Admission to the HSU, MST and J&C magnets are decided by a committee of Manual teachers based on academic performance as measured by prior school grades and the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System, although extracurricular involvement is also considered. J&C applicants also participate in an on-demand writing assessment. The acceptance rate to each magnet varies with the number of applicants in any given year; in the mid-1990s about a third of applicants to these three magnets were selected each year. Admission the other two magnets, Visual Arts and the Youth Performing Arts School, are decided based primarily on auditions.