In NYC, there are way more 3 year olds than there are prestigious kindergarten slots, so parents are doing everything they can to give their toddlers an edge.

This now includes hiring test-prep companies and tutors to prepare kids for the dreaded ERB, OLSAT, and BRSA exams.

Meanwhile, heads of admissions at the city's private schools are fuming. "It's unethical," one sniffs, apparently having never had to worry about getting her own kids admitted to any of these schools.

Sharon Otterman, NYT: Test preparation has long been a big business catering to students taking SATs and admissions exams for law, medical and other graduate schools. But the new clientele is quite a bit younger: 3- and 4-year-olds whose parents hope that a little assistance — costing upward of $1,000 for several sessions — will help them win coveted spots in the city’s gifted and talented public kindergarten classes.

Motivated by a recession putting private schools out of reach and concern about the state of regular public education, parents — some wealthy, some not — are signing up at companies like Bright Kids NYC. Bright Kids, which opened this spring in the financial district, has some 200 students receiving tutoring, most of them for the gifted exams, for up to $145 a session and 80 children on a waiting list for a weekend “boot camp” program.

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