DOE: Most students admitted to their top NYC high school choices

March 15, 2013 Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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The New York City Department of Education (DOE) said on Friday that 84 percent of applicants – or 63,658 of the 75,690 eighth-grade students – who applied for admission to a city public high schools in 2013 have been accepted to one of their top five selections.

In December, applicants ranked up to 12 programs of interest. Schools sent home acceptance letters with students Friday afternoon.

Almost half – 47 percent – were admitted into their first choice school, DOE said, while three quarters – 74 percent — received one of their top three choices.

While 90 percent of students were admitted into one of their preferred high school, 10 percent received no match and must reapply in a second round to programs with available seats, including new high schools opening in September.

“We aim to prepare all students for college and career – and the hard work we do to place students at a school of their choice helps bring that goal to fruition,” Schools Chancellor Dennis M. Walcott said in a statement. “It’s an exciting day for many families across the City.”

New York City also has nine Specialized High Schools, eight of which offer placement based on the results of the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT). Approximately 28,000 students took the SHSAT this year. (Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts admits students based on an audition and review of academic records.)

A total of 5,890 eighth graders received an offer to attend one of the Specialized High Schools, including 984 at LaGuardia.

All high school applicants can participate in Round 2. DOE will host a fair for participating students on Saturday and Sunday, April 6 and 7, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Educational Campus in Manhattan (122 Amsterdam Avenue, at 66th street). Students participating in Round 2 have until April 12 to submit their application to guidance counselors.

Earlier this school year, Alvin Roth, a graduate from Martin Van Buren High School, won the Nobel Prize for creating the algorithm on which New York City’s public high school admissions process is based. The system has benefited thousands of students since it was first implemented in the 2003-04 school year.