The Department of Education’s G&T Placement Process
Siblings first: All siblings who meet the eligibility cut-offs (97% and above for citywide, 90% and
above for district) receive a placement at their sibling’s school, if the following criteria are met:
1. the sibling is presently in grades K-4
2. there are enough spots for all eligible sibling applicants
3. the applicant ranks the sibling’s school as first choice
Then non-siblings: After all eligible siblings are placed, the DOE begins to place all the other
students who qualified for G&T classes, beginning with those in the 99th percentile. A computer
scrambles all the 99th percentile applications into a random order – this is when luck comes into play.
The computer selects the first application in the queue and (undoubtedly) assigns that child his/her
first choice school. The computer then moves on to the second application in the queue, then the
third and so on, placing each child in the highest ranked school on his/her list which still has a seat
available at the time that application comes up in the queue.
To clarify: When it’s your application’s “turn”, the computer looks at the school you listed as #1 to
see if that school still has a seat for your child. If there is a seat, then your child is placed there. If
that school is already filled, the computer looks at the school you ranked #2 to see if it has a seat.
The computer continues down your ranked list in order until it comes to a school that has an
available seat, and then it assigns your child to that school and moves on to the next application. By
the time the computer reaches the last application within the 99th percentile group, that child’s
highest ranked schools (or even all of that child’s ranked schools) may already be filled with students
whose applications were already processed. (The past two years, about 1,000 children scored in the
99th percentile.)
Only after every single application in the 99th percentile group has been processed will the computer
move on to the 98th percentile. This procedure continues through each percentile group: all those in
the 98th will be processed, then all those in the 97th, and so on through the 90th.
No strategy: There is no strategy required in ranking your schools – you just indicate your order of
preference. It’s simple, so don’t over think it and make it harder than it is! There is no way to “game”
the system. Placement is not determined by examining who listed which school as a first choice,
since applications are never sorted into school choice order. Applications are not placed in any
ranked order by score (such as 99.9, 99.8, etc.,) nor are they sorted by birth date, race, gender or
geography. The number of seats available at any school does not need to dictate your choices, and
you will not hurt the outcome of any of your choices if you want to rank a popular school #1, “just in
case.” The only exception is this: if you are hoping for a seat in a sibling’s school, you must rank that
school #1 or lose your sibling preference!
Protocol: You should only rank those G&T programs/schools that you would be willing to have your
child attend. Applications will not be disqualified if you do not list all of the choices. The only reason
to rank all of the G&T programs/schools on the application you were given would be if you want to
be guaranteed a G&T placement because that is your most important priority and you would not
consider sending your child to his/her local zoned school. Your application will be processed with all
of the other applications no matter how many (or few) G&T programs/schools you elect to rank. You
do not want to get an offer for a school that you know you would turn down, because you will be
taking away a seat from another student who really wants to go there.
The DOE over-enrolls classrooms a bit, knowing that some parents will decline seats. Therefore, it’s
very important for you to either accept the offer of placement or decline it in favor of your local zoned
school in a timely manner. If you decide to accept a G&T offer, please contact that school
immediately so they can give you a registration appointment. Then contact your local zoned school
to let them know you are not coming, so another child can come off their general ed. waitlist!
In the event that seats become available at citywide programs due to unexpected attrition, there will
be an attrition round of placement. All students eligible for citywide programs who did not receive an
offer to a citywide program will be included in the citywide attrition placement round.
4/17/12
