By Joseph Morales
MESSAGE FOR STUDENTS/FAMILIES
The high school admissions process can be both an exciting and confusing time for 8th-grade students and families in New York City. While the number of program options and specialties available which may seem compelling, picking twelve that one is very interested in attending can take time and effort. Many students have concerns about receiving offers from specific screened and/or specialized schools, with the latter riding on the results of a single exam known as the SHSAT(Specialized High School Admissions Test). Other students may be scared that while they do not feel as if they have the grades for many of the city’s highly regarded schools, they are desperate to avoid their zoned school and are looking for any other option that suits them.
As I went through this process myself during the 2019-20 school year as an 8th grader, I know firsthand all the emotions that come with the process. I had many friends who underwent some of the anxieties previously mentioned. The truth is that there are quality options in all five boroughs for students with a vast host of academic, social, and emotional needs. Another truth is that everyone is only willing to travel a certain distance to a school of their choice, with many students choosing commutes as short as a 5-minute walk and as long as a two-hour bus/subway ride from their home each year. As considering mass transit of all things in the high school admissions process can be complicated, I have made this guide as many schools may take more or less time to get to than you think!
- LIVE NEAR A SUBWAY LINE? HIGHLY CONSIDER SCHOOLS IN OTHER BOROUGHS
As many schools have unique program offerings, many students in NYC are open to making at least some sort of transit commute to school but tend to stay in the borough, as 12% of ninth-graders attend the school closest to their home, but 83% attend one within their borough. If you live near a subway line, however, many schools in other boroughs may take the same amount of time or even be faster for you to get to than schools in your own borough simply because of the higher reliability and speed of subways as opposed to buses. For example, Stuyvesant and Brooklyn Tech are between 5-15 minutes further from 163rd St/Southern Blvd in The Bronx than Bronx Science since one can skip taking a crosstown bus that would be required to get to Bronx Science.
Travel times by subway may also be less if they live near stations with express service in the direction of their school. Also, since Brooklyn Tech generally has had a slightly lower cutoff SHSAT score for applicants than Bronx Science has had in recent years, it could become a more compelling option amongst Bronx students who realize it’s closer to them than they’ve believed it to be.
- GOING TO A SCANNING BUILDING OR TAKING A BUS? PLAN SOME EXTRA TIME
89 of NYC’s high schools require students to pass through metal detectors before entering school. Other schools also have long entry procedures that may include and are not limited to ID scans, placement of phones in Yondr pouches, uniform checks, and more. At many of these schools, lines likely begin to grow at a certain amount of time before the first bell. If you plan to attend one of these schools, you should leave your house earlier to account for time spent in these morning procedures. You should also plan extra time to get to school if you are taking a public bus, mainly if you’re trip is long or regularly slow/unreliable. If you have a long bus ride and/or go to a scanning building, you will likely find that if you leave past a certain time, your chances of being in class on time decrease tremendously. However, if you leave just a little early in most cases, you will be fine. You can find out if a school you’re applying to has metal detectors by searching for the school on the website InsideSchools.
- LOOKING AT A SCHOOL REALLY FAR FROM YOUR HOME? LOOK INTO PRIVATE BUS SERVICE
Many students in specific areas of the city strongly desire to attend schools far from their homes. For example, at the 3,000-student Bronx Science, most students live in Queens and Manhattan despite the school’s location being in the Northwest Bronx. However, it’s worth mentioning that many Manhattan and Queens students take private school buses to school with one company, Tamice, claiming it serves 1,400 out of about roughly 3,500 students at both Bronx Science and the neighboring High School for American Studies at Lehman College(HSAS). While few other public schools offer such service, many private and religious schools across the city and the suburbs, such as Archbishop Stepinac, Berkeley Carroll, and Horace Mann, also offer bus service or partner with companies that provide bus service.
This looks different at each school, and while at some schools like Berkeley Carroll, this service is free, this is not the case with Horace Mann and some other schools. In the first case with Bronx Science and HSAS, Tamice charges almost $4,000 to ride for a school year. While you may or may not find school bus service practical for a particular school, if it’s somewhere you really want to go, no matter how far it is, it’s worth a look on that school’s website.
4. WANT TO TAKE ON EXTRACURRICULARS? CONSIDER TRAVEL OPTIONS AT DIFFERENT TIMES
High school is truly a time where you get to find out who you are and what you are, and extracurricular activities can play a great role in helping you do that. In many high schools, the different clubs, activities, and sports teams offered can be really intriguing and could make students more excited to go to school. If you’re someone who’s interested in these opportunities, you really want to see how the bus/subway service you use to get to school changes at different times. Depending on where you go to school, bus and subway frequencies may be substantially less later in the day after extracurriculars versus directly after school, which may lead to additional travel time and less time to complete homework and other important tasks. Another thing to note is that if you want to be involved in varsity sports like me, you will likely have daily practices and/or games that could run past 5 PM and even later, depending on the sport. Therefore, you want to take that into account so you can pick your school accordingly.
5. TRAVELED TO A SCHOOL OUTSIDE OF RUSH HOUR? DON’T CONSIDER THAT YOUR DAILY TRAVEL TIME.
As you look into different schools, you may visit one for an open house. You also may travel to the community surrounding your high school for a variety of non-school-related purposes. However, if you make these trips outside of school rush hours(6:30-9AM, 2PM-5PM), during school breaks, and definitely on weekends that does not mean that traveling there to school will take the same or even a similar amount of time. For buses, this is simply because there tends to be more traffic congestion and bus crowding during school hours on school days. As for subways, they tend to undergo more service changes on the weekends, which may result in substantial additional travel time on weekends.
While subways should not be significantly impacted in a negative way by the rush hour, a school hour ride may take a few extra minutes simply because of slightly longer dwell times and also due to large amounts of people getting on and off. This issue should not be a big deal if you leave your house a few minutes ahead of time. However, to lean on the safe side, look up how to get to your prospective school at to arrive at the time you’ll need to be there using the MyMTA app or the MTA’s new app should that be released when you’re reading this.
6. GOOD LUCK, PICK 12 YOU LIKE AND PREP FOR THE SHSAT AND/OR AUDITIONS.
This last one has next to nothing to do with commuting. However, my personal advice for applying for public high school in NYC, is to make sure you place 12 programs that you would really want to attend on your high school application. As NYC has around 700 total programs amongst over 400 schools, there are programs in practically every interest imaginable, including things like engineering, cooking, and sports management. If you put down fewer than 12 choices, you could run the risk of being automatically enrolled in a school at the mercy of NYC Public Schools should you not be accepted into any of the programs you chose. As strategizing to optimize your application can be complicated, I would highly recommend speaking to your middle school guidance counselor or a family member regarding how to rank your choices.
Also, if you are planning to take the SHSAT, it is never too early to start preparing, as the SHSAT is extremely competitive, with 82% of test takers not receiving offers according to IvyTutorsNetwork. The NYC Department of Education has some resources and tips for preparing for the test on its website. Other organizations, such as Kaplan and The Princeton Review, offer tutoring and support along with other smaller tutoring businesses throughout the five boroughs. Admissions for most specialized high schools ride on the SHSAT however, the specialized high school for performing arts, LaGuardia High School does not use the SHSAT and requires an audition. Look up high school admissions, the SHSAT, or auditions on the NYC Public Schools website for more information on the high school admissions process along with resources to prepare you for the SHSAT and/or auditions.
The high school admissions process might be complicated, but if you communicate with your family and school guidance counselor about your options you will definitely find a school you are happy with. So good luck and I hope you get into the high school of your choice!
Works Cited
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“Education.” Where We Live NYC, 2018, https://wherewelive.cityofnewyork.us/explore-data/access-to-opportunity/education/. Accessed 14 October 2023.
Touré, Madina, and Deanna Garcia. “Call for random screenings at all NYC schools.” Politico, 2 May 2022, https://www.politico.com/newsletters/weekly-new-york-education/2022/05/02/call-for-random-screenings-at-all-nyc-schools-00029181. Accessed 14 October 2023.
“Current Student Body — Bronx Science Alumni Foundation.” Bronx Science Alumni Foundation, https://alumni.bxscience.edu/current-student-body. Accessed 14 October 2023.
Tamice Bus: School Bus, https://www.tamicebus.com/. Accessed 14 October 2023.
“Archbishop Stepinac High School.” Archbishop Stepinac High School-Transportation, https://www.stepinac.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=330138&type=d. Accessed 14 October 2023.
“Private School Bus Service in Brooklyn.” Berkeley Carroll School, https://www.berkeleycarroll.org/admissions/free-bus-service. Accessed 14 October 2023.
“General Information-Middle & Upper Divisions.” Horace Mann School, https://www.horacemann.org/admissions/applying-to-grades-6-11/general-information-middle-upper-divisions. Accessed 14 October 2023.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority. “MTA Unveils New All-In-One Mobile App for Trip Planning and Service Information.” MTA, 8 August 2023, https://new.mta.info/press-release/mta-unveils-new-all-one-mobile-app-trip-planning-and-service-information. Accessed 14 October 2023.
“High Schools in New York City Public Schools District | New York | Best High Schools | US News.” USNews, https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/new-york/districts/new-york-city-public-schools-100001. Accessed 14 October 2023.
Speransky, Lisa. “SHSAT: Everything You Need To Know.” Ivy Tutors Network, 3 October 2022, https://ivytutorsnetwork.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-shsat. Accessed 14 October 2023.
New York City Department of Education. “High School.” schools.nyc.gov, 2023, https://www.schools.nyc.gov/enrollment/enroll-grade-by-grade/high-school. Accessed 14 October 2023.
New York City Department of Education. “Specialized High Schools.” Schools.nyc.gov, 2023, https://www.schools.nyc.gov/enrollment/enroll-grade-by-grade/specialized-high-schools. Accessed 14 October 2023.
New York City Department of Education. “High School Auditions.” schools.nyc.gov, 2023, https://www.schools.nyc.gov/enrollment/enroll-grade-by-grade/high-school/high-school-auditions. Accessed 14 October 2023.
Zimmer, Amy. “’Don’t try to outsmart the matching system’: What to know when applying to NYC high schools.” Chalkbeat New York, 20 October 2022, https://ny.chalkbeat.org/2022/10/20/23415028/nyc-high-school-application-process-lottery-admissions. Accessed 14 October 2023.
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