In New York City, It Can Be Tougher To Get Into Pre-K Than Harvard

Parents trying to enroll their children in one of New York City's public pre-kindergarten programs, good luck: The most-sought after schools are even harder to get into than Harvard University.

Harvard, which has the lowest acceptance rate of any college in the country, took 6.3 percent of applicants last year.

At PS 150 in Tribeca and PS 971 in Brooklyn, as at a handful of other city schools, the acceptance rate last year was 4 percent, according to information compiled by DNAInfo.

PS 187 and 163, both on the Upper West Side, accepted just 3 percent of applicants last year.

Today is the first day parents can apply for slots at hundreds of schools around the city, but many will be disappointed — in areas like Bay Ridge, there are eight applicants for every seat, according to the New York Daily News.

While around 68,000 kids are eligible for NYC's free pre-K programs, there are only 20,000 full-day slots, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio told the Daily News.

And that's an improvement: The city budgeted $20 million this year for 4,000 new full-day pre-K seats in "needy neighborhoods," a spokesman for the Education Department told the Daily News.

There are alternatives to public pre-K programs, like those run by community organizations that are free or close to free, according to DNAInfo.

But this year, there's also an added incentive for parents to send their kids to a public pre-K: For the first time, those students will have priority for kindergarten admissions at the same school during fall enrollment.

And considering how hard it is to get into some of NYC's kindergarten programs, that could be a real advantage.