How NYC schools admit.

3-K is free, full-day early childhood for children who turn 3 during the calendar year.

Seats sit across district schools, NYC Early Education Centers (NYCEECs), and family child care, and families apply through the city's MySchools portal rather than by test or attendance zone. Programs fill by a set of admissions priorities — a sibling already enrolled, then district of residence — with remaining seats assigned by random number.

3-K is being expanded toward universal access but is not yet guaranteed in every district, so apply on time and rank several programs. A 3-K seat is independent of your later Pre-K, Kindergarten, and elementary applications.

Typical window. Applications typically open in the winter and close in the spring; the city announces exact dates each year.

Pre-K is free, full-day early childhood for children who turn 4 during the calendar year, and it is effectively universal across New York City.

Families apply through MySchools and rank programs at district schools, stand-alone pre-K centers, and NYCEECs; admission weighs sibling and district priorities, then a random tiebreak — never an exam.

Nearly every family who applies receives an offer, though not always to a first choice, so ranking several programs matters. A Pre-K seat does not bind your later kindergarten or elementary school — those are separate applications you'll submit in their own cycles.

Typical window. Applications typically open in the winter and close in the spring, with offers in late spring; the city announces exact dates each year.

Kindergarten is the start of mandatory public school for children who turn 5 during the calendar year.

Most families have a zoned school tied to their home address, where in-zone children are generally guaranteed a seat, but everyone applies through MySchools and may also rank out-of-zone, magnet, dual-language, charter, and other choice schools. Offers weigh zone, sibling, and district priorities; charters and some choice programs admit by random lottery instead.

Apply even if you intend to use your zoned school — the application confirms the seat and opens up the choice options without costing you your zoned priority.

Typical window. Applications typically open in December and close in mid-to-late January, with offers in the spring; confirm the year's dates on MySchools.

Gifted & Talented programs offer an accelerated curriculum at select elementary schools, with both district and citywide programs.

For kindergarten, families list G&T programs on the kindergarten application, and eligibility is decided after they apply: the child's pre-K teacher evaluates them, or, for a child in a private or parochial pre-K or not yet in school, the city interviews them. For grades 1–4 there is a separate spring application, and eligibility comes from report card grades (3s and 4s in math, reading and writing).

Offers follow the family's ranked choices, the seats each program has, and its priorities — siblings first, and some programs give district priority. Seats are limited, so eligibility does not guarantee a seat.

The city has revised G&T admissions repeatedly, so confirm the current cycle's rules before you rely on them.

Typical window. Kindergarten G&T rides the kindergarten application, which typically opens in December and closes in January. The grades 1–4 application typically runs in April and May. The city announces exact dates and rules each year.

Eight testing Specialized High Schools — Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech, Brooklyn Latin, Staten Island Tech, Queens HSSE, HSAS at Lehman, and HSMSE at CCNY.

Registration opens in early October of 8th grade, alongside the High School Application, and closes at the end of October; the test is given in November, on a computer. Each student ranks all eight schools by preference; the city matches in March in strict descending score order until each school fills.

No grades, attendance, audition, sibling, or geographic preference is considered.

Free Department of Education prep is offered through the DREAM program. Students may also rank LaGuardia (audition-based) on the same registration form, but it admits by audition, not score.

Typical window. SHSAT registration opens in early October of 8th grade, alongside the High School Application, and closes at the end of October; the test is given in November and offers arrive in March. The city announces exact dates each year.

About two dozen high schools admit by audition or portfolio in dance, drama, instrumental music, vocal music, technical theater, fine arts, or filmmaking. LaGuardia is the best known; others include Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, Talent Unlimited, Repertory Company, Brooklyn HS of the Arts, and Manhattan Theater Lab.

Students apply through the High School Application AND complete each school's audition (often a recorded pre-screen plus a live callback).

Every studio is judged by faculty on its own rubric — academic record is not a factor — but applicants must still meet baseline minimum grades and attendance to qualify.

Typical window. Auditions run roughly October–December of 8th grade, on the same High School Application timeline. The city announces exact dates each year.

Most academically selective programs use the screened method, and what the city reads depends on the stage.

For middle school, applied to in 5th grade, applicants are ranked on a composite of their 4th-grade course grades on a 1–4 scale; a school that grades on 0–100 has them converted (90–100 is a 4, 80–89 a 3, 65–79 a 2, below 65 a 1). Offers then go to ranked applicants within each priority group, in rank order.

For high school, the city averages each applicant's final 7th-grade English, Math, Science, and Social Studies grades and sorts them into ordered groups (Group 1 highest). Offers are made group-by-group: every Group 1 applicant is considered before any Group 2 applicant, and so on, with random tiebreaks inside each group.

At either stage, a few schools add an entrance assessment, writing sample, or interview on top, and some programs apply a borough or district priority — in-district or in-borough applicants are placed before others.

Typical window. Middle school screens ride the Middle School Application, made in 5th grade: it typically opens in October and closes in early December, with offers in the spring. High school screens ride the High School Application in 8th grade: it typically opens in early October and closes in early December, with offers in March. The city announces exact dates each year.

Educational Option programs target a balanced cohort: one-third applicants reading above grade level, one-third on level, one-third below.

Within each band, half the seats are filled by the school's own ranked selection and half by random lottery — so a strong applicant in any reading band has a real shot.

Ed-Opt is rarer than it once was and survives at a handful of high schools (e.g. Murry Bergtraum, A. Philip Randolph). Students who attend a school-listed information event sometimes earn a priority bump inside their band.

Typical window. Part of the High School Application: applications typically open in early October and close in early December. The city announces exact dates each year.

Limited Unscreened programs admit randomly but give priority to students who demonstrated interest before the deadline — by attending an open house, joining a virtual information session, or signing in at the school's tour. No grades, scores, or zone considered; only the priority flag plus the random tiebreak.

Most arts, technology, and humanities programs that aren't audition-based use this method.

Many programs also have a continuing-8th-grader priority (already at the same school's middle school) that ranks above the open-house bump.

Typical window. Part of the High School Application (early October–early December) — attend an info session before the deadline to earn the interest priority. The city announces exact dates each year.

Unscreened programs admit by random tiebreak alone — every applicant gets one number and seats fill in number order. No academic record, attendance, audition, open-house attendance, borough, or zone is considered.

The most common admission method by school count, and the easiest to apply to: rank it on the High School Application by the December deadline and you're in the pool.

Typical window. Part of the High School Application: applications typically open in early October and close in early December. The city announces exact dates each year.

Charter schools admit by random lottery, governed by NY State Education Law §2854.

Two preferences are mandatory: siblings of currently enrolled students go first, then applicants residing in the charter's local Community School District.

Networks may add weighted preferences for low-income, English-learner, or students-with-disabilities applicants — these expand access without removing the random draw. Up to 15% of seats may be reserved for children of school staff.

Each charter sets its own application portal (most use SchoolMint or a network-owned form, separate from the DOE High School Application) and its own lottery date — usually April. No grades, scores, attendance, or audition is considered.

Typical window. Most charters open applications in the fall and draw their lottery in April; deadlines vary by network. Confirm each network's dates on its own portal.

Zoned programs serve a fixed geographic catchment.

At elementary level, in-zone students get a guaranteed seat. At middle-school level (a minority of districts — most CSDs run district-wide choice instead), in-zone students get priority over out-of-zone but no guarantee, and out-of-zone students are admitted only after every in-zone applicant is seated.

Zone boundaries are set by the DOE and shown on each school's profile. A child currently attending a feeder elementary often has a separate sibling-or-feeder priority on top of the geographic one.

Typical window. Zoned elementary registration opens in the winter; where middle schools use zones, they ride the fall application window. The city announces exact dates each year.