Columbia Secondary School: SHSAT testers and specialized high school offers, 2022-2026
District 5 · Manhattan · DBN 05M362
- 8th graders, 2026
- 97
- Sat the SHSAT
- 55
- Took the test
- 57%
- Offers
- 20
SHSAT 2026: registration October 6–30; the test is November 14–15 (School Day November 18, 9th grade November 21).
For families choosing a middle school
Getting in (Fall 2026 admissions)
In Fall 2026 middle school admissions, Columbia Secondary School admitted sixth graders through one program (Screened).
It had 355 general education applicants for 74 seats, 5 applicants per seat in the DOE's count; only 20 of the city's 659 programs with a published figure had a higher one.
| Program | Admissions method | General education seats | Students with disabilities | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | Applicants | Per seat | All filled | Seats | Applicants | Per seat | ||
| Columbia Secondary School for Math, Science and EngineeringOpen to New York City residents | Screened | 74 | 355 | 5 | Yes | 22 | 41 | 2 |
Where its students go next. The DOE lists Columbia Secondary School and The Bronx High School of Science as the high schools its students most often attend.
Fall 2026 admissions: families applied in fall 2025 for sixth grade in September 2026. Seats, applicants and applicants per seat are the DOE’s, from its Fall 2026 Middle School Data file on InfoHub (saved by the DOE 2026-09-18), the same figures MySchools shows as last year’s demand. The DOE counts applicants this way: “MySchools shows the true number of applicants who were considered for a seat in a program, meaning this number excludes applicants who matched to a more preferred choice from their application.” (schools.nyc.gov, read October 4, 2026). Applicants per seat is the DOE’s own figure, rounded to a whole number, so 0 means fewer than one applicant for every two seats. “All filled” is the DOE’s flag for whether every seat in that group was filled; “n/a” means the file gives no figure. Seats and demand change every year; this page does not turn them into a chance of admission.
In 2026 admissions, 55 of the 97 eighth graders at Columbia Secondary School who applied to high school sat the SHSAT: 57%, more than half the grade. Across District 5 the rate was 34%, so this school sits 22 points above it. Citywide, among public middle schools that published both counts, 39% of eighth graders sat the test. No school in District 5 had a higher share of its eighth grade sit the SHSAT that year. With 97 eighth graders applying to high school, it has the largest eighth grade of the 11 schools listed in District 5.
20 students from the school received an offer to one of the eight testing specialized high schools, 36% of its testers. Across the city, 4,023 offers went to 26,123 testers that year, 15.4%. It is the 49th highest count of the 111 middle schools whose 2026 offer count was large enough to be published.
The number of testers went from 41 in 2022 admissions to 55 in 2026, up 14. The sharpest move came between 2025 and 2026, when it rose by 13. Offers went from 23 in 2022 to 20 in 2026, with a high of 25 in 2023.
It is the only school in District 5 whose 2026 offer count was large enough to be published.
Year by year
| Admissions year | 8th graders | Sat the SHSAT | Took the test | Offers | Discovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 94 | 41 | 44% | 23 | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2023 | 98 | 48 | 49% | 25 | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2024 | 97 | 42 | 43% | 15 | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2025 | 99 | 42 | 42% | 15 | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2026 | 97 | 55 | 57% | 20 | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| District 5, 2026 | 493 | 99 | 34% | at least 20 | |
| New York City, 2026 | 26,123 | 4,023 |
“2026 admissions” means students who sat the SHSAT as eighth graders in the 2025-26 school year and received offers for fall 2026, as in the DOE’s Fall 2026 SHSAT and Discovery Summary. “8th graders” counts the school’s eighth graders who applied to high school; “took the test” divides testers by that count when both are published. The district row adds the published counts of its schools, so its offers are a floor; the city row is the DOE’s own total. “Not listed” means the school is absent from that year’s file.
Schools in District 5 with a similar share of testers
The schools just above and below Columbia Secondary School when District 5’s schools are ordered by the share of eighth graders who sat the SHSAT in 2026 admissions.
- Urban Assembly Academy for Future Leaders53% of 32 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- New Design Middle School41% of 32 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- Teachers College Community School14% of 49 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- P.S. 161 Pedro Albizu Campos9% of 77 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
See how this school ranks
In 2026 admissions, Columbia Secondary School received 20 specialized high school offers for 55 students who sat the SHSAT: 36.4 per 100. That ranks it #12 of 23 in Manhattan and #20 of 105 citywide, among schools with at least 30 test-takers.
Best middle schools in Manhattan for the SHSAT
Compare with…
What to do with these numbers
Your child is in 8th grade now
Registration closes October 30. Test day: November 18.
November 18 is the SHSAT School Day; the weekend sittings are November 14/15 and November 21. Whatever the count at Columbia Secondary School, the decision to sit the test is yours, and a scored official practice test tells you more about your own child than any school figure.
- How to register for the SHSAT, step by step
- Score an official SHSAT practice test, free
- Book an SHSAT session
Dates read on schools.nyc.gov on October 19, 2026.
Your child is in 6th or 7th grade
A 7th grader sits the SHSAT in fall 2027; a 6th grader, in fall 2028.
The test comes in the fall of 8th grade, so there is no deadline yet, and that is the point: starting now leaves time to work on reading and math at a steady pace instead of in the last weeks. The counts above show what happened at Columbia Secondary School, not where your child stands. We start with a scored official practice test, which does.
Your child is in 5th grade
Middle school applications are open until December 11.
Start with how many families applied for each seat last year: the DOE publishes it program by program. The middle school you choose is also where the SHSAT years happen, so ask the schools on your list how many of their students sit the test and how they prepare them.
- How hard Columbia Secondary School is to get into
- SHSAT preparation: what it involves and when to start
Dates for fall 2027 entry read on schools.nyc.gov on October 3, 2026.
Columbia Secondary School is a school figure. Your child needs a score.
Figures from Specialized High Schools Admissions Tests Results (school counts) and Specialized High Schools Admissions Overall Summary (city totals), New York City Department of Education, as listed for DBN 05M362; 2026 figures from the DOE’s Fall 2026 SHSAT and Discovery Summary on InfoHub, not yet on NYC Open Data. Rebuilt 2026-10-04. Method and caveats are set out on the index page. Back to all 735 middle schools.