SHSAT Registration — who registers, how, and by when

Through MySchools, the NYC Public Schools enrollment portal. A parent or legal guardian creates the account — you need your child’s Student ID (OSIS number) and an account creation code from a school counselor or a Family Welcome Center — then opens the Dashboard, clicks to begin registration for the Specialized High Schools, and follows the steps. During registration you rank the eight testing Specialized High Schools in preference order and indicate whether your child cannot test on a Saturday or a Sunday. Registration for the Fall 2026 administration runs from October 6 to October 30, 2026.

Friday, October 30, 2026. It is a hard close: there is no late registration and no second window. A student who is not registered by October 30 does not sit the SHSAT in this cycle and cannot receive an offer to a testing Specialized High School for September 2027. Registration opened on Monday, October 6, 2026.

A student must be both a New York City resident and either a current eighth grader or a first-time ninth grader — a student repeating ninth grade is not eligible. School type is irrelevant to eligibility: the DOE states the SHSAT is open to public district and charter school students, private and parochial school students, students with disabilities, students with limited mobility, and English Language Learners. Residency is what matters, so a child living in NYC but schooled elsewhere qualifies, while a child attending a NYC school but living outside the five boroughs does not.

You do. This is the single most common way a family loses the cycle: there is no NYC public school counselor watching the October 30 deadline on your behalf. Private, parochial, charter and homeschooled students are fully eligible, but the parent or guardian initiates the MySchools registration. If you have no account creation code, a Family Welcome Center will issue one in person — bring ID and your child’s enrollment documentation. Non-DOE students also test at weekend sites rather than on the November 18 School Day.

Your child can rank all eight testing Specialized High Schools, and the order matters enormously. Offers are made in descending order of SHSAT score against each student’s list: the highest scorer receives their first choice, and a student whose first choice is already full is considered for their second, then their third, and so on. Two rules follow from this. First, a student is never considered for a school they did not list — leaving a school off is a decision, not an omission. Second, ranking should express genuine preference rather than a guess at where they might get in, because ranking a school lower never improves the chance of an offer there.

Not after registration closes on October 30, 2026. The preference list submitted during registration is what the offer algorithm reads in the spring, and it cannot be corrected once the window shuts. Treat the ranking as the substantive decision of the registration, not as paperwork to complete quickly — it is worth a real family conversation before you submit.

Accommodations are granted on the basis of accommodations a student already has and uses — documented on an IEP or 504 Plan, or based on English Language Learner status. Accommodations requested only for the SHSAT are not allowed. The timing is earlier than families expect: the DOE requires all supporting documentation at least three weeks before the registration deadline, which for this cycle means on or before Friday, October 9, 2026. Documentation arriving later may not be reviewed in time. Approved accommodations appear on the test ticket. Work through your school counselor.

No. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts is the one Specialized High School that does not use the SHSAT — it admits by audition, and students can audition for up to six studios. LaGuardia also applies an academic requirement: a documented final grade of at least 65, or the equivalent, in English Language Arts, math, science and social studies from the previous school year. The SHSAT and the LaGuardia audition are two separate paths, and a student may pursue both.

Your child’s test ticket becomes available in MySchools about two weeks after the registration deadline, and your counselor can print one as well. It names the date, time, location and any approved accommodations, and your child must test on that date at that location with the printed ticket in hand. NYC public school eighth graders test on the November 18, 2026 School Day; weekend and ninth-grade dates are announced later in the fall. Results and offers are released in MySchools in the spring — the DOE has not published a Fall 2026 results date, but Fall 2025 results appeared on March 5, 2026.