Research helps NYC students aim higher in public high school applications

A Cornell-led study has revealed that many New York City eighth-graders, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, fail to apply to academically competitive high schools where they could excel, a phenomenon known as "undermatching." The city's public high school application process is one of the largest and most intricate in the nation, involving more than 60,000 students navigating hundreds of options.

The complexity of the application process can be overwhelming, as Nikhil Garg, assistant professor at Cornell Tech, explains. Students are faced with 900 potential schools and must decide which ones to apply to, a task made more challenging by the sheer number of choices.

The research, published in Nature Cities, analyzed data from nearly 59,000 students who participated in New York City's high school admissions process during the 2022–23 school year. By examining admission patterns and students' choice behavior, the researchers discovered that, on average, students enrolled in schools that admitted around 64% of applicants, even though they could have been admitted to institutions that admitted only about 37% of applicants.

This discrepancy was most pronounced among students with the strongest applications and Black, Hispanic, and lower-income students.

The study suggests that offering students more personalized guidance on their realistic chances of admission could help mitigate these disparities. A second paper, led by doctoral student Erica Chiang, developed a personalized recommendation system deployed by NYCPS during the 2025–26 admissions cycle. The system sent tailored email recommendations to students at middle schools that typically send few applicants to high-performing high schools, highlighting nearby programs where the students had a high predicted chance of admission.

The results showed that students who received these recommendations were 59% more likely to apply to a recommended program compared to those who did not.

Chiang emphasized the importance of providing personalized guidance to help students discover and consider schools they might otherwise overlook. The researchers worked closely with NYCPS to ensure the recommendations were useful and did not overly constrain students' choices. They aimed to increase access to high-performing schools while preserving student autonomy in the application process.

Ultimately, the goal is to ensure that the complexity of the admissions process does not prevent students from achieving their educational aspirations.