Chicago Public Schools --
elite high schools and selective enrollment
Information on Chicago Public Schools and selective enrollment
Information on the CPS selective-enrollment application process
Information on the revised CPS selective-enrollment admission policy
The latest on the 2009-10 application process and results
Payton: from 956 last year to 962 this year; GPA 3.92
Northside: from 979 last year to 985 this year; GPA 3.97
Young: from 949 last year to 965 this year; GPA 3.93
Remember -- these are average point totals, not cutoffs
Expect the 2010-2011 mean scores to be even higher at each of these schools (e.g., perhaps 970 at Payton and Young, and perhaps 990 at Northside)
- How the "principal's pick" process works ("Too much power to principals?", Chicago Sun-Times, 2/24/09) (principals have "the power to hand-pick 5 percent of their freshmen -- without following a strict formula based on admission tests, grades and attendance")
From the Sun-Times article:
Students selected (last year) as 2008-09 college prep freshmen based on admission formula and principal discretion:
| College Prep | # of 2008 Applicants Tested | % of Tested Applicants Selected | Additional Principal Picks | Total 2008-09 9th-Graders Enrolled |
| Brooks | 2681 | 13% | 0 | 198 |
| Jones | 5730 | 7% | 11 | 214 |
| King | 2447 | 21% | 9 | 244 |
| Lane | 8052 | 29% | 56 | 1106 |
| Lindblom | 1891 | 24% | 11 | 176 |
| Northside | 5345 | 6% | 2 | 257 |
| Payton | 7619 | 4% | 13 | 234 |
| Young | 9174 | 8% | 27 | 504 |
| Source: Chicago Board of Education |
Be sure to read my
2/29/08 blog post on the selective-enrollment admissions process, why it is so much harder to get into the top schools than people think it is, and how much more competitive it is now than it was a year or two ago.
Basic information on the selective-enrollment high schools and application process
- Selective enrollment website
- Overview of selective enrollment (CPS Office of Academic Enhancement)
- Selective enrollment FAQ -- an excellent summary of the process (must-read)
- Selective enrollment admissions hotline: 773-553-2240
- Mean scores, GPAs, and 7th-grade absences for successful applicants
The mean point totals (out of 1,000) are NOT safe cutoffs, as I explain in my blog.
In the 2008-09 application cycle, successful applicants to Young, Northside, and Payton scored, on average, in the 94th to 96th percentiles on 7th-grade math tests and in the 92nd to 94th percentiles on 7th-grade reading tests. The low end of each range is higher than it was a year earlier.
In the 2009-10 application cycle, successful applicants to Young, Northside, and Payton scored, on average, in the 95th to 98th percentiles on 7th-grade math tests and in the 94th to 97th percentiles on 7th-grade reading tests.
If this trend continues, the 2010-11 application cycle will generate even higher average scores.
- Application process for the 8 elite high schools, and who is eligible to apply
- How 7th-grade attendance points are calculated
How points are calculated
Click here to view a detailed point-conversion chart and explanation of the application scoring system I encourage students who have just finished 7th grade to calculate how many points (out of 700) they have earned so far, and how many more points they will need to earn to get into Payton, Northside, Young, or other schools. See my blog post on the true cutoffs for the most selective schools. Students entering 7th grade should be aware that they will lose 25 points for each "B" year-end grade that could have been an "A" -- in reading, math, science, and social studies. They will also lose 2 points for every absence during 7th grade.
The timeline for the 2007-08 application year, from the CPS selective enrollment website (last year's timeline was not posted on the
CPS website):
Application Deadline -- Postmark by December 21, 2007
Testing Begins December 15, 2007
Notification of Results Mailed February 22, 2008
Parents' Deadline to Notify Schools March 14, 2008
Excellent articles about the selective-enrollment process
- How the "principal's pick" process works ("Too much power to principals?", Chicago Sun-Times, 2/24/09) (principals have "the power to hand-pick 5 percent of their freshmen -- without following a strict formula based on admission tests, grades and attendance")
- CPS "principal discretion" guidelines and parent application form
- CPS announcement of the "principal discretion" process
- Chicago Tribune article on selective enrollment (1/17/07) -- 15,000 students applied in 2006-07 for 2,700 spots
- Chicago Magazine article on selective enrollment (May 2006), including a rundown of the 8 elite high schools
- CPS selective-enrollment admission statistics (2006-07), including racial and gender imbalances, and the issue of gender-weighting (and racial adjustments) in selective-enrollment schools
Recent news on selective-enrollment high schools
- How the "principal's pick" process works (Chicago Sun-Times, 2/24/09)
- Principals are granted discretion (Medill, 2/27/08)
- Principals of the 8 elite high schools can now hand-pick up to 5% of entering classes, since this proposal was approved on 2/27/08 (Chicago Sun-Times, 2/25/08)
- Another article on the proposal (Chicago Tribune, 2/26/08)
- How Michael Jordan's son got into Whitney Young (Chicago Sun-Times, 2/25/08)
Other public-school resources
- CPS magnet programs
- Public-school scorecard
- 2008 Illinois school "report card" (test scores and demographics for every public school)
- District 299 (the unofficial Chicago Public Schools blog)