We all hear about the highly selective schools that only take ace testers and "A" students. But what happens to solid students who don’t make the cut?

The InsideSchools staff compiled a list of our picks for the “B” student. These schools offer solid instruction as well as accelerated, college level and elective classes—many are great picks for the "A" student too. Included are programs in large neighborhood schools, arts and Career and Technical Education (CTE) schools and even a few highly selective ones such as NEST +M and NYC iSchool.

How we compiled our list

First, we identified high schools that are in the top quartile (25 percent) for “college readiness,” meaning the percentage of students who graduated with English and math Regents exam scores high enough to avoid taking remedial classes at CUNY colleges. A high school with a college readiness rate of 45 percent or better falls into the top quartile; the citywide average is 32 percent.

Next, we narrowed the list to schools and programs that a “B” student can get into. We included ones that don’t screen for grades—limited unscreened, audition only and educational option admissions methods—as well as screened schools where the lowest grade average for a student admitted fell between 65 and 85.

Finally, we believe that stats don’t tell the whole story and included a few solid options that didn’t meet our criteria, either because they are too new to have college readiness data or we believe are worth considering despite falling below our minimum threshold.

You can review our Best Bets for the “B” Student here.

We've included schools in all five boroughs. See a calendar of upcoming school tours on the Department of Education's website.

Did we miss any schools? Please share your suggestions in the Comments sections and don't forget to include why you think the school is a good pick.

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Oct. 15-16: Borough high school fairs

Oct. 19: Consortium school fair

Oct. 29: CTE fair