Hunter College High School is a golden ticket for public school students in New York City. Nationally renowned as a feeder to Ivy League Universities, its students boast the highest test scores of any school in the nation, public or private. Hunter College High School represents a chance for students to get an elite prep-school education at the best possible price: free.
Gaining admission to HCHS, which runs from grade 7 through grade 12, is a two-step process. First, potential applicants obtain specific NY ELA and Math test scores as fifth graders or achieve above the 90th percentile on their 5th-grade standardized exams. This qualifies them to sit for HCHS’s entrance exam as sixth graders.
Like any standardized test, HCHS’s entrance exam isn’t just a test of intelligence. It has a predictable set of challenges that can be studied and mastered. However, students only have one chance to take it, so students should start preparing early.
Exam Format
The HCHS entrance exam is typically administered at the end of January. Students complete three sections in three hours: a passage-based reading comprehension section with 50 multiple-choice questions, an open-ended essay, and a math section with 30 multiple-choice questions.
Additionally, unlike many standardized tests, HCHS allows students to complete the sections in any order. So, students can divide their time however they please.
While there is no official passing score, roughly the top 500 students have their essays reviewed, and around 170 students are ultimately offered admission.
The Math Section
HCHS advertises its math section as a test of problem-solving ability covering a broad range of content. Much of the material reflects standard sixth-grade topics. The test contains topics like computations with integers, fractions, decimals, and percents; rates and ratios; perimeter and area; and time and money.
Some of the content also resembles competition math rather than school math. Topics like combinatorics, areas of shaded regions, divisibility rules, pattern recognition, and three-dimensional figures are found in elementary and middle school math competitions.
When Should Students Start Preparing?
General test-prep best practices apply: students should start preparing well in advance, measure themselves against HCHS’s official practice exams, and use third-party exams for much of their practice.
Finally, since HCHS’s exam tests content that appears in competition math, students should also consider using resources besides direct practice exams.
At Tampa Bay Test Prep, we have extensive experience teaching competition math. To help students get an early start and prepare for the HCHS exam, we recommend taking our Competition Math 3-4, Introduction to AMC 8, and Advanced AMC 8 classes.
