M.S. 297: SHSAT testers and specialized high school offers, 2022-2025
District 2 · Manhattan · DBN 02M297
- 8th graders, 2025
- 131
- Sat the SHSAT
- 36
- Took the test
- 27%
- Offers
- 6
In 2025 admissions, 131 eighth graders at M.S. 297 applied to high school and 36 of them sat the SHSAT, a participation rate of 27%. Across District 2 the rate was 56%, so this school sits 29 points below it. Citywide, among public middle schools that published both counts, 37% of eighth graders sat the test. It ranks 18th of 20 in District 2 on that measure. Its eighth grade is the 5th largest of 23 in District 2, above the median of 93.
6 students from the school received an offer to one of the eight testing specialized high schools, 17% of its testers. Across the city, 4,023 offers went to 25,933 testers that year, 15.5%. It ranks 112th of the 116 middle schools whose 2025 offer count was large enough to be published.
The number of testers went from 111 in 2022 admissions to 36 in 2025, down 75. The sharpest move came between 2022 and 2023, when it fell by 51. The eighth grade itself shrank from 255 to 131 over the same years, so part of that movement is the size of the class, not the share sitting the test. Offers went from 15 in 2022 to 6 in 2025. In 2023, the offer count was 5 or fewer and was not published.
In District 2, the most offers in 2025 admissions went to students from New York City Lab Middle School for Collaborative Studies (70), out of 377 published for the district as a whole.
Year by year
| Admissions year | 8th graders | Sat the SHSAT | Took the test | Offers | Discovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 255 | 111 | 44% | 15 | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2023 | 225 | 60 | 27% | 5 or fewer (not published) | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2024 | 140 | 51 | 36% | 15 | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2025 | 131 | 36 | 27% | 6 | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| District 2, 2025 | 2,346 | 1,264 | 56% | at least 377 | |
| New York City, 2025 | 25,933 | 4,023 |
“2025 admissions” means students who sat the SHSAT as eighth graders in the 2024-25 school year and received offers for fall 2025, as in the DOE’s admissions outcomes report. “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. 297 when District 2’s schools are ordered by the share of eighth graders who sat the SHSAT in 2025 admissions.
- P.S./I.S. 217 Roosevelt Island41% of 32 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- The Clinton School39% of 99 sat the test · 10 offers
- School of the Future High School32% of 87 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- Ella Baker School32% of 19 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- Institute for Collaborative Education19% of 70 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- Quest to Learn15% of 93 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
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. 297, 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 3, 2026.
Your child is in 5th grade
Middle school applications: October 14 to December 11.
The middle school you choose now is where the SHSAT years happen. These counts show how many eighth graders sit the test at each school and how many get an offer; they do not say why. Ask the schools on your list how many of their students sit the SHSAT and how they prepare them, and plan the preparation for 6th and 7th grade, not for the October of 8th.
Dates for fall 2027 entry read on schools.nyc.gov on October 3, 2026.
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 02M297. Rebuilt 2026-10-03. Method and caveats are set out on the index page. Back to all 721 middle schools.