation. Added to the Advanced Regents diploma. This is the credential strong colleges read.

Most NYC selective high schools \u2014 Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech, and the strong independent schools \u2014 expect students to be targeting Mastery, not just passing. That target changes how a tutoring program should be designed. A program optimized to get a struggling student from 50 to 65 looks nothing like one designed to move a 75 to a 90.

The SOMATH approach: Comprehensive Review, Proven Strategies, Expert Instructors

The three pillars in the graphic above are not slogans \u2014 they are how every SOMATH Regents math tutoring plan is structured.

1. Comprehensive Review

Most school review packets jump straight to mixed practice problems. We do the opposite. Every SOMATH Regents prep starts with a written diagnostic that maps the student against every content cluster on the official NYSED standards. Then we rebuild the weak clusters in order \u2014 quadratics before exponentials, transformations before circle theorems, polynomials before logs \u2014 so the student's mental model of the exam is whole, not patchy. By the time they reach mixed practice, every standard has been re-anchored. That is what "Comprehensive Review" means in practice.

2. Proven Strategies

The Regents are predictable. The state releases every exam they have ever administered, scored in detail, and the pattern of question types repeats. Our students walk in knowing how to allocate time across Parts I\u2013IV, how to show work that maximizes partial credit, when to use the calculator and when to abandon it, and which classic trap setups appear nearly every year. We work through released exams from JMAP and NYSEDREGENTS in the order they should be reviewed \u2014 not random order. A graphing-calculator workshop is built into every Regents track, because the calculator is part of the exam, not an accessory.

3. Expert Instructors

Regents math tutoring at SOMATH is taught live, in small same-level cohorts, by instructors who have been teaching this exam for years \u2014 not by gig-platform college students. Our instructors are Harvard- and Northwestern-trained with 20+ years of teaching experience, and they grade the way Regents readers grade. That last detail matters more than any other, because the Regents is a partial-credit exam. A student who knows how to write a Part III response that a Regents reader can follow gains 3 to 6 points per exam over a student who knows the same math but writes it poorly.

How long should you prep?

The right Regents math tutoring runway depends entirely on the starting point and the target score.

• Target 65 (pass) from a current score around 50\u201355: 8\u201312 weeks of weekly tutoring, plus a 2-week intensive in May or August.
• Target 80\u201385 from a current score around 70: 4\u20135 months. The middle 15 points come from structural depth across every cluster, not from more drill on the same handful of topics.
• Target 90+ (Mastery) from a current score around 80: 5\u20136 months. At this level we are coaching the final 5\u201310 points \u2014 high-leverage Part III/IV technique, calculator efficiency on harder items, and stress-test full-length simulations under timed conditions.

If you are starting in May for the June administration, the runway is short. We still take students at that point, but we are explicit with families about what a 4-week intensive can realistically move and what it cannot.

SHSAT and SAT math benefit from Regents prep \u2014 and vice versa

One question NYC families ask often: does Regents math tutoring help on the SHSAT and SAT, or is it a separate track? The honest answer is that the content overlaps heavily, but the question formats differ enough that you need both. Algebra I Regents content overlaps significantly with the SHSAT math section. Algebra II Regents content overlaps significantly with the SAT math section. We design SOMATH plans so the same student can use Regents prep as a foundation for SHSAT (for middle schoolers) or SAT (for high schoolers), with format-specific drills added in the final weeks before each test.

Start with a free 30-minute evaluation

If you have a child preparing for Algebra I, Geometry, or Algebra II Regents \u2014 in any of the three administrations \u2014 the right next step is the same regardless of the target score. Book a free 30-minute one-on-one evaluation at SOMATH. We work through released Regents items at your child's level, identify which clusters are solid and which are vulnerable, and send a written diagnostic with a recommended prep plan and a target score within 48 hours. Even if you do not enroll, you walk away with an honest read on where your student stands and how many points are available.

SOMATH \u2014 226 West 79th Street, New York, NY 10024. (646) 668-6151. Prepare. Practice. Succeed. schoolofmath.us \u00b7 @schoolofmathnyc.