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Abstract

30,000 eighth graders sit down to take the Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) every October, and Asian students – despite constituting only 16% of public school students citywide – make up 60 to 70% of the student body at the three most selective specialized high schools. Educators pinpoint affordable or free test prepping as the equalizer to help more black/Latino students get admitted. I surveyed (n = 134) and interviewed 16 recent specialized high school alums to examine the saliency of the test prep advantage. My results support that test prepping is indeed a co-ethnic social capital geographically salient in – but not limited to – East Asian enclaves. This thesis will also give insights into how strict parental involvement circumvents the higher-crime neighborhood effect experienced by 1.5 and second-generation black/Latino immigrants. Lastly, I will begin to discuss the limits of the cultural capital acquired from test prepping.