Stuyvesant High School

As a (relatively) recent grad, Stuy is what you make of it. With a student body of over 3200 kids, it really feels like a sink or swim type place. If you are not motivated to reach out for the opportunities available, you'll have squandered an opportunity of a lifetime. Truth be told, that is alot for a 13 year old to first absorb, so it takes a certain personality to succeed.

But if you are a type-a person, this place is heaven. From a 200+ page course guide, with classes ranging from Gothic Literature to Multivariate Calculus, Diagnostic Medicine to Advanced UNIX programming, Stuy feels more like a college than a high school. With dozens of student run publications, and hundreds of clubs, there's something for everyone. When I attended, the school newspaper worked with the New York Times. We had a "wall street" club (and class) that had actual VPs from some very major financial firms come in. The school creates opportunities. It opens doors.

The school's facilities are impressive too. 10 floors containing science labs, dance studios, gyms (3), a pool, library, etc, the school definitely tries to give you the resources you need to succeed.

Yes, the school is full of brilliant people and this makes competition intense. I remember it being a stressful pressure cooker. But thanks to Stuy, I went from a small local public elementary school in Queens, to an Ivy League school and ended up at a very prestigious workplace.

I saw someone earlier (like three years ago) posted something about Stuy being inaccessible by trains. That just makes no sense. It's in Downtown Manhattan. You can get to it via the 1,2,3 4,5,6 a,c,e j,m,z r,w. I can't think of any school more accessible by public transportation.

And honestly, some of these reviews here seem a little suspect. Private schools have a tendency of feeding on the fears of parents about "Public Schools" like Stuyvesant because they worry about losing their best students to a school that's free. There are 800 kids a grade at Stuyvesant. 100+ go to the ivies alone. Stuy (again) has multiple Intel STS finalists. It's SAT average (across the entire junior/senior classes) blow away the private schools (with much smaller populations.) It's packed with students that take things so seriously that they schedule their prom every year at the grand ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria.

The school isn't packed with heroin addicts or crack heads. That's just crazy talk most likely influenced by private school administrators trying to slow the (growing) attrition of their strongest students to Stuy.

Posted 03/06/09 | Report Abuse

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I am a college student, and I graduated from Stuyvesant two years ago. I always wanted to go to an ivy league college. But after the stress, wrongfully chosen teachers, and lack of extra help, I now attend hunter college. To be blunt, this school is a waste of time. I smoked my through my junior and senior year. So in reply to the comment about "it is funny to me that the people who posted those did not acually attend the high school", I attended Stuy, and even though I learned things that not many High School students get to learn, its way more than high school has to be. In retrospect, I still think I would have prefered being on the top of another school, then just being a number at the bottom of Stuyvesant.

Posted 10/16/08 | Report Abuse

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Let us be honest here...Stuy is a school that only excepts students with a high IQ. If you use those talents then you will excel. Colleges & Universities will consider you above all the rest. For those family members who are complaining about drug use you may need to see what is going on in the home & who their friends are. If these kids cannot handle the "superiority" then I am sure their former inadequate educational high schools will except them back! Unfortunately, it sounds like there is no motivation involved in the prior comments.

Posted 06/12/08 | Report Abuse

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Well let me tell you about this school. BOTH of my brothers went here and one still goes here. they both turned out horrible and overwhelmed. One graduated in 2006 and believe me, my parents went through hell to keep him determined to go to school. the stress is overwhelming and depending on certain cliques you could end up a heroin junkie or marijuana/ crack smoker. So yea, my brother graduated and now my younger brother still goes there, he has ADD and it has gotten worse in this school..some teachers are overly outstanding while others have impossible expectations. My brother is a 10th grader involved with heroin injecting and crack/ marijuana because of the crazy stress..SEND your kids here if you wanna RUIN THEM. Thank God, i went to private school. by the way, both my brothers are younger than me and thus ive had a first hand experience on how to cope with family/friends under the influece of STUYVESANT!!!

Posted 01/06/08 | Report Abuse

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I am really appalled by the comment "many [students] resort to drug use to alleviate the stress"...thats just not true at all...and i would never call drugs and alcohol a "problem" at stuy...lol...it is funny to me that the people who posted those did not acually attend the high school...yes some (FEW) kids resorted to alcohol and drugs but to call them a problem is a lie, or a misunderstanding...also to say that i got "a leg up in applying to colleges" is offensive to me because it undermines the hard work i had to do in high school....the great thing about stuy is that they do not give you tons of "busywork" that just waste your time, the teachers there challenge your mind....it is much more about quality over quantity...it is fairly competitive, and I agree that many kids just compete with themselves...some kids gt too cought up in what grade they recieved rather than what they learned, but most are not that way...also I found most of the teachers to be great (someone that did not actually attend the school judged all the teachers, saying most were not good...which i did not find to be true at all,) they actually cared about what we were learning and went out of their way to educate more than what was required (for example, stuyvesant curriculum standards are set to the SATII level, not the normal Regents level.) Of course some (again FEW) were not good...but I would say without a doubt that MOST were very qualified. Also, the college dept. did an OUTSTANDING job of helping in the college application process...my brother attends another NYC high school and his school made him do everything, whereas the people in stuy do as much as possible to make sure you get into the college of your choice, or just a college. Furthermore, I can't say enough how well stuy has prepared me for college...i encourage everybody to try for stuy because of that quality in particular...compared to all my college friends, my transition from high school to college was easy...
If you are thinking of sending your kids to stuyvesant, I would most definately reccommend it, just keep in mind that it is a different high school...there is no detention because there are no fights....drugs are not a major problem...I was never invited to use any or peer pressured...but they may be there...the kids at stuy are different...they are very smart and things like what the cool kids are wearing really are not an issue to them at all...most of the kids are too mature and into their work to care about that kind of stuff...some kids are made for stuy and some are not (not that some are smarter than others...it is just a different school that some people are not made for...you have to be focused on your education if you want to excel in stuy)...I would say to visit it and see for yourself first to know if your child is right for it or not.

Posted 12/27/06 | Report Abuse

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I graduated from Stuy 10 years ago and for me it was a great experience. Having gone to Bayside for freshman year, the difference was huge! The students actually cared about doing well and the building was clean and under control. We had every resource we could ask for, and while not every teacher was a gem (some were downright awful) there were several who I still count among the best teachers I ever had. They expect a lot, and there's nothing wrong with that. Yes, at times it was stressful, and yes, it could be competitive. But coming from a school where no one seemed to care about anything, and where I was ridiculed for getting good grades, Stuy was a welcome change. And I also had fun. Where else could I have been part of the school newspaper, the literary magazine, the gospel choir, the orchestra, ASPIRA, the annual musical, and learn to develop black-and-white photography? I also took part in a voter registration campaign thanks to my history teacher. (It isn't all math and science, you know.) The friends I made there I still have today. As for drugs and alcohol, of course that's available everywhere. But like anything else, it's a choice. I never did drugs or drank a drop of alcohol the whole time I was there and it didn't matter at all. Yes, the students are self-motivated, which helps. But the general environment is what keeps them motivated. Believe me, I've seen other high schools, and anyone who gets to attend Stuy should count themselves very lucky. Was it perfect? Of course not. Will it give you your best shot at succeeding in college? Absolutely.

Posted 12/20/06 | Report Abuse

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Most of the students that go are always stressed out because it is the most competitive high school in NY. Many resort to drugs to alleviate the stress. The students do get the best facilities and the best teachers. Just for being in such a prestigious school gives them a leg up when applying to colleges. To attend this school, one must pass the entrance exam with a certain score.

Posted 11/04/05 | Report Abuse

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My son was a recent graduate of Stuyvesant High School. We just call it Stuy for short. Let me tell you something it was a nightmare. We were so happy when he got accepted but when he started attending, that's when the trouble began. Stuy is not close to public transportation. My son had to transfer to numerous different trains to get there. It originally wasn't a problem but he needed to get up very early. Also the teachers pressure the kids to do well and I used to get called by the teacher when my son's grades were down a few points. There is massive homework which is I think is bad because they overburden the kids. Thank god he graduated from this horrible school.

Posted 08/27/05 | Report Abuse

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Stuvesant HS is near my apt. building in lower manhattan. The kids that go to Stuvesant look smart and trendy and fun. My niece wil be going to HS next year and I hope to have her take the entrance exam to Stuyvesant. Big ups to them

PROS: Smat ones
CONS: none yet

Posted 07/26/05 | Report Abuse

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I am a recent graduate of Stuyvesant High School. Many people may tell you all about Stuyvesant, but few know the truth. The truth is that, while Stuyvesant is a very good school, it is not because of the teachers or the environment; half the teachers are terrible, the other half are pretty good, with a few outstanding ones. The environment is just as corrupting as any other school, with the exception of gangs, there are no gangs in Stuyvesant, but drug use is just as, or even more rampant than in other schools. People also say that Stuyvesant has a "competitive" atmosphere; it is simply untrue, most students "compete" only against themselves, they won't care whether or not they had the highest in the class, they only care that they got the highest test grade possible. What makes the school "good" is not the actual school itself, but the students. Every student that went to take the Stuyvesant acceptance test obviously has a want to learn (or a parent that wants him/her to), and since only the top of those educationally inclined students are accepted, most of the kids who go to Stuyvesant both want to learn and have the ability to, which is what makes the test scores and everything else seem so high. The myth about the 6 hours of homework per night is also wrong. Each person makes it whatever he or she wants it to be, some students look over their papers 10 times, some never proofread. So don't think that sending your child to Stuyvesant will automatically change him into a genius in 4 years, because it won't.

PROS: Filled with smart people.
CONS: Drugs, alcohol.

Posted 07/22/05 | Report Abuse

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