Build your MySchools application list
MySchools asks you to rank up to 12 kindergarten or middle school programs. The NYC Schools iPhone app asks three questions (grade, address and current school), then ranks the programs your child can realistically get, with each one’s chance from last year’s real admissions results. Share the list with your co-parent and edit it together.
Example: 425 6th Ave, Greenwich Village
A 6th grader currently at PS 41, zoned to MS 297 in District 2, willing to travel up to 45 minutes by transit. Chances are from MySchools’ 2026-27 admissions results.
MS 297, the zoned middle school, is always on the list: schools ranked below it would only matter if that seat fell through. If this family were eligible for free lunch, set-asides would raise their chance at Salk from 36% to 43%, and at NYC Lab from 25% to 40%. The app asks that kind of question only when the answer would change your list.
How MySchools matching works
Rank in your true order of preference
MySchools uses a matching algorithm where ranking a school higher never hurts your chances at the schools below it. There is no strategic advantage to putting a "safer" school first.
Your zoned school is your safety net
Zoned kindergarten seats (and zoned middle schools for their own zone) are effectively guaranteed, so schools ranked below your zoned school only come into play if you don’t get that seat. Our lists always include it, and fill all 12 choices in ranking order; anything ranked below it is a backup.
Choices with almost no chance just use up slots
If nobody in your priority group got in last year, ranking that program doesn’t hurt you, but it doesn’t help either. You get up to 12 choices.
Your priority group is what decides the odds
Siblings, your zone, your district, your current school and free-lunch set-asides all change which group you’re in. The same school can be a sure thing for one family and a long shot for the next.
Thinking of moving?
Zones are named after schools, but one neighborhood can be split between several elementary zones, and some blocks have no middle school zone at all. In the app’s Explore Areas, drop a pin anywhere on the map to see that spot’s zones and the full list your child would get if you lived there.
Deadlines
Middle school applications are usually due in early December, and kindergarten applications in late January. Confirm this year’s dates on MySchools. The app’s chances are last year’s results; MySchools makes the real offers.
Free to download. Application lists are part of Premium; a co-parent you invite doesn’t need Premium. Want to check a school first? Its priority groups are on its page here, like NYC Lab’s.