Unheralded Perk of the SHSAT

I took the SHSAT when it was still the days of number 2 pencils, paper booklets, and a single brick-and-mortar test site. Back then, NYC only had three specialized high schools, and everyone just called the SHSAT "the Stuy Test."

I was a pretty clueless kid from a poor immigrant family who attended a completely ordinary junior high school in a gritty pocket of Queens. While I did fine in classes, I was far from a dedicated student. In fact, I spent most of my energy trying to hide the fact that I actually liked learning. I was terrified that if I showed too much interest in a teacher's lesson, the other kids would label me a "nerd" or a "goody-goody" and turn on me. So, I kept my head down and feigned disinterest.

The SHSAT changed absolutely everything for me. Somehow, I scored above the cutoff for Stuyvesant High School. Suddenly, as a wide-eyed 9th grader, I was schlepping on the subway into Manhattan every morning. That experience reshaped me in ways I’m still grateful for. It blew my world wide open and completely raised the bar for what I thought I could achieve. Moreover, for the first time in my life, I was in a safe space surrounded by other kids who were just as curious, perceptive, and eager to understand the world as I was.

People often talk about the endless AP courses, the impressive resume builders, and the prestigious after-school clubs that specialized schools offer. But looking back, the real magic wasn't the curriculum. It was the community. Gaining entry through the SHSAT gave me a haven—a place where being academically-minded wasn't a social liability, but a shared adventure. Today, in a very digital world, this is still something that the SHSAT can accomplish.