Hunter College High School admissions: 7th grade entry in Fall 2027
Hunter College High School, at 71 East 94th Street, is one of the Hunter College Campus Schools, the laboratory schools of the City University of New York. It serves grades 7 to 12 and admits students only into 7th grade, through its own entrance exam.
An independent guide by EagleTeach, based on the school's published admissions pages. We are not affiliated with Hunter College High School; always confirm details with the school.
Entry points and deadlines
The only entry point is 7th grade: Hunter does not admit students into grades 8 to 12.
Applicants must be in 6th grade at a New York City or neighboring school (or homeschooled and registered with the NYC Office of Homeschooling), and live full-time in one of the five boroughs as of 1 September of the application year.
To sit the January 2027 exam, students need qualifying Spring 2026 5th-grade NYS scores in both subjects: at least 478 in ELA and 497 in math.
Students who took another approved 5th-grade test instead (ERB CTP 5, Iowa Test of Basic Skills, TerraNova 3 or Stanford 10) need the 90th national percentile in both reading and math. NWEA MAP, i-Ready, ERB Milestones, ISEE and SSAT are not accepted this year.
Students slightly below a cutoff may be able to apply through the Academic Insights Profile. Students who took no approved 5th-grade test can ask Hunter for approval to take one in 6th grade, by 21 December 2026.
Applications go through Ravenna, there is no application fee, and Hunter asks families not to send letters, report cards or other extra material.
Testing
The entrance exam lasts three hours, and the sections can be done in any order: Reading Comprehension (50 multiple-choice questions on five or six passages), Mathematics (30 multiple-choice questions, no calculators) and a Writing Assignment.
The writing task is an essay or a creative piece of up to two pages, assessed for originality, effectiveness and use of detail.
Multiple-choice answers are scored by computer. Students above a threshold score, set each year, go to the essay-reading round, where essays are read blind by a panel.
There are no make-up dates, scores are never released to families, and Hunter keeps an unranked waitlist.
Key dates for 7th grade entry in Fall 2027
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| Wednesday 23 September 2026, noon | Application opens on Ravenna |
| Friday 4 December 2026, 2pm | Application deadline |
| Monday 21 December 2026 | Last day for approved 6th-grade qualifying tests (students with no 5th-grade scores) |
| Wednesday 27 January 2027 | Hunter College High School entrance exam |
How to prepare
- ✓ Check both 5th-grade scores against 478 (ELA) and 497 (math) before anything else: both must qualify.
- ✓ Prepare the writing seriously: the essay decides between students who pass the multiple-choice threshold.
- ✓ Practise maths without a calculator: calculators aren't allowed, and every question has five answer choices.
- ✓ Use Hunter's two sample exams, noting that sample 1 has fewer reading questions than the real exam, and the real passages are more contemporary.
Need help with the tests? tutoring in New York or online test prep tutoring.
Common questions
What scores do you need to apply to Hunter College High School?＋
For the January 2027 exam: Spring 2026 5th-grade NYS scores of at least 478 in ELA and 497 in math, or the 90th national percentile in reading and math on another approved test.
When is the Hunter entrance exam?＋
Wednesday 27 January 2027. There are no make-up dates.
Is there an application fee?＋
No. Applications go through Ravenna and are free.
Can students join Hunter in 9th grade?＋
No. 7th grade is the only entry point.
Does Hunter release entrance exam scores?＋
No. Families don't receive scores and aren't told whether their child reached the essay round.
Sources
Facts on this page were checked against these sources on 2026-10-13.