Admission FAQ

For the 2025-2026 school year, Brearley will be considering candidates for Kindergarten, Classes V through VIII in our Middle School, and Class IX in our Upper School. 

Spaces in Classes I through IV and Class X will be based on attrition, which means a current family must leave Brearley in order for us to consider a new student for these classes. 

Yes, financial assistance is available to any qualifying family. An applicant family interested in receiving financial assistance completes the admission application process and the financial assistance application process simultaneously.

Admission decisions are determined before financial assistance decisions are made. In other words, applying for financial assistance does not impact our determination of your child’s admissibility to Brearley. 

For more information on financial assistance at Brearley, visit our Tuition and Financial Assistance page. 

Applicant families that anticipate applying for financial assistance at Brearley can waive the admission application fee by using code FA2024 when prompted to waive the application fee.

No, please do not submit more than what is listed as a requirement for the admission process. Additional materials outside of our stipulated requirements will not be considered by the admission committees.

No. Brearley does not want letters of recommendation.

While we understand that traveling to Brearley can be a challenge, we believe that the best way for us to get to know your child and your family is through in-person interaction. With advanced notice, our admission team will gladly work with you to coordinate a visit to campus that will best align with your travel schedule. 

At this time, we do not have any virtual alternatives available for the aspects of our process that require an in-person visit (ex. interviews, Kindergarten applicant visit).

Brearley maintains a waitlist of qualified admission candidates through the end of June.

A legacy candidate is a child whose mother attended the Brearley School and a sibling candidate's sister must be a currently enrolled student.

Sibling and legacy families may opt for early notification for Kindergarten if they have submitted their application by October 1, 2024, and completed the entire application file by November 27, 2024. The financial assistance application deadline for Kindergarten Early Notification applicants is December 2, 2024.

Early Notification is not an option for Middle School and Upper School applicants.

Brearley’s student-to-teacher ratio is 6:1. This small ratio allows for personal attention to be given to every student, wider participation in the classroom, and more meaningful relationships to be built between our students and our faculty members.

Brearley students commute to school in a variety of ways. Those living in the Yorkville area have a short walk while students living farther away may use public transportation or a bus service depending on where they reside.

Every student in Classes VII through XII who lives at least a half mile away from Brearley receives a Department of Education issued MetroCard to support their travel to and from school.

Families residing in Brooklyn can elect to have their child use a private bus provided by Brearley and Chapin. This private bus is an additional fee that is not covered by tuition.

Brearley is a member of the Interschool, a consortium of eight Manhattan independent schools that offer programming at various times throughout the year. These schools include the Brearley School, the Browning School, Chapin, Collegiate School, the Dalton School, Nightingale Bamford School, Spence School, and Trinity School.

Here is a list of events/activities:

• Brearley-Collegiate Service Day: Starting in ninth grade, Brearley and Collegiate students partner for an annual event called Service Day. Each year, students engage with an organization to make a lasting impact and learn from both local and nonlocal communities. 

• Frost Valley: In 10th grade, sophomores from Brearley, Chapin, Spence, Nightingale, Collegiate and Browning travel to YMCA’s Frost Valley camp for three days of bonding, learning and growing. In fact, seniors from each school can even apply for a peer leadership role to support students from sophomore classes.

• Interschool events: These exciting events include coffeehouses, plays and dances, among other activities.

• Interschool classes: Interschool offers game theory class and driver’s education.