Few voices have articulated the unfairness and absurdity of continuing this tradition more clearly than the public high school students across New York City who have protested and organized in recent years to demand an end to the admissions tests and screening policies. Some of the high schools in question, known as specialized high schools, are required by state law to use a common exam as the single point of entry. Another exam, for Hunter College High School in Manhattan, a public school overseen by the City University of New York, is administered separately. The specialized high school exam is scheduled to be held next month. Hunter’s exam, which is usually given in January, has been postponed indefinitely. In a statement, officials at Hunter said they were still weighing how to approach admissions for September and were “looking at holistic ways to remedy the diversity concerns.”

With the exam for Hunter delayed, students there see an opportunity to abolish it entirely. In a letter to the school administration, students questioned why the school had not done so already, even as Boston and other cities suspended similar admissions tests over concerns they would worsen inequality in the midst of the pandemic. “Their leaders are recognizing that the dual public health and equity emergencies they are facing necessitate suspending their tests and taking action to ensure fair access for highly qualified Black and Latinx students,” the Hunter students wrote. “Why isn’t Hunter doing the same?”

Hunter’s three-hour exam is for most students the sole point of entry into the school, which is just 2.4 percent Black and 6.2 percent Latino, in a district that is 25 percent Black and 41 percent Hispanic over all. The student activists at Hunter have a list of complaints and demands. They argue that the exam unfairly disadvantages Black and Hispanic students, who are less likely to have access to extensive test preparation. They say they have been denied the opportunity to attend school with New Yorkers of other races and socioeconomic backgrounds. They also describe a difficult environment for the Black and Latino students and students from lower-income households who do attend Hunter.

Chloë Rollock, a senior at Hunter who said she is one of just a handful of Black students in her grade, said being the only Black student in class “when we’re talking about slavery, or things that are going on in New York City right now that have to do with Black people,” had often been a painful experience. “Everyone is always looking at me, and I always know it,” said Ms. Rollock, 17. “It really reminds me, I’m this outlier. I questioned my worthiness being at Hunter. It made me question my own self-worth.”

High school students across the city have raised many of the same issues in recent years, demanding changes to admissions policies by staging walkouts, marches, a sit-in at City Hall and other protests.