New York City has nine specialized high schools, each offering a rigorous academic or artistic program that draws students from all five boroughs. Eight of the nine admit students based on a single standardized test, while the ninth uses auditions. Here are all nine schools.
- Bronx High School of Science
- Brooklyn Latin School
- Brooklyn Technical High School
- Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts
- High School for Mathematics, Science and Engineering at City College of New York
- High School of American Studies at Lehman College
- Queens High School for the Sciences at York College
- Staten Island Technical High School
- Stuyvesant High School
How Each School Stands Out
Most of these schools focus on STEM, but they differ in size, culture, and academic emphasis. Stuyvesant and Brooklyn Tech are the largest, with Brooklyn Tech offering more than a dozen engineering, science, and design majors starting in junior year. Bronx Science is known for producing more Nobel laureates among its alumni than any other secondary school in the country. Staten Island Tech is the smallest of the three original specialized high schools, with an intimate, tech-focused environment.
The three smaller STEM schools are each partnered with a college campus. High School for Math, Science and Engineering sits on the City College of New York campus in Manhattan. High School of American Studies is located at Lehman College in the Bronx and focuses on history, social sciences, and humanities alongside a strong core curriculum. Queens High School for the Sciences operates at York College. Brooklyn Latin School is distinctive for its classical education model, requiring all students to study Latin for four years.
LaGuardia is the outlier. Often called “the Fame school,” it offers six studio majors: dance, drama, fine arts, instrumental music, technical theater, and vocal music. It is the only specialized high school that does not use the SHSAT for admissions.
The SHSAT: How Eight Schools Admit Students
Admission to every specialized high school except LaGuardia depends entirely on performance on the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test, or SHSAT. There is no interview, no portfolio, and no consideration of grades or extracurriculars for these eight schools. Your score is your application.
Any New York City resident in eighth grade, or entering ninth grade for the first time, is eligible to sit for the exam. This includes students in public, private, parochial, and charter schools. The test is given in the fall for admission the following September, so students seeking a seat for fall 2027 will take the SHSAT in fall 2026.
Starting with the fall 2026 administration, the SHSAT is shifting to a computer-adaptive format. That means the test selects questions based on how you’re performing as you go. You won’t be able to skip ahead or return to previous questions in the math section or the standalone English Language Arts items. For ELA passage-based question sets, you can move around within that set, but once you submit the set, those answers are locked. The total testing time remains three hours, and you decide how to split that time between the ELA and math sections.
Each school has its own cutoff score, which changes from year to year depending on the applicant pool. Stuyvesant consistently has the highest cutoff, followed by Bronx Science and Brooklyn Tech. The smaller schools fall in between. You rank your preferred schools on your registration form, and the system offers you a seat at the highest-ranked school whose cutoff your score meets.
How LaGuardia Admissions Work
LaGuardia admits students through auditions, not the SHSAT. You apply to one of six studio majors, and the requirements vary by discipline. All auditions are virtual and submitted through the MySchools platform. To be eligible, you need a documented final grade of at least 65 (or its equivalent) in each core subject from the prior school year: English Language Arts, math, science, and social studies.
Here’s what each major requires:
- Dance: Two recorded videos. One performs a pre-recorded solo from a provided video library (ballet, jazz, modern, or West African), and the other is a one-minute solo in any style of your choice.
- Drama: Two contrasting one-minute monologues from a published play or the school’s sample monologue library. You’re encouraged to also upload a musical theater number if that interests you.
- Fine Arts: A portfolio of 4 to 8 original pieces, which must include a self-portrait, a still life with at least three items, and a figure drawing. You also submit a creative drawing called a “Fantastical Sandwich” and a short video or 500-word statement discussing three of your pieces.
- Instrumental Music: Two videos. One is a prepared solo without accompaniment, and the other is a scale of your choice (or two rudiments for drummers).
- Technical Theater: Two tasks. First, build a “House of Cards” using at least 52 cards and submit a video tour. Second, create a design concept for “night” in one area (scenic, lighting, sound, or costume) and submit the supporting documentation. You also write or record a reflection on your work.
- Vocal Music: One video of a prepared solo performed without accompaniment.
The Discovery Program
The Discovery Program is a secondary pathway into the eight testing-based specialized high schools. It’s designed for disadvantaged students who scored just below the normal cutoff on the SHSAT. If you qualify, you attend a summer program lasting roughly three to five weeks, and completing it earns you a seat at that school starting in the fall. Students who scored 495 or above on the SHSAT are not eligible.
Participation is by invitation only. You’ll find out whether you’re eligible through your SHSAT results letter, and you can only be considered for Discovery at schools you listed on your original SHSAT registration. The application goes through your school counselor.
To qualify, you must meet two conditions. First, you need to attend a high-poverty public school (one with an Economic Need Index of 60% or higher) or, if you’re in a private, parochial, or homeschool setting, live in a census tract where at least 60% of families are below the poverty line. Second, you must meet at least one additional disadvantaged criterion: your family receives public assistance (welfare or SNAP), you’re in foster care or temporary housing, you’re a current or recent English Language Learner who enrolled in a DOE school within the last four years, or your family income falls at or below the reduced-price lunch threshold for your household size.
Who Can Apply
Any student living in New York City can apply, regardless of which borough they’re in or what type of school they currently attend. There are no geographic restrictions or feeder-school preferences. You don’t need to live in the same borough as the school you want. Students travel across the city every day to attend these schools, and a long commute is common.
Eighth graders make up the vast majority of applicants, but first-time ninth graders are also eligible for the SHSAT. Not all nine schools offer ninth-grade entry, so check the current year’s handbook for which schools have available seats at that level. LaGuardia auditions are open to eighth graders applying for ninth-grade entry.