M.S. 131: SHSAT testers and specialized high school offers, 2022-2026
District 2 · Manhattan · DBN 02M131
- 8th graders, 2026
- 91
- Sat the SHSAT
- 46
- Took the test
- 51%
- Offers
- 5 or fewer (not published)
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, M.S. 131 admitted sixth graders through 4 programs (Zone Priority, Language Criteria, Screened, ASD/ACES Program).
Its most requested program, Sun Yat Sen Middle School (MS 131), had 24 general education applicants for 41 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 | ||
| Sun Yat Sen Middle School (MS 131)Open to New York City residents | Zone Priority | 41 | 24 | 1 | No | 10 | 12 | 1 |
| M.S. 131 Mandarin Dual Language ProgramOpen to New York City residents | Language Criteria | 42 | 2 | 0 | No | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Sun Yat Sen Middle School (MS 131) Screened ProgramOpen to New York City residents | Screened | 25 | 6 | 0 | No | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| M.S. 131 ASD Horizon ProgramOpen to students currently in an ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) Horizon program. If you are not currently an ASD Horizon student and are interested in the program, please contact asdprograms@schools.nyc.gov | ASD/ACES Program | 0 | 0 | n/a | No | 20 | 14 | 1 |
Where its students go next. The DOE lists University Neighborhood High School, High School of Economics and Finance and Pace 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, 46 of the 91 eighth graders at M.S. 131 who applied to high school sat the SHSAT: 51%, more than half the grade. Across District 2 the rate was 55%, so this school sits 5 points below it. Citywide, among public middle schools that published both counts, 39% of eighth graders sat the test. It ranks 11th of 20 in District 2 on that measure. Its eighth grade is the 10th largest of 23 in District 2, above the median of 88.
The number of its students who received an offer to a specialized high school was 5 or fewer. The DOE does not publish counts that small, so it could be any number from zero to five; this page does not guess. That is the case at 11 of the 23 schools listed in District 2 for 2026.
The number of testers went from 62 in 2022 admissions to 46 in 2026, down 16. The sharpest move came between 2024 and 2025, when it fell by 18. The eighth grade itself grew from 73 to 91 over the same years, so part of that movement is the size of the class, not the share sitting the test.
In District 2, the most offers in 2026 admissions went to students from J.H.S. 167 Robert F. Wagner (81), out of 370 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 6 of its students in 2022 (other years: 5 or fewer, not published).
Year by year
| Admissions year | 8th graders | Sat the SHSAT | Took the test | Offers | Discovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 73 | 62 | 85% | 5 or fewer (not published) | 6 |
| 2023 | 80 | 61 | 76% | 5 or fewer (not published) | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2024 | 96 | 63 | 66% | 5 or fewer (not published) | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2025 | 100 | 45 | 45% | 5 or fewer (not published) | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2026 | 91 | 46 | 51% | 5 or fewer (not published) | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| District 2, 2026 | 2,306 | 1,219 | 55% | at least 370 | |
| 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 2 with a similar share of testers
The schools just above and below M.S. 131 when District 2’s schools are ordered by the share of eighth graders who sat the SHSAT in 2026 admissions.
- Ballet Tech, NYC Public School for Dance65% of 23 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- East Side Middle School62% of 140 sat the test · 32 offers
- J.H.S. 104 Simon Baruch57% of 339 sat the test · 55 offers
- Lower Manhattan Community Middle School46% of 104 sat the test · 6 offers
- Ella Baker School42% of 24 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- Yorkville East Middle School39% of 75 sat the test · 10 offers
See how this school ranks
M.S. 131 is not ranked for 2026 admissions: 46 students sat the SHSAT, but its offer count was 5 or fewer, which the DOE does not publish, so no rate can be computed.
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 M.S. 131, 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 M.S. 131, 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.
Dates for fall 2027 entry read on schools.nyc.gov on October 3, 2026.
M.S. 131 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 02M131; 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.