Here’s How to Manage the Craziness as You Apply to High School in New York City

Is your child applying to high school in New York City? After an intense year of preparing for and hustling through 2025 public high school admissions, I have a few tips to share to keep you sane and organized rather than battered and frazzled.

With more than 400 high schools and 700 distinct programs to choose from, my main takeaway is that NYC has a plethora of incredible and diverse options. I could picture each of my twins as well as their younger siblings thriving at many of these schools.

My main frustration is that, even though my kids have stellar grades and attendance, their horrible lottery numbers drastically shorten the list of main application schools that are likely to offer them a seat. Thankfully, NYC has several categories of schools with a variety of admissions criteria, so we applied broadly and are hoping for the best as we wait until spring when offer letters arrive and waitlists move.

START IN SEVENTH GRADE

While it might seem like you just finished applying to middle school and high school is eons away, seventh grade is a key year for setting your child up for success in the high school admissions process.

Get Oriented - When you are ready to shift mental gears into high school prep mode, join the Facebook group Applying to High School in NYC and read through the helpful guides posted there. This orientation will help you get your bearings before you jump in come September. The message board often provides answers to questions you never knew you had!

Focus on Core Academics - This year’s academics count. Seventh grade grades in the core subject areas (Math, Science, ELA, and Social Studies) determine which screened admissions group (aka tier) an applicant falls in, so focus effort on schoolwork. Tier cutoffs are at the top 15%, 30%, 50%, and 70% of students. Popular screened schools fill up with Tier 1 kids; to be considered for those schools, keep your average at 95% or above. Another reason to prioritize academics in the seventh grade is because math content on the SHSAT (the exam students take for entrance into eight specialized high schools) is seventh-grade material. Keep those concepts fresh, whether through independent practice or a structured course.

Prepare for the SHSAT - Familiarize your child with the content and structure of the SHSAT ahead of time so they are confident and calm as exam season approaches in the fall of their eighth grade year. Run through the tutorials and sample tests that NYC Public Schools publishes on their website. As hard as it might be to convince your child to sit for three-hour practice tests, these are important for building endurance. Students must pace themselves as they move through verbal and math sections. Since there’s no penalty for guessing, don’t let time run out with any of the 114 questions blank. 

Unless you and your child are both highly motivated to practice at home, enroll in a test prep program. Many middle schools provide free classes after school and practice exams on weekends. Private companies offer everything from full-year courses that mix content review with test-taking strategies to refresher boot camps the month leading up to the exam. Keep in mind that it’s not unheard of for kids to burn out along the way and drop out of test prep class. Such courses work best with student buy-in, since the students are the ones who have to study. One friend whose son showed zero interest in prep during the winter and spring used free time in the summer to get started and took a series of practice exams seriously in the fall.

Scope Out the Scene - If you plan to apply to competitive schools, visiting a few on a tour or for an event could motivate your child to put in the time and effort to prepare for the required admissions tests, interviews, essays, or auditions. The relative calm of seventh grade makes it a great time to jumpstart school visits. Go see a few high schools now so you can get a sense of what’s out there before a jam-packed tour schedule hits the fall of eighth grade. 

TOURS

Pace Yourself - Tour burnout is real. Be strategic about which schools you visit in person versus online. As much as I loved experiencing the schools in person, most tours and open houses happened in the early evenings, which disrupted our family’s regular afterschool and dinnertime routines. I discovered my limit after traveling to around a dozen schools and listening in on six virtual info sessions. One friend of mine chose to only research online in the fall and save in-person visits for the spring once she receives her daughter’s offer list.

Feel the Physical Space - As you map out your tour schedule, include schools of various sizes and locations. One school that was high on my son’s list after attending a Manhattan high school fair moved down once he experienced the cramped nature of the physical hallways. My daughter gravitated toward stand-alone high schools rather than those co-located with a community college, an elementary school, or office space. During open houses, use the bathroom, sit in a classroom, peruse the library, and scope out the cafeteria to get a feel for the school environment.

Check Out the Commute - Visiting schools also provides a sense of the commute. Skip the Uber and take public transit to get the real feel of the travel experience. How many legs does the commute have? One long subway ride feels different than transferring from a bus to a subway or walking for 30 minutes. Consider what the trip would be like on a snowy or rainy day. If one transit option fails, is there an alternate route? Is the corridor heavily trafficked by students? Do you have a seat, or is the train standing room only? Does the neighborhood feel safe after dark? Any cool afterschool hangout spots along your route? 

Let Your Child Speak - Asking these and other questions when interacting with current students and school staff gives our kids a chance to hone their interpersonal skills. At a high school fair in September, it was fascinating to hear my otherwise competent kids struggle to articulate their questions and share their interests when put on the spot. Come December, however, I heard them confidently carrying on conversations with school administrators as they went off into interviews.

STUDENT-DRIVEN

Parents, as tempting as it is to only engage with schools that interest you, at the end of the day, it’s your children who will be the ones commuting, attending class, studying, and managing their schedules. So, follow their lead, and take their impressions of schools seriously.

Share Specific Observations - Model for your child how to offer observations about schools without getting too emotional or using extreme language. For instance, instead of saying, “I hated that school,” try something like, “The layout of that building confused me. Do you think you could navigate it if you went to school there?” Rephrase, “The homework workload here is crazy insane,” into, “It sounds like students here must strictly manage their schedules. I wonder whether they have enough time for homework and other responsibilities?” 

Love the One You’re With - When in doubt, focus on the positives of each school. You don’t want to throw shade on a program that your child ends up liking. After all, it might appear on their offer list. My husband attended a panel where alumni parents from our middle school spoke about the high schools their children attend. Many parents and kids who weren’t initially thrilled at their placement shared that they now love their high schools.

Let Your Child Rank Schools - Thankfully, the algorithm that matches kids with schools is set up so you don’t have to game the system; ranking in true order of preference makes the most sense. Your child will receive only one offer from a main application school and up to one offer from an SHSAT school. Don’t waste your only main application offer or your only SHSAT offer on a school your child doesn’t actually want to attend. Even “popular” schools should be ranked lower than the schools your child truly prefers.

Applicants will make two ranked lists of schools. The first list is for the specialized schools, which students will list in order of preference when they register for the SHSAT. (Yes, this ranking happens before they even sit for the exam, let alone before they find out their score.) For SHSAT schools, students are ranked by their performance on the exam. The algorithm starts with the student with the highest SHSAT score and works its way down through the students with lower scores, matching each applicant with the specialized school they ranked highest that still has seats available. If a student’s #1 and #2 schools are full when their turn arrives, but their #3 school has space, they will get an offer to school #3. If all their choices are full, they won’t get an offer.

The second ranked list they will make is on their main application. Your child will receive an offer to their highest ranked main application school that still has seats available when their turn comes up. There’s no limit to the number of schools applicants can list, so include some reach schools (as long as they are actually interested in attending there) in addition to safety schools (which are important to include so the system doesn’t randomly assign them a completely undesirable school if their top choices are full).

Stay Flexible - The process of ranking schools forces applicants to reflect on what type of students they are and what learning environment fits them best. Stay in tune with your child’s level of engagement, especially when applying to specialized schools. If your child isn’t motivated to tape their audition video, prepare for the SHSAT, or commute across town for an essay exam, for instance, those schools might not be their best fit anyway. Set your child up for success by keeping many options open, but don’t get too frustrated when their interest fades or they procrastinate on a deadline. These are kids, after all!

PORTFOLIO PREP

For creative students who are up for the additional application requirements, art schools are a good option. Art is the great equalizer in the sense that a poor lottery number or mediocre grades won’t bog down a stellar art school application. In addition to the many art schools included in the main application category, students can choose to apply to up to six art studios at LaGuardia, which don’t require ranking. LaGuardia offers are made independently, so auditioning doesn’t take away your chances at receiving offers to main application schools, SHSAT schools, or other studios within LaGuardia.

Use Time Wisely - Start early and thoroughly develop each piece because schools assume applicants have an unlimited amount of time to work on their portfolios. Check out the rubric to see what a school looks for when grading submissions. If a school heavily weights the Figure Drawing, for instance, focus more time there than on the Still Life.

Leverage Your Middle School - Check with your middle school to see whether they offer extra help with art school auditions, whether it’s in the form of info sessions, lunchtime meetings with art teachers, or extra time in the studio after school. The structured work time, deadlines, and positive peer pressure might work well for your child. Guidance counselors can also share info about the city’s Summer Arts Institute, Art Audition Book Camp, and other programs offered to aspiring artists.

Embrace the Fun - If your child is motivated to practice techniques or work on a low-priority piece, just roll with it. Artmaking of any kind will prime the pump, and soon they will start jamming out portfolio-worthy artwork. Ultimately, though, if completing the portfolio is more of a chore than a joy, be willing to admit that art school might not be their ideal placement.

ADMIN

Take advantage of tech tools to enhance your research and keep your family organized. Explore NYC Sift (the commute calculator is handy), Amellie’s survey (gain insight into your lottery number), insideschools.org, individual school websites, and My Schools bar graphs (which factor in variables such as your child’s lottery number, grades, borough, special education services status, and free or reduced price lunch status to show their chances of getting an offer to a particular school). 

Manage Your Calendar - Sign up for NYC Sift newsletters to get notified when schools post new open house events, especially since some fill up quickly. Unfortunately, many schools host their open houses on the same night, so be prepared to send parents in different directions or prioritize schools you are seriously considering. Because specialized schools ranking happened a month earlier than main application ranking, we prioritized specialized tours in October and main application tours in November. Note that most schools will record their virtual info sessions and post them on their website, which was helpful for researching and ranking schools that we ran out of time and energy to tour in person. Plug application and registration deadlines into your calendar so you remember to research before its time to rank.

Share a Spreadsheet - Set up a shared Google Sheet where you, your spouse, and your child can keep track of all the info and impressions you gather as you research schools. This way, you can add columns as you discover more pertinent categories of information to track (such as school start time and foreign languages offered) and rearrange rows as your rankings fluctuate. When it comes time to fill out the actual application, all the information will be at your fingertips instead of swirling around your brain in a muddled mess.

Apply Early - Don’t wait until the last day to apply. Note that, for both the SHSAT registration and the main application, you can submit your choices early and then log back in at any time up until the deadline to edit and resubmit your application. Register for LaGuardia well before the deadline so you don’t forget; a separate deadline to submit audition materials comes later. You can upload each audition piece once it's ready rather than waiting until the last minute and being at the mercy of technical glitches. For instance, some friends had to compress their video files since they were too large. It took me an hour of troubleshooting to successfully upload my daughter’s art portfolio pieces. Half uploaded just fine and the rest did not. Ultimately, logging out and back in solved the issue. I’m grateful I wasn't trying to do that at 11:59 p.m. on the application due date!

EMOTIONAL HEALTH

The NYC high school application process is inherently stressful. Reflect on your priorities and values ahead of time and surround yourself with people who will hold you accountable to those ideals so you don’t spiral down a rabbit hole when stress gets real.

Let Kids be Kids - Don’t let your stress rub off on your children. Aim to support them through the process rather than amping up their anxiety. Just because you feel the pressure to get your child into a good school doesn’t mean you should heap that burden onto your 13 year old. A positive outlook will reap benefits for the whole family.

Invest in Your Support Network - Chat with fellow parents going through the same process, keeping in mind that they and their children might have different impressions of schools than you. Aim to be curious and supportive rather than close-minded and dismissive. In conversation, you might discover a hidden gem school that was previously not on your radar. Forge new bonds with fellow parents based on your shared experience enduring the crucible of high school admissions. This common ground solidifies the parent community as you make sense of the craziness together. Also, nurture relationships with friends and family who aren’t immersed in the process so they can keep you level-headed and help you maintain perspective. 

Ride the Rollercoaster - When eighth graders put themselves out there for auditions, exams, essays, lotteries, and interviews, it develops character. Some disappointing results will inevitably come, but that builds resilience. Hopefully, kids will also experience the exhilaration of a callback or invitation to advance to the next round. Either way, they’ll have fun with friends as they compare thoughts on the schools they explore. Plus, think how prepared they will be for college applications and job interviews! With the right frame of mind, applying to high school can be a worthwhile adventure and the gateway into an exciting next stage of life.