I.S. 096 Seth Low: SHSAT testers and specialized high school offers, 2022-2026
District 21 · Brooklyn · DBN 21K096
- 8th graders, 2026
- 335
- Sat the SHSAT
- 124
- Took the test
- 37%
- Offers
- 8
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, I.S. 096 Seth Low admitted sixth graders through 8 programs (Audition, Talent Test, Zone Priority, ASD/ACES Program).
Its most requested program, Seth Low (I.S. 96) Magnet Program (Computer/Math), had 29 general education applicants for 21 seats, 1 applicant per seat in the DOE's count.
The DOE marks that program’s general education seats as not all filled.
| Program | Admissions method | General education seats | Students with disabilities | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | Applicants | Per seat | All filled | Seats | Applicants | Per seat | ||
| Seth Low (I.S. 96) Magnet Program (Art)Open to New York City residents | Audition | 21 | 14 | 1 | No | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| Seth Low (I.S. 96) Magnet Program (Computer/Math)Open to New York City residents | Talent Test | 21 | 29 | 1 | No | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| Seth Low (I.S. 96) Magnet Program (Creative Writing/Journalism)Open to New York City residents | Talent Test | 21 | 1 | 0 | No | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Seth Low (I.S. 96) Magnet Program (Science)Open to New York City residents | Talent Test | 21 | 6 | 0 | No | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Seth Low (I.S. 96) Magnet Program (Instrumental-Strings)Open to New York City residents | Audition | 23 | 0 | 0 | No | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Seth Low (I.S. 96)Open to New York City residents | Zone Priority | 127 | 141 | 1 | No | 18 | 38 | 2 |
| Seth Low (I.S. 96) Magnet Program (Instrumental-Winds)Open to New York City residents | Audition | 21 | 1 | 0 | No | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Seth Low ASD Nest ProgramOpen to students currently enrolled in the Nest program. If you are applying to Autism programs for the first time, please visit www.schools.nyc.gov/specializedprograms for the application and contact AutismPrograms@schools.nyc.gov with questions. | ASD/ACES Program | 0 | 0 | n/a | No | 10 | 8 | 1 |
Where its students go next. The DOE lists James Madison High School, New Utrecht High School and Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School 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, 335 eighth graders at I.S. 096 Seth Low applied to high school and 124 of them sat the SHSAT, a participation rate of 37%. Across District 21 the rate was 48%, so this school sits 11 points below it. Citywide, among public middle schools that published both counts, 39% of eighth graders sat the test. It ranks 6th of 16 in District 21 on that measure. Its eighth grade is the 5th largest of 16 in District 21, above the median of 111.
8 students from the school received an offer to one of the eight testing specialized high schools, 6% of its testers. Across the city, 4,023 offers went to 26,123 testers that year, 15.4%. It ranks 86th of the 111 middle schools whose 2026 offer count was large enough to be published.
The number of testers has held steady: 123 in 2022 admissions, 124 in 2026. Offers went from 11 in 2024 to 8 in 2026. In 2022 and 2023, the offer count was 5 or fewer and was not published.
In District 21, the most offers in 2026 admissions went to students from Mark Twain I.S. 239 for the Gifted & Talented (173), out of 301 published for the district as a whole.
Discovery, the DOE’s summer program that offers a specialized high school seat to disadvantaged students who complete it, counted 10 of its students in 2022, 7 in 2023, 8 in 2024, 6 in 2025 and 11 in 2026.
Year by year
| Admissions year | 8th graders | Sat the SHSAT | Took the test | Offers | Discovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 309 | 123 | 40% | 5 or fewer (not published) | 10 |
| 2023 | 314 | 99 | 32% | 5 or fewer (not published) | 7 |
| 2024 | 315 | 93 | 30% | 11 | 8 |
| 2025 | 329 | 116 | 35% | 10 | 6 |
| 2026 | 335 | 124 | 37% | 8 | 11 |
| District 21, 2026 | 3,206 | 1,524 | 48% | at least 301 | |
| 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 21 with a similar share of testers
The schools just above and below I.S. 096 Seth Low when District 21’s schools are ordered by the share of eighth graders who sat the SHSAT in 2026 admissions.
- I.S. 228 David A. Boody50% of 509 sat the test · 24 offers
- I.S. 281 Joseph B Cavallaro42% of 426 sat the test · 15 offers
- P.S. 095 The Gravesend39% of 82 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- P.S. 238 Anne Sullivan36% of 66 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- P.S. 226 Alfred de B. Mason32% of 99 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- P.S. 209 Margaret Mead32% of 63 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
See how this school ranks
In 2026 admissions, I.S. 096 Seth Low received 8 specialized high school offers for 124 students who sat the SHSAT: 6.5 per 100. That ranks it #28 of 29 in Brooklyn and #101 of 105 citywide, among schools with at least 30 test-takers.
Best middle schools in Brooklyn 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 I.S. 096 Seth Low, 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 I.S. 096 Seth Low, 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. This school has talent test programs: registration to test closes November 2.
Dates for fall 2027 entry read on schools.nyc.gov on October 3, 2026.
I.S. 096 Seth Low 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 21K096; 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.