Virtual Admissions Events
All NYC families of current fifth-grade students were invited to join us for a live virtual information session about applying to middle school. If you missed our information sessions, a recording of the presentation is posted below.
Who Can Apply?
All New York City children are guaranteed a seat at a public middle school. Apply to middle school when your child is in their last year of elementary school. Your child must be both of the following to apply:
- A NYC resident AND
- A current fifth grade student, or a current sixth grade student if their elementary school ends in sixth grade
Additionally, current fourth grade students who live or go to school in District 3 can apply to the Center School (03M243); current fourth grade students who live or go to school in Queens can apply to Louis Armstrong Middle School (30Q227); and all current sixth grade students can apply to Baccalaureate School for Global Education (30Q580).
If you are a NYC resident but temporarily living outside the city, please review our guidance on non-resident enrollment.
Schools and Programs
When you apply to middle schools, you’re not just applying to schools: you are applying to programs. Think of programs as doorways into a school. Some middle schools have more than one program, such as a general education program and a Dual Language Spanish program. If you’re interested in applying to more than one program at the same school, each program counts as a separate choice on your child’s application.
Explore Middle Schools and Programs
There are a few different ways you can use
MySchools to find programs for your child's application:
- Search for specific schools. Type any school's name in the search box to learn more about it.
- Search for schools based on your own criteria. Consider what matters most to your child and family. You can search for schools by features or offerings: try typing "debate" or "band" in the search box.
- Filter to narrow your search. Use the filter buttons below the search box to narrow your search results based on what is important to you, such as accessibility, location near a specific subway line, sports offered, and more.
- Learn about your zoned school, if you have one. Many middle school students in New York City attend their zoned school. If you have any zoned schools, your child has a priority to attend them.
- During the application period, log in to MySchools to learn if your child has a zoned school or schools. Your account will also show the district(s) where your child can attend district middle school programs (their middle school district and, if different, the district where they attend elementary school).
- Any time of year, learn about your child's zoned middle school(s) and middle school district by entering your address at https://schoolsearch.schools.nyc/ or calling 311.
- Read on to better understand how students get middle school offers and what this means when you choose programs for your child's application.
You can also enter a school's name at schoolsearch.schools.nyc to read its School Quality Snapshot, School Quality Guide, and other reports.
More Middle School Options
Find Out About Open Houses and Resources
Visiting a school in person or virtually can help you learn if it may be the right place for your child. It’s also a great way to see how long the trip is from home.
- Many schools will list their open houses and tours in the centralized MySchools events calendar.
- Additionally, schools may provide information on their own websites for prospective families, such as a schedule and links to any live or recorded events (or links where families can register), videos and/or other media, and contact information for families who want to speak with or write to school staff.
Learn How Students Get Offers
Admissions Factors
How can you know your child's chances of getting an offer to a specific program? And how do you increase your chances of getting an offer to a program on your application? It helps to start by learning how offers are made. Students get offers to programs based on four key factors:
- Your application choices. The number of program choices you add to your child’s application AND the order in which you place them matter! Add choices to your child’s application in your true order of preference. There is no limit to the number of choices you list. Then submit the application.
- Each program's available seats. The number of available seats varies from program to program.
- Your priority group for each program. Some programs give an admissions priority to specific groups of applicants before others, such as to students who live in a specific zone or district. If there are more applicants to one of these programs than seats available, applicants are admitted in priority-group order: all students in a program’s priority group 1 will be considered first. Then if seats are still available, students in that program’s priority group 2 will be considered next, and so on. Learn which priority group your child is in for each program. They will be in different priority groups for different programs.
- The Program's Admissions Method. For some programs, applicants get offers based on random selection. For other programs, applicants are evaluated based on selection criteria and then ranked based on that evaluation.
- For Programs That Use Random Selection. Students gets offers based on their randomly assigned numbers. This number will be available after the application opens. Families will see it in their MySchools profile.
- For Programs Where Offers are Made by Applicant Rank. Students are evaluated, scored, and ranked for admission based on the program's selection criteria.
- For audition and talent test programs, the school assigns a ranked number to applicants based on that evaluation and admits students in ranked-number order.
- For language criteria programs, students are ranked using language data, such as home language and English language learning status.
- For screened programs, students are ranked based on a composite of their course grades on a 1-4 scale from fourth grade. Offers are made to ranked students by priority group and in ranking number order. If your child's school does not use a 1-4 grading scale, for purposes of admissions to middle school only, the DOE converts grades to a 1-4 scale based on the below table.
| Original Grade | Conversion to a 1-4 grading scale |
|---|
| 1 to 64 | 1 |
| 65 to 79 | 2 |
| 80-89 | 3 |
| 90-100 | 4 |
| 1-, 1, 1+ | 1 |
| 2-, 2, 2+ | 2 |
| 3-, 3, 3+ | 3 |
| 4-, 4, 4+ | 4 |
| A-, A, A+ | 4 |
| B-, B, B+ | 3 |
| C, C-, C+ | 2 |
| D-, D, D+ | 2 |
| F | 1 |
| E-, E, E+ | 4 |
| G-, G, G+, S+ | 3 |
| N, N+, S-, S | 2 |
| N-, U | 1 |
| NS | 1 |
| MA, ME | 4 |
| MT | 3 |
| MP | 2 |
| MB | 1 |
Factor: Your Application Choices
The most important factor in determining where your child goes to middle school is the choices you list on the application. When you are logged in to MySchools, you will see all the middle school programs that your child is eligible to add to their application.
- Save programs of interest by clicking the stars next to their names. This will add them to your list of favorites.
- Choose programs that your child would like to attend. You can add programs to your child's application directly from the directory or from your favorites list. There isn't a limit to how may choices you can list.
- Adding more choices increases your chances of getting an offer to a school of your choice; it does NOT lower your chance of getting an offer to any of your top choice programs.
- You have the same chance of getting an offer from your top choice whether you include only that choice or additional choices.
- Be sure to place these programs on the application in your true order of preference, with your child’s first-choice program at the top as #1, their second-choice program as #2, and so on.
- This order matters! Your child will be considered for their first-choice program first. If they don’t get an offer to their first choice, then they will be considered for their second-choice program as though it were their first choice, and so on.
- Middle schools will not see this order, so they will not know if they are your first or twelfth choice.
- Your child will get an offer from their highest possible choice considering the other factors discussed in this section.
Remember: Submitting a middle school application is your best opportunity for your child to get an offer to a school you prefer, so be sure to make thoughtful choices!
Factor: Seats and Demand
Each middle school has a specific number of seats for sixth grade students.
Seat Groups
Each program admits general education students and students with disabilities.
For Your Application: Your middle school application will show your designation. This is not something you are able to choose or edit.
| Students with Disabilities | General Education Students |
|---|
- For students who are recommended for special education instructional programming for more than 20% of their academic program as indicated on their current IEP
| - For students who do not have IEPs
- For students with IEPs recommending related services only
- For students with IEPs recommending special education instructional programming for 20% or less of their academic program as indicated on their current IEP
|
Special education instructional programming includes Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) classes, Special Class (SC), and Special Education Teacher Support Services (SETSS). Adapted Physical Education (APE) and Related services, such as speech, occupational therapy (OT), and physical therapy (PT), are not considered special education instructional programming for the purposes of middle school admissions.
Please note that students with 504 Plans are not entitled to seats for students with disabilities if they do not have an IEP recommending the student also receive special education instructional programming for more than 20% of their academic program.
Students who are not in a public school setting, but who would be receiving special education service of greater than 20% if they were in a public school setting will be considered SWD for admissions. If you believe this is the case for your child please reach out to specialeducation@schools.nyc.gov.
Demand
- You can find out how many students a program accepted last year (Seats) and how many total students applied for those seats (Applicants) in the Admissions > Seats and Demand section of MySchools.
- You can learn how high-demand, or popular, a program was by how many people applied for each available seat (Applicants Per Seat)—a higher number of applicants per seat means higher demand. Note that all numbers in MySchools are from last year.
For Your Application: It's a good idea to apply to some average-demand programs rather than all high-demand programs. The higher a program's applicants per seat (demand), the lower chance any applicant has to get an offer to it.
Factor: Priority Groups
A program’s admissions priorities determine the order in which applicants are considered for offers to each program. If a program has multiple admissions priorities, students are considered in groups.
- All students in priority group 1 will be considered first.
- Then, if seats are still available, students in priority group 2 will be considered next, and so on.
Most schools have a priority for students and residents of that district. This means that any student who lives and / or attends school in that district receives priority; students who only live in the district, students who only attend school in the district, and students who live and attend school in the district are all treated the same.
Here are admissions priorities you might see in MySchools and what they mean:
| Admissions Priority | Description |
|---|
| Priority to continuing 5th graders | - Students who currently attend a school that continues to eighth or twelfth grade are guaranteed an offer to continue attending a program at that school if they add it to their middle school application.
- Applicants will first be considered for any programs that they placed higher in their applications. You do NOT need to place your child’s continuing school as your first choice program to be guaranteed an offer there, but you do have to add it as one of your choices.
|
| Priority to students and residents of the district or borough | Students may have priority based on the district or borough where they live and/or go to public school. If a student lives and goes to public school in different boroughs or districts, that student has priority in both places. |
| Priority to residents of the zone or other geographic area | Students who are zoned to a middle school have priority to attend the zoned program at that school or schools. To get this priority, be sure to add your zoned program(s) to your child’s middle school application. You do NOT need to rank your zoned school’s program as your first choice to get the priority. Students may have priority to certain programs based on other geographic areas as well. |
| Priority to applicants eligible for free and reduced lunch (FRL) for up to 50% of seats | - This is one example of a Diversity in Admissions (DIA) priority. In this sample priority, applicants whose families meet a specific income requirement have priority to 50% of seats in this program.
- Middle schools across the city are participating in an initiative to increase diversity within their programs—learn more about specific Diversity in Admissions priorities on our Diversity in Admissions page and on programs' MySchools pages.
|
For Your Application: As you explore your middle school options, check which admissions priority group your child is in for each program of interest.
- Your child will be in different priority groups for different programs.
- Consider applying to at least some programs where your child is in priority group 1. Your child will have a better chance of getting an offer to these programs than students in other priority groups.
- Please note that schools with more than one middle school program may use different admissions priorities for each program.
Middle School Sibling Priority
Middle school applicants have a priority to attend the same school as their sibling, as follows:
- At schools where the final year is eighth grade,
- Middle school applicants with siblings currently in sixth or seventh grade have priority to attend their sibling’s school.
- If the school has younger grades (for example, grades K-8), middle school applicants with siblings currently in kindergarten, first, second, third, fourth, or fifth, sixth, or seventh grade have priority to attend their sibling’s school.
- At schools that continue through twelfth grade, middle school applicants with siblings currently in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, or eleventh grade have priority to attend their sibling’s school.
What defines a sibling in admissions? This priority includes any full-siblings, half-siblings, step-siblings, and/or foster siblings who live in the same household as the applicant. Please note that this sibling priority pertains to students participating in this current admissions process, and not to students who are already enrolled in middle school.
During the application period, be sure to list your sibling's school on your application if you want to attend it! However, you do not have to list it first.
- Applicants will keep the same priority to attend their sibling’s school whether you list it first or last on their application.
- The best strategy for all families stays the same: list programs on your child's application in your true order of preference. For instance, if you listed your child's sibling’s school second and the applicant does not get into their first-choice school, they will still have a priority to attend their sibling’s school.
- Please note that middle school programs admitting students through the audition, language criteria, talent test, or screened admissions methods do not have a sibling priority, as those programs have distinct criteria for admission.
- Search for a middle school here to see who is eligible for a sibling priority at that school.
Have questions about sibling priority for middle school? Email us at MSenrollment@schools.nyc.gov.
Applying for Multiples
If you have more than one child of the same age applying to middle school (i.e., twins), families have the option to submit identical applications for both children so that they receive an offer to the same program:
- Families with more than one middle school applicant connected to their MySchools account only need to submit one set of application choices if they want these children to attend the same program. Before a family submits that application, MySchools offers the option to add the same application choices to the other child’s (or children’s) application(s).
- If a family includes an audition, language: criteria, or screened program on their children's identical applications, and only one child is accepted to that program, then the children may receive separate offers.
How to Apply
Most NYC students apply to middle school during their fifth grade year, or if different, their final year of elementary school. Families apply by submitting a middle school application. Additionally, some arts-based middle school programs hold auditions.
During the application period, you can access your child's online application. When you're logged in to your MySchools account, you can see and explore every middle school program. From these options, you can choose middle school programs to list on your child’s application. Add the programs that interest you and your child the most and rank them in your true order of preference in the application. There is no limit to the number of programs you list.
- Consider adding the programs where your child has an admissions priority or guarantee, such as their zoned school(s) or continuing school. You do not have to place any of these programs as your first choice to keep your priority.
- Make an appointment to talk to your child's school counselor. Discuss your child's middle school application choices and how you plan to rank them.
- Use MySchools to explore your child's middle school options. Be sure to check the "Selection Criteria" section of each program's MySchools page to see if there are any additional admissions requirements, such as an audition.
During the application period, you can apply one of three ways:
- Online at MySchools.nyc or
- Through your current school counselor (for public DOE and charter school students)
- Through a Family Welcome Center (for private or parochial school students)
You can apply in English, Arabic, Bangla, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Russian, Spanish, or Urdu in MySchools. If you would like to apply using another language, call us and ask for an interpreter.
Questions? We're here to help.
Get Your Middle School Offer Letter
In the spring, students get their middle school offers. All applicants get a middle school offer; most students get an offer to attend one of the programs ranked on their middle school application, but it is not guaranteed. Your child's offer letter also includes a list of programs where they’ve been waitlisted.
- Your child is automatically on the waitlist for any program that you listed higher on their application than the program where they received an offer. For example, if your child received an offer to your third-choice program, they are automatically waitlisted at your first-choice and second-choice programs.
- After initial offers are made and while waitlists are open, you can add your child to additional waitlists. (However, please note that your child's best chance of getting an offer to any program is to include it as a choice on their original application.)
- You can also check your child's place on the waitlist for any school, in real time.
- Waitlist offers are made based on seat availability, as well as the same admissions priorities and admissions methods described on this page and detailed in MySchools.
- Schools will be in touch directly if a seat opens up and they can make your child a waitlist offer.
Learn more on our Waitlists page and by watching the tutorial that follows.
Documents
2025 NYC Public Schools Admissions Guide
You can view or download the 2025 NYC Public Schools Admissions Guide below! This guide provides an overview of admissions processes and resources for Infants and Toddlers programs, 3-K, Pre-K, Kindergarten, Gifted and Talented (G&T) programs, middle school, and high school (including Specialized High Schools), including a section on how to use MySchools. It will soon be available in 10 languages, and in the meantime, you can preview translations of the middle school admissions section.