CHICAGO — For students who want to snag a coveted seat at one of Chicago's 11 selective-enrollment high schools, the clock is ticking.
Applicants are considered based on a 900-point scale that combines their grades, their scores on annual standardized tests and the results of an admissions test in the fall.
The admission tests for CPS students will be given:
• Oct. 14
• Nov.18
• Dec. 9
• Jan. 27
• Feb. 3
The test will be administered on those dates at five high schools:
• Lane Tech College Prep, 2501 W Addison St.
• Lindblom Math and Science Academy, 6130 S. Wolcott Ave.
• King College Prep, 4445 S. Drexel Blvd.
• Westinghouse College Prep, 3223 W. Franklin Blvd.
• Whitney Young Magnet, 211 S. Laflin St.
CPS high school applications had been expected to open Monday, but officials announced Saturday that the application period would be pushed back a week "in order to ensure the best user experience for families."
The first day for CPS students to apply for high school is Oct. 10, and the deadline for all students to apply is Dec. 22.
Students will be notified of admission offers March 15.
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Students attending a school outside CPS who apply to one of these programs must take the Northwestern Evaluation Association Measures of Academic Progress. Test registration forms can be emailed to oaecommunications@cps.edu.
The admission test for non-CPS students who apply no later than Monday will be given Oct. 21-22. A limited number of students can take the test on the makeup date, Jan. 13-14, officials said.
The admission test for non-CPS students will be given at three high schools on those dates:
• Lane Tech College Prep, 2501 W Addison St.
• Lindblom Math and Science Academy, 6130 S. Wolcott Ave.
• Westinghouse College Prep, 3223 W. Franklin Blvd.
For the first time this year, all eighth-grade students will fill out a common high school application that would include some charter schools and military schools as well as career and technical education schools, officials said.
Students applying to a selective-enrollment school will fill out a second application, officials said.
About 30 percent of seats at selective-enrollment schools are reserved for the top scorers, while the remaining slots are split equally among four socio-economic tiers in the city to encourage an economically and racially diverse student body.
The new application is designed to make the high school application process more "fair and equitable," CPS Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson said.
Students will be offered a spot at the highest-ranked school that they are qualified for, officials said.
A student could always choose to go to their neighborhood school, regardless of the outcome of the application process, Jackson said.
For more information, call 773-553-2060.
