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7th grade

❏ Get to school every day and on time.
❏ Use InsideSchools to start exploring your options.
❏ Put together a plan to study for the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT). Better yet, start studying!
❏ Collect your best work from 7th grade.
❏ Bring home a copy of the High School Directory, distributed to 7th-graders in June.
❏ Interested in visual or performing arts programs? Ask your art teachers to help you
compile visual arts portfolios and prepare for auditions.

Summer before 8th grade

❏ Put together a plan to stay organized throughout the fall
❏ Continue researching options on Insideschools.
❏ Browse the High School Directory
❏ Start weighing your options and creating a list of schools you want to visit.
❏ Attend high school admissions workshops hosted by the Department of Education in July.
❏ Study for the SHSAT.
❏ Rehearse for auditions and work on art portfolio.

Fall of 8th grade

September
❏ Check DOE’s calendar and individual school websites for
open house and tour dates.
❏ Sign up for school tours and open houses.
❏ Register with your guidance counselor to take the SHSAT and to audition for
LaGuardia High School.
❏ Request needed accommodations for the SHSAT and LaGuardia audition (applies to
students with I.E.P.s or 504 accommodations).
❏ Keep studying for the SHSAT and rehearsing for auditions.
❏ Discuss high school options with your guidance counselor.
❏ Attend at least one of the high school fairs being held in each borough.

October
❏ Attend school tours and open houses.
❏ Attend at least one more high school fair.
❏ Confirm your SHSAT and LaGuardia audition accommodations.
❏ Receive the high school application and check for errors.
❏ Sign up for interviews, take admission exams and assessments; keep track of dates
and deadlines.
❏ Get your academic work samples and portfolios ready and submit to individual
schools per their deadlines.
❏ Take the SHSAT (end of October for current 8th- and 9th-graders).

November
❏ Take the SHSAT (early November for students needing accommodations or granted a make-up test)
❏ Attend school tours and open houses.
❏ Attend interviews, submit work samples and portfolios and complete any other tasks that
individual schools may require for admission.
❏ Finalize your list of schools and decide how to rank them on your application.
❏ Complete the application. Double check that you entered the correct program codes.
❏ Make a copy of your completed application for your records.
❏ Submit the application by the deadline (typically late November or early December).
Tip: Hand in your application at least a day or two ahead of the deadline so the
guidance counselor has time to reach out to you to correct any errors.

December & January
❏ Wrap up your remaining interviews, auditions, exams and assessments.
❏ Relax and focus on other things. There’s nothing left to do until decision letters arrive in March.