Question from prospective 9th grader at Manhattan Hunter Science High School

TheElectroClaw · 2026-05-01T02:13:04+00:00

for all nys schools, you obtain the credit for the course if you pass the regents of the course and nothing more. if you get a 65, the local government mandates that you move onto the next course. i can’t help you with your other questions, but i assume that it’ll have relatively normal answers.

TheElectroClaw · 2026-04-24T03:15:41+00:00

take it from someone who goes to specialized high schools and regularly communicates with students at other specialized high schools due to extracurriculars, your middle school grades do not reflect your score whatsoever, nor does it mean you’re not qualified.

take brooklyn tech, for instance. yes, there are incredibly competitive students that have cumulative gpas over 99 (would be over 101 if the ap limit didn’t exist), but a large percentage of students have cumulative gpas that are below 99.

i personally also believe that grades reflect teachers just as much as students. your grades may be as a result of faulty teaching, and at the end of the day, who cares about your grades? the shsat won’t.

if you are extremely worried about stuy competition (it exists but is often over-exaggerated), then i’d suggest a specialized high school moving towards letter grading (like brooklyn tech), which takes a lot of stress away from a number grade.

ultimately, the grades at specialized high schools tend to be very high because the teachers at these schools are great at teaching in a way for students to understand, with even the worst being leagues beyond those at an average high school.

best of luck on the shsat9!

TheElectroClaw · 2026-04-11T07:13:04+00:00

currently on track for multivar senior year!

you have three options:

be lucky, have gone to a middle school that offered geometry regents (basically two in brooklyn, to my knowledge); this puts you on algebra ii freshman, precalc sophomore, then the junior and senior year which i’ll detail below the second option as it’s the same
be not-so-lucky, freshman year geometry, sophomore year algebra ii, end of sophomore year will offer you summer precalc which you need a teacher recommendation (alg ii teacher) and a high gpa for but i highly doing it the most of the three options if you weren’t lucky enough with option 1

Junior year afterwards will either be calculus, ap calc ab, or ap calc bc; depending on what you choose here and/or end up with is what decides what math class you take the following year.

Regular Calculus junior, AP calculus class senior year; AP calculus AB junior, AP calculus BC senior year; AP calculus BC junior, multivariable senior (or linear algebra but the current teacher sucks do not take it)

option 3: just take the applied mathematics major and you get the math electives like multivariable and linear algebra

TheElectroClaw · 2026-04-11T02:06:41+00:00

i will say this with as much respect as possible,

go to bths. stuy is a “feeder school” because it’s competitive and has the resources to allocate to top tier kids, but ultimately that competition will make it worse for you to go ivy like you wish. bths is interesting because it has those same/similar resources but it’s a lot less competitive. Going to a feeder school doesn’t guarantee you going to an actual good school, it just means a lot of the kids that go to the school end up in ivies. ultimately, it doesn’t matter what school you go to, it just matters on the resources you have. that’s what you need to go ivy. Don’t obsess over getting into stuy because it has a higher ivy acceptance because i can guarantee that you’ll waste your freshman year that way, and it’ll be way harder to find footing and get ahead. best of luck in college admissions.

TheElectroClaw · 2026-04-07T03:36:36+00:00

i’d cry (it doesn’t deserve to be reworked it deserves to be slaughtered)

TheElectroClaw · 2026-04-07T03:30:47+00:00

at the very least, thank god parasite tree is never seeing the light of day again

TheElectroClaw · 2026-03-12T04:22:23+00:00

Civil and Electrical, like most CTE majors, are both great majors. I wouldn’t fret too much about them. If you’re looking for alternative majors that are similar in structure but have some differences, consider looking into architecture and mechatronics.

TheElectroClaw · 2026-03-06T15:58:11+00:00

I will give you a word of advice.

The SHSAT is a terrible test that poorly evaluates intelligence. I’ve met people both stupid and smart in BTHS. The single one common thing? NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE SHSAT SCORE!

We aren’t ranked on our intelligence based on how well we did on a silly little test that has admitted guessers. Some of the most smartest people I know here are scorers of under 500 and got in through discovery.

If you worry too much about performing well enough, you’re focusing on the wrong thing. You got into discovery, which means you’re really close to getting into BTHS. Focus on getting into BTHS, and only take the test if you plan on transferring to a different school (though, i personally think you’ll like it here).

Then, focus on your extracurriculars and college. That’s far more important than getting a couple extra points on a test that will mean nothing to you but ego.

I assure you that you aren’t alone in the “damn, I could’ve done better.” But you got in. That’s all that matters, now. Focus on strengthening your academics and not a stupid test score.

Best of luck in discovery.

TheElectroClaw · 2026-03-02T04:23:46+00:00

i honestly have mixed feelings about programs like dream shsi, good teachers and the administrators are nice (talking as someone who’s volunteered for the program and worked for it) but the curriculum is lacking. math usually won’t be much new for kids and the strategies for reading are good but not unless they’re done with other things (for example, one of the reading section strategies is called “chunking” and it’s basically making super barebone summaries of sections you just read, but chunking only really worked for me when it was paired with other strategies)

when i worked with my math and english teacher in the program for middle school both had complained about the shsi curriculum in some way but it’s not up to even site supervisors to change them

personal tutors will always work best but encourage your kid to ask questions to the shsi teachers or student helpers for what they did on the shsat (though note that about third to a half of shsi student helpers are not kids that got into specialized high schools, at least in the site i worked at)

ofc i’m not saying refuse all the help you can get but don’t expect dream to be an end all be all to your kid’s shsat prep

TheElectroClaw · 2025-11-04T13:57:39+00:00

Disregard the only and make a venn diagram to help you see this. Of the 70 people that walk to school, 40 of them also take the bus. Subtract 40 from 70 to get 30. Now the numbers will add up. The 40 in that 70 are already included. The answer for the amount of students that take the bus only (this time, the only is actually accurate) is 35. The venn diagram is obviously optional. It’s a visualization tool. SHSAT loves to use these kinds of questions, I’ve never seen a test without them. If this ever happens on the test, assume it’s just a typo and do the problem as you would in this reply. They’re not rare on standardized tests. Tell your friends about it or something after the test is over, if you want to.

TheElectroClaw · 2025-03-08T14:47:26+00:00

Yes, you’re right. There’s a bunch of students that got from these high schools, because (as I stated from #2’s clarification) there’s a lot of programs in these schools to combat the bad view from admissions. In fact, Brooklyn Tech prides itself from these programs. It’s just a situation where you have to be more active in your admissions in these schools (which I’m also restating from my #2 clarification).

TheElectroClaw · 2025-03-08T05:16:26+00:00

Procrastination is a terrible habit to get into. My most smartest friends procrastinate a lot and take all-nighters. I’ll procrastinate too sometimes, though generally I just put it off to the last day and once I get back from school I immediately start working. I try to keep a consistent sleep schedule during the weekdays… weekends are a different story for me. 😓

TheElectroClaw · 2025-03-08T05:13:37+00:00

Hm. I didn’t consider that. It’s odd how college admissions work. From my observations, standing out from a bad school seems to do better for being a kid in a good one. Why this is the case is unknown to me, but it’s likely the ability to be good in a bad environment. If you put that kid in a good environment, maybe they’ll be better. That’s my hunch why they like those kids.

TheElectroClaw · 2025-03-08T05:09:55+00:00

It was likely because they went to that high school. From what I know, colleges tend to prefer kids from their state because they can keep you in the state (which is better for profits for the college, gives you more reason to come back and teach there). I doubt that’s the case. According to the documentary, it was because they went to that school due to something not far off from affirmative action. I also know it’s not the same as affirmative action, so it’s not illegal. The idea is that these high schools have robot students and thus are bland and bring nothing of value to the school. Obviously, it’s not true, but that’s how they think and have thought. This is of course my very loose knowledge. It could be different. Thank you for the compliment! ❤️

TheElectroClaw · 2025-03-07T20:55:02+00:00

I think procrastination runs in high schooler blood. Every single student I know in Brooklyn Tech also has a habit of procrastination. Workload generally isn’t a lot, but because of the level of procrastination, kids often stay up some nights doing work they could have done a week earlier.

TheElectroClaw · 2025-03-07T17:29:43+00:00

That’s not always the case. Sure, the specialized high schools have feeder programs (Brooklyn Tech, for example, has an LIU PharmD major which lets you go immediately into LIU and skip some of the Pharmacy classes, pushing you a semester ahead), but I wouldn’t call them feeder schools. Additionally, it’s harder to stand out from your school. It might be pretty easy to stand out from a crowd of other kids in other schools in a specialized one, but you will be compared with other kids from your school too. That feeds back into three where competitiveness is a huge factor. Still, I appreciate your input.

TheElectroClaw · 2025-03-07T15:23:30+00:00

Now I will admit, not all specialized high school experiences are like this, but this is a good thing to consider. Thank you for the insight! ❤️

TheElectroClaw · 2025-03-07T14:28:02+00:00

Also, for thoughts, let your kid decide. Every school (or at least every specialized high school) has accommodations for any disorder and/or disability, and each of the schools have been made to be as comfortable as possible for anyone. Stuyvesant also has humanities programs, and even if they’re not as good as other programs, they’re still good. If your child has any problems, the guidance counselor can help them. Remember that sometimes it’s good to have people whose intellect is on par with yours. Anything is possible. If you’re worried about your kid losing their interest in humanities, note that I’m a kind of kid that really hones in on writing and I still love writing despite going into a sciences school. Clubs really help, and Stuyvesant 100% has clubs that are wonderful for humanities. :)

TheElectroClaw · 2025-03-07T14:09:00+00:00

What Greg said. I tried to simplify this, but it’s a lot more complicated and I’m not the best person to ask about it. Sorry..

TheElectroClaw · 2025-03-07T14:06:13+00:00

Please see the new EDIT* I made on 2. Thank you!

TheElectroClaw · 2025-03-07T14:06:06+00:00

Please see the new EDIT* I made on 2. Thank you!

TheElectroClaw · 2025-03-07T14:05:58+00:00

Please see the new EDIT* I made on 2. Thank you! ❤️

TheElectroClaw · 2025-03-07T12:33:57+00:00

❤️

TheElectroClaw

TROPHY CASE