Friends Seminary
- Private
- NEW YORK, NY
Private School
Friends Seminary
- grade A+Overall Grade
- Private
- K-12
- NEW YORK, NY
- Rating 3.83 out of 5 60 reviews
COVID-19 Update for Prospective Students and Families:
Visit our website to read the New York State filing regarding Friends Seminary's plan for reopening school submitted by Friends Seminary to New York State on July 30, 2020.
Report Card
- Academicsgrade A+
- Diversitygrade A
- Teachersgrade A
- College Prepgrade A+
- Clubs & Activitiesgrade A minus
- Sportsgrade C
About
Applying
Application Deadline
January 15
Application Fee
$75
Interview Required
Yes
Required/Recommended Tests
ISEE, SSAT
Tuition
Yearly Tuition
$53,900
Tuition is for the highest grade offered and may have changed for the current school year. For more information, please contact the school.
Received Financial Aid
22%
Average Financial Aid
No data available
From Friends Seminary
Friends Seminary, the oldest continuously coeducational school in New York City, serves 787 college-bound day students in Kindergarten through Grade 12. Guided by the Quaker testimonies of integrity, peace, equality, and simplicity, we prepare students to both engage in the world that is and help bring about a world that ought to be.
Upcoming Events
Friends Seminary Rankings
Niche ranks nearly 100,000 schools and districts based on statistics and millions of opinions from students and parents.
Academics
Average Graduation Rate
100%
Average SAT
1390
157 responses
Average ACT
32
62 responses
Popular Colleges
Niche users from this school are most interested in the following colleges.
Culture & Safety
Poll
67%
of students agree that they feel safe at their school. 15 responsesPoll
47%
of students agree that they like their school and feel happy there. 15 responsesStudents
Diversity
grade A
Based on racial and economic diversity and survey responses on school culture and diversity from students and parents.
Students
787
47%
of students and parents agree that students at this school are competitive. 15 responses67%
of students and parents agree that students at this school are creative and artsy. 15 responses27%
of students and parents agree that students at this school are athletic. 15 responsesTeachers
Student-Teacher Ratio
7:1
National
17:1Poll
41%
of students and parents agree that the teachers give engaging lessons. 17 responsesPoll
47%
of students and parents agree that the teachers genuinely care about the students. 17 responsesPoll
41%
of students and parents agree that the teachers adequately lead and control the classroom. 17 responsesMap
Clubs & Activities
Clubs & Activities
grade A minus
Based on student and parent reviews of clubs and activities.
Girls Athletic Participation
Average
Boys Athletic Participation
Low
69%
of students and parents agree that there are plenty of clubs and organizations for students to get involved in. 16 responses31%
of students and parents agree that clubs and organizations get the funding they need. 16 responses50%
of students and parents agree that lots of students participate in clubs and organizations. 16 responses- Cost of Livinggrade C minus
- Good for Familiesgrade A
- Housinggrade C minus
Median Household Income
$117,727
National
$64,994Median Rent
$2,644
National
$1,096Median Home Value
$931,419
National
$229,800Friends Seminary Reviews
Rating 3.83 out of 5 60 reviews
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I came to Friends in 9th grade, and I like many others regret my decision.
First off, the so-called "amazing" English department is awful. Since they are praised by the administration, the teachers do not play by the usual academic rules of the school. They give out unnecessarily harsh grades, force students to write in a cookie-cutter and mundane fashion, and give upwards of 60+ pages of reading per night on top of essays and studying for impossible quizzes.
Also, the school likes to pretend that they are above the harassment of minorities and that they are the most WOKE school in NYC. This notion is false. Teachers are not fired for making sexual jokes to students, or just being bigots in general. The administration pretends to address problems by sending out lackluster emails but doing nothing about the situation in reality.
At least most of the students are nice and inclusive people!
If you are an incoming freshman, do not apply here.
First off, the so-called "amazing" English department is awful. Since they are praised by the administration, the teachers do not play by the usual academic rules of the school. They give out unnecessarily harsh grades, force students to write in a cookie-cutter and mundane fashion, and give upwards of 60+ pages of reading per night on top of essays and studying for impossible quizzes.
Also, the school likes to pretend that they are above the harassment of minorities and that they are the most WOKE school in NYC. This notion is false. Teachers are not fired for making sexual jokes to students, or just being bigots in general. The administration pretends to address problems by sending out lackluster emails but doing nothing about the situation in reality.
At least most of the students are nice and inclusive people!
If you are an incoming freshman, do not apply here.
I graduated from Friends during covid. The quality between "Zoom" school and in personal school was not significant - this is because in person school already lacked interactive classes in the high school and favored lecture-based, repetitive, regurgitative learning.
But Friends is a good place to enjoy a good school-life balance since the homework & curriculum load is incredibly light compared to other Independent Schools in the area. The school tries their best to avoid overloading students. As someone who came from a public school & then went to Friends, the workload was 1/2 of what we used to have but students seemed to struggle more than at my old school. Perhaps the content was more in depth but I'm also told that Friends did not believe in graded assignments (which is good) throughout middle school. Unfortunately it's left their students largely underperforming academically. But the flexible curriculum let students travel regularly, party, make friends & eliminated studying.
But Friends is a good place to enjoy a good school-life balance since the homework & curriculum load is incredibly light compared to other Independent Schools in the area. The school tries their best to avoid overloading students. As someone who came from a public school & then went to Friends, the workload was 1/2 of what we used to have but students seemed to struggle more than at my old school. Perhaps the content was more in depth but I'm also told that Friends did not believe in graded assignments (which is good) throughout middle school. Unfortunately it's left their students largely underperforming academically. But the flexible curriculum let students travel regularly, party, make friends & eliminated studying.
My experience at Friends Seminary was not great. I transferred in 9th grade since I had an older brother at this school.
Despite my brother having a difficult time, my parents encouraged me to follow in his foot steps. However, a few months into my freshman year, my parents and I have wanted to transfer ever since. I've applied out multiple times but the academics at Friends are years behind other NYC schools so I would have lots of makeup work.
Students here aren’t independent. Students are never engaged during classes, and the teachers don’t help out students when they are having trouble. The teachers don’t teach students too well, and don’t help students understand things, so students here don’t learn what they should be learning.
Therefore, if you are looking for a "moral" school Friends is no different than the other NYC private schools.
Despite my brother having a difficult time, my parents encouraged me to follow in his foot steps. However, a few months into my freshman year, my parents and I have wanted to transfer ever since. I've applied out multiple times but the academics at Friends are years behind other NYC schools so I would have lots of makeup work.
Students here aren’t independent. Students are never engaged during classes, and the teachers don’t help out students when they are having trouble. The teachers don’t teach students too well, and don’t help students understand things, so students here don’t learn what they should be learning.
Therefore, if you are looking for a "moral" school Friends is no different than the other NYC private schools.