As acceptance letters start arriving, it may be difficult to decide which school is best to attend. Remember that this is a great position in which to be. You have successfully opened up all of your doors and now you can decide which one to choose. You should take into account all important factors to determine where your student will thrive best over the next four years of his or her life, such as academics (where do graduates attend? AP and SAT II level classes?), sports, extracurriculars, religion, others will all play a part. Do not leave this up to the student as they may weight unimportant factors much higher than is wise.
When making a tough decision between two schools, it is best to visit the school again for an open house or to shadow – you may be allowed to follow around a student of the school during their normal day to see how the prospective students likes the school. Most schools offer this but you must schedule it well in advance so call the school for details. The following schools are confirmed to have a spring open house, acceptance night, or shadow program. If your school is not here, please call them to determine if you can visit. Most schools will gladly allow you to even if they do not explicitly advertise it.
Below are accepted student nights, open house, and shadow programs:
St Peter’s Boys’ High School in Staten Island – info here
Xaverian High School in Brooklyn – “Clipper for a Day” – more info here
Marymount High School in Manhattan – “Experience” 1/12/16 – more info here
Notre Dame Academy in Staten Island – January 19, 2016 7PM- can shadow any time – more info here
St Joseph by the Sea High School in Staten Island – January 20 at 6:30 PM Boys; January 21 at 6:30 PM Girls – more info here
St. Agnes High School in Queens – Thursday, January 21, 2016 5PM-7PM – more info here
St. Joseph Hill in Staten Island – January 22 7:30PM – 9PM Accepted Students Night – more info here
Cristo Rey in Manhattan – Saturday January 23, 2016 12-3pm; Tours Fridays at 9:30AM; March 19, 2016 12PM-3PM – more info here
Dominican Academy in Manhattan – Wednesday, January 27, 2016 – more info here
St. Vincent Ferrer – January 27, 2016 at 6:00 pm; Shadow Day February 3, 2016 – more info here
Convent of the Sacred Heart in Manhattan- Feb and March for accepted students – more info here
Xavier High School in Manhattan – Open House for 7th and 8th graders Thursday, February 11, 2016 – more info here
Staten Island Academy – Jan 9 noon; Jan 16 9AM; April 30 9AM-noon – more info here
Hunter High School in Manhattan- March 16, 2016 – more info here
Brooklyn Technical High School – March 22 6-8:30 – more info here
Lasalle Academy – Informational Breakfast 8:00am, Wednesday, May 18th, 2016 – more info here