MySchools projects whether an applicant has a low, medium, or high chance of receiving an offer to each high school program. This helps families build a balanced application by understanding estimated chances for each program.
How it works
MySchools uses information about each applicant and each high school program to show the predicted chances of getting an offer. This information includes:
- A program’s admissions priorities (e.g., a borough priority)
- The number of available seats
- The applicant's screened admissions group or Educational Option group
- The applicant’s random number
- Whether the applicant is considered for general education or students with disabilities seats
Where to See Your Child's Chances
When you start your high school application in MySchools, you"ll see your predicted chances in two places:
- Search page
- Application builder
Next to each program, you"ll see an icon with bars indicating your estimated chance. These chances are specific to each student and program, so different students may see different chances for the same program.
A "high" icon showing three orange bars means that a student has a high chance of receiving an offer to this program. A student is expected to have a 99% chance of receiving an offer to a program that shows three bars.
A "medium" icon showing two orange bars means that the student has a medium chance of receiving an offer to this program. About half of students are expected to receive an offer to a program that shows two bars.
A "low" icon showing one orange bar means that a student has a low chance of receiving an offer to this program. A student is expected to have a 1% chance of receiving an offer to a program that shows one bar.
For some programs, there isn't enough information to predict chances. In these cases, move your mouse over the program for details about who received offers last year.
Programs using the following admissions methods do not display predicted chances:
- Audition: Admission based on audition score
- Screened with Assessment: Admission based on an assessment
- Language Criteria: Admission based on English proficiency or home language
- Transfer: For over-aged or under-credited students. Schools rank students based on grades, age, or credit accumulation
- ASD / ACES / District 75 inclusion: Requires eligibility from the Special Education Office
How can I build a balanced application?
A balanced application includes programs with different chances of admission, including some where your child has a high chance of getting an offer.
Example:
An 8th grader named Jordan lists:
- 4 low-chance programs
- 1 medium-chance program
- 1 high-chance program
Jordan should add more programs—specifically, some with high chances—to reach 12 choices. This increases the likelihood of getting an offer to a program from their application.
Should I include programs where I have a low chance?
Yes! If you’re interested in a program, include it—even if your chance is low. Just make sure to also include programs where you have medium and high chances.
Do I need to include 12 programs on the application?
It’s not required, but strongly recommended. Each year, approximately 98% of students who listed 12 programs received an offer from their application. Listing fewer programs reduces your child's chances of receiving an offer to something you chose.
How should I rank choices?
Rank programs in true preference order—your favorite first, even if your chance is low. Where you list a program on your child's application does not affect their chances for other programs on the application.
Why do I have a low chance even in the first priority group?
Some programs have very high demand. Even in the first priority group, there may be more applicants than seats.
Am I guaranteed an offer if I have a high chance?
No. High chance means it’s very likely, but not guaranteed. Apply to multiple programs with high chances.
How are chances calculated?
MySchools uses past data and your child’s characteristics to provide a probability of admission.
It is based on the number of available seats, a program’s admission rules (e.g., priorities), application patterns from last year’s admissions process, and each student’s individual characteristics*:
- General Education / Students with Disabilities (SWD) status
- Screened admissions group
- Educational Option category (low / medium / high)
- Diversity in Admissions characteristics
- Free and reduced price lunch eligibility (if parent consents)
- English Language Learner (ELL) status
- Temporary housing status
- Current school
- Zoned school (if applicable),
- Borough of residence
- Borough of attendance
- Random number
*A student characteristic is only considered for programs that use that specific characteristic in their admissions criteria. For example, a student’s borough of residence will only be used to predict a student’s chance of an offer to a program with a borough priority.
Economists affiliated with MIT’s Blueprint Labs re-ran last year’s admissions match 1,000 times, each time with a small change to reflect natural variations to application patterns. Every combination of student characteristics was analyzed for how many times out of 1,000 they got an offer to each program. That percentage is being used in this year’s process to determine the chance of getting an offer.
Since these predictions are based on historical enrollment trends, variations are possible; we do not know how this new feature will affect the application decisions of families this year. This feature is offered as a tool to help families understand which programs may be competitive for their children based on past data. Although this feature should help predict your child’s likelihood of admission, it offers no guarantee of actual results.