CHICAGO — The clock is ticking for parents of students looking to snag a coveted spot in one of Chicago's selective-enrollment or magnet schools.
Applications are due by midnight Friday for Chicago Public Schools' selective-enrollment, college and career academies, International Baccalaureate elementary and high schools, military academies and magnet schools.
The selective-enrollment application process is highly competitive. More than 13,413 students applied for 3,600 seats in the 2015-16 freshman class.
A new website promises to help Chicago students to explore and learn more about prospective public high schools in their area.
UChicago Impact, a nonprofit organization that provides tools to improve K-12 education, created High School Bound as an easy way for students to find schools that are the best match and fit for them.
But if you don't get one of the highly sought after spots, don't despair.
A study by the University of Chicago found selective-enrollments schools may do almost nothing to boost students’ academic performance, although they have other advantages.
Applicants are considered based on a 900-point scale that combines their previous grades, their score on annual standardized tests and the results of an admissions test in the fall.
About 30 percent of seats at selective-enrollment schools are reserved for the top scorers, while the remaining slots equally among four socio-economic tiers in the city to encourage an economically and racially diverse student body.
Students attending a school outside CPS who apply to one of these programs must take the Northwestern Evaluation Association Measures of Academic Progress in by the end of January.
For more information, email the CPS Office of Access and Enrollment or call 773-553-2060.
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