P.S. 121 Nelson A. Rockefeller: SHSAT testers and specialized high school offers, 2022-2025
District 21 · Brooklyn · DBN 21K121
- 8th graders, 2025
- 51
- Sat the SHSAT
- 16
- Took the test
- 31%
- Offers
- 5 or fewer (not published)
In 2025 admissions, 51 eighth graders at P.S. 121 Nelson A. Rockefeller applied to high school and 16 of them sat the SHSAT, a participation rate of 31%. Across District 21 the rate was 44%, so this school sits 12 points below it. Citywide, among public middle schools that published both counts, 37% of eighth graders sat the test. It ranks 7th of 16 in District 21 on that measure. Its eighth grade is the smallest of the 16 listed in District 21, where the median school sends 111 applicants to high school.
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 16 schools listed in District 21 for 2025.
The number of testers went from 21 in 2022 admissions to 16 in 2025, down 5. The eighth grade itself grew from 41 to 51 over the same years, so part of that movement is the size of the class, not the share sitting the test.
In District 21, the most offers in 2025 admissions went to students from Mark Twain I.S. 239 for the Gifted & Talented (92), out of 233 published for the district as a whole.
Year by year
| Admissions year | 8th graders | Sat the SHSAT | Took the test | Offers | Discovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 41 | 21 | 51% | 5 or fewer (not published) | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2023 | 59 | 15 | 25% | 5 or fewer (not published) | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2024 | 47 | 12 | 26% | 5 or fewer (not published) | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| 2025 | 51 | 16 | 31% | 5 or fewer (not published) | 5 or fewer (not published) |
| District 21, 2025 | 3,121 | 1,369 | 44% | at least 233 | |
| 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 21 with a similar share of testers
The schools just above and below P.S. 121 Nelson A. Rockefeller when District 21’s schools are ordered by the share of eighth graders who sat the SHSAT in 2025 admissions.
- I.S. 281 Joseph B Cavallaro37% of 437 sat the test · 21 offers
- I.S. 096 Seth Low35% of 329 sat the test · 10 offers
- P.S. 209 Margaret Mead34% of 67 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- I.S. 303 Herbert S. Eisenberg29% of 144 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- P.S. 095 The Gravesend28% of 64 sat the test · offers: 5 or fewer (not published)
- P.S. 099 Isaac Asimov28% 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 P.S. 121 Nelson A. Rockefeller, 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 21K121. Rebuilt 2026-10-03. Method and caveats are set out on the index page. Back to all 721 middle schools.