SHSAT (Specialized High School Admission Test)

New York City has nine specialized high schools. Admission into these schools, which is determined by a student’s score on the New York City Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT), is highly competitive. According to the NYC Department of Education, out of 29,000 students that took the SHSAT in the fall of 2008, only 6,106 students (21%) were extended an offer to attend one of the elite schools.
Only NYC residents can apply to one of the specialized high schools. Each school caters to special academic interests and offers advanced courses in mathematics, science, the humanities, and the arts. Eight of these schools require that students take the SHSAT for admission, with the exception of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music, & Art, and Performing Arts (LaGuardia High Schools). The admission process requires a full review of academic records and a student audition.
Each specialized school offers rigorous programs that prepare students for high learning and beyond. At least 95% of students that graduate from these schools attend college, many of which go on to attend Ivy League colleges and universities. Four of the schools; La Guardia, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech, and Stuyvesant High School are much larger than the other five newer schools, and offer students a diverse and more competitive environment. When deciding upon the right school, students and parents should consider which school can best cater to a child’s personal and academic needs.
The following nine specialized high schools in New York City are as follows:

The nine Specialized High Schools are :
Fiorello H. La Guardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts
Bronx High School of Science
Brooklyn Latin School
Brooklyn Technical High School
High School of American Studies at Lehman College
High School for Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at City College
Queens High School for the Sciences at York College
Staten Island Technical High School
Stuyvesant High School

2010 SHSAT Test Dates(to be confirmed)

8G Applicants: October 23&24, 2010
9G Applicants: October 30, 2010

HUNTER College High School Admission Test

Hunter College High School is one of the oldest self-contained schools for intellectually gifted students in the nation. It is publicly financed, chartered by the Board of Trustees of the City University of New York and administered by Hunter College. Hunter College High School is a coeducational laboratory school organized as a research and demonstration center to serve the spectrum of New York City’s gifted junior and senior high school population (grades 7-12). The only entry point to Hunter College High School is the seventh grade. Students who show superior cognitive ability on standardized tests may sit for the Hunter College High School Entrance Examination while in the sixth grade. Students admitted to Hunter College High School must reside in New York City in any one of the five boroughs. Each year we ask school directors and principals to identify candidates for the Hunter College High School Entrance Examination. For the January 9, 2009 exam, we looked for all sixth grade students who were interested in attending Hunter and whose fifth grade standardized test scores are at the 90th national percentile (701 Scale Score on CTB) or higher in Total Reading AND at the 90th national percentile (744 Scale Score on CTB) or higher in Total Mathematics. We cannot permit any student with scores below these levels to take the exam regardless of his/her economic situation or other extenuating circumstances.

2011 HUNTER Test Dates

Jan 7, 2011

The cut-off scores have been established as of August, 2009:
712 for ELA(90th percentile) and 734 for math(90th percentile)