Eighth grader Tiffany Lin is sitting at a desk in a windowless room amid 20 or so other students her age. The air conditioner is blasting against the summer heat and the artificial lights shroud the students in an eerie, inorganic light. Even so, Lin is attentive to the lesson at the front of the classroom. Decades ago, any girl of Lin’s age wouldn’t be caught at school during the final month of summer vacation. However, she is in her eighth month at a preparation school studying for only one test.
Last year, 28,000 students took the New York City Specialized High School Admission Test (SSHSAT). Only three percent, or 850 students, made the cutoff and were admitted into the Stuyvesant Class of 2011. Although the method of admission is the same as it was 30 years ago, the culture is completely different. Hunter College sociology professor and 1980 Stuyvesant alum Dr. Margaret Chin walked into the test without studying. She estimates that about two-thirds of her class was admitted into a Specialized High School.
To gain admission to a specialized high school, a student’s score must match the cutoff score or higher. However, one aspect of the placement exam was different for Dr. Chin. “Nobody in my middle school did anything to prepare for the test,” she said. “There was no pressure put on anyone to go to a science high school. If you didn’t get in to Stuy, it wasn’t a big deal.”
Nowadays, students all over the city rush to assorted preparation courses to prepare for the SSHSAT. Parents pour out vast amounts of time, money and energy in the name of preparation.
Sophomore Ruozhou Ye’s experience leading up to the test was similar to that of many other students in Stuy. Ye was sent to the CTY Master Prep Courses in Flushing a little less than two years before the exam. The entire summer before the test was spent preparing Monday through Friday for three and a half hours a day. “In the end, my parents said that they really didn’t care where I ended up for high school,” he said. “But I put a lot of pressure on myself, partly because all my friends were aiming for Stuy as well.”
Instead of personal achievement serving as their sole motivation like Ye, other students are taking the SSHSAT to please their parents. “I’m taking the test to make my parents happy,” said Lin. “They’ve always made me happy.”
This generous attitude is not reflected in eighth grader Caroline Man’s motive. “My dad would kill me [otherwise],” she said.
Freshman Ariel Eisenstadt, who attended Kaplan prep classes, was urged by his father to get into Stuy “every time we drove by the school when I was younger,” he said.
Prep school teacher and Class of 1984 Bronx High School of Science alum Victor Gong said, “Of course they’re doing it for their parents. The test hasn’t changed much since I’ve taken it, but the standards have definitely gone down. Students these days haven’t learned to reach farther than what they have now.”
However, not all students take the SSHSAT solely for their parents’ happiness. “We like to study and pay attention in class,” said freshman Olivia Califano, who prepped for the test by attending free after-school sessions. Freshman Ben Garner said that he had taken courses by Kaplan, but had mainly taught himself through review books.
Summer SSHSAT classes seem to have become the new price to pay for admission to Stuyvesant, let alone any Specialized High School. “At first it was my parents who wanted me to go [to Stuy],” Garner said. “They started it. I just want to do well.”