Applying – BEC Queens

Overview

Bard High School Early College is a public, non-specialized, and screened high school/early college.

Eighth-grade applicants who are interested in our program must fill out the Department of Education’s High School Application on MySchools. Please ask your guidance counselor for additional information about the high school ranking website. Students who are applying from private or parochial schools are advised to speak with their school’s principal. Students may rank up to 12 non-specialized programs/schools on the Department of Education High School Application in addition to the specialized and audition high schools. Please note that students who apply to our other BHSEC schools (Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx) must list these as separate choices on their application. Please review program/school choices and carefully prioritize the list. We strongly recommend that you seek advice from your guidance counselor and review the NYC High School Directory before ranking programs.

2024-2025 Admissions Information

Applicant Profile

The following is required of all students who apply to BHSEC Queens:

a completed BHSEC assessment. We are returning to in-person assessments for the 2024-2025 year. Please register HERE.
a completed Department of Education’s High School Application on MySchools.
currently resides in one of the five boroughs of New York City.

About the assessment and rubric components

The BHSEC Assessment was created and developed by the BHSEC faculty and administration to assess applicants writing, thinking, and interest in an early college.

There are three parts to the assessment: a writing prompt, a math part, and an interview. Not all students will be interviewed, only those that do well on our assessment. We will notify students on their interview status within 4 weeks. All students will be notified if they’ve made it to the interview stage or not.

Rubric components and weights

Average Course Grades – 10%
Humanities Response – 30%
Math – 30%
Interview – 30%

How to Take the BHSEC Assessment

Before you register for our assessment please read the requirements and tips listed below:

In order to be eligible for possible admissions for FALL 2025, you must currently be a New York City resident.
You must register for our assessment. Register HERE.
You must fill out and submit a NYC High School application in MySchools listing Bard High School Early College as one of your 12 choices. Ranking order matters. Please rank Bard High School Early College in preference order. If you are applying to several Bard campuses then these need to be separate choices.
If you require special accommodations for testing please register for our special accommodations testing date.

Click HERE for the Department of Education’s Screened School Page.