About
Hunter College High School is a highly selective, publicly funded academic magnet school for intellectually gifted students in grades 7-12, administered by Hunter College of the City University of New York. It is renowned for its rigorous academic environment, challenging curriculum, and high expectations, consistently preparing students for top-tier universities. The school boasts an exceptionally high college enrollment rate of 99.0%, which is at the very top of citywide benchmarks, with many graduates attending Ivy League and other highly selective institutions. Parents and students describe a supportive community with strong relationships and extensive extracurricular opportunities, including robust theater and sports programs. However, the demanding workload and competitive atmosphere can lead to stress for some students, though the administration has reportedly taken steps to balance academic rigor with student well-being. The school operates with an open campus, fostering independence, and maintains smaller class sizes than many other public high schools. Admission is exclusively for seventh grade through a highly competitive entrance exam, and the student body, while academically exceptional, has been noted for its lower representation of Black and Hispanic students compared to the overall NYC public school population. Hunter College High School is exempt from state standardized tests and Regents exams, allowing it to shape its own curriculum.
Sources (25)
Community & climate
Demographics, attendance, school survey results, and DOE quality ratings.
Quality signals
Operational health
Attendance
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Chronic absenteeism
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Suspension rate
Hunter admissions
This school admits at 7th grade only, through Hunter's own entrance exam.
Admission is by the Hunter entrance exam
- Run by Hunter College, not the DOE. The Hunter College Campus Schools are public and tuition-free, but administered and funded by Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY). They sit entirely outside MySchools, with their own application and their own calendar.
- 7th-grade entry only, and no 9th-grade entry. Students first qualify with their 5th-grade New York State ELA and Math scores (or an approved alternative), then sit Hunter’s own entrance exam, held in January of 6th grade. Seats are offered from exam results; there is no other entry point.
- Separate, parallel application. Applying to Hunter never touches your DOE main round, SHSAT, charter, or private applications. Families run it as one more independent shot, and NYC residency is required for the entire enrollment.
Because admission runs through Hunter’s own exam process, we don’t compute an admissions outlook for this school. No priority-group or applicant-pool model honestly predicts an individual student’s result here. Hunter students are also exempt from New York State tests and Regents exams, so state test scores don’t exist for this school; that is an exemption, not missing data.
Applicant analysis
How competitive each recent cycle was: applicants per seat. Not an estimate of any individual student’s chances.
| Metric | 2025-26 |
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Admissions
No program-level admissions data is available for this school yet.
Location & commute
Where the school is and how to get there.