Upcoming Open Houses for Selective Enrollment High Schools

 With so many high school options across Chicago, choosing the right fit can feel overwhelming for students. While online resources (like this page on our website) can provide helpful information about each school's location, strengths, and academic and extracurricular offerings, visiting a school in person can offer valuable insight into its culture and community. For students applying to Selective Enrollment High Schools, as well as certain Catholic and Independent schools, open houses are a great way to connect with administrators and current students, explore available programs, and tour the campus and classrooms.  

This year, many Selective Enrollment High Schools are holding their open houses in October and November. Find a list of open houses and descriptions of their events in order of occurrence, below:

Hancock Selective Enrollment High School
Date: Saturday, October 18
Time: 10am to 1pm

Whitney Young Selective Enrollment High School
Date: Sunday, October 19
Time: 12:30pm to 4pm
Description: At Whitney Young's open house, high school presentations and tours will run every thirty minutes until 2:45pm. There will also be a presentation for students with disabilities at 2pm.

South Shore Selective Enrollment High School
Date: Thursday, October 23
Time: 5pm to 7pm
Description: Current South Shore students, faculty, and staff will welcome prospective students at their open house. The visit will be very interactive, including campus tours, Q&A's, and a club and activity fair. South Shore's IB program and Medical and Business program will also be introduced to prospective students.

Jones Selective Enrollment High School
Date: Saturday, October 25
Time: 10am to 3pm

King Selective Enrollment High School
Date: Saturday, October 25
Time: 10am to 1pm
Description: At King College Prep's open house, students will learn about the school, its program offerings, and its environment. Two presentations will be held at 10am and 11:30am, followed by student-led tours.

Westinghouse Selective Enrollment High School
Date: Saturday, November 1
Time: 10am to 1pm

Brooks Selective Enrollment High School
Date: Saturday, November 1
Time: 12pm to 3pm

Lane Tech Selective Enrollment High School
Date: Saturday, November 1
Time: 12pm to 2:30pm
Description: Lane Tech will be hosting an open house on November 1st. The first presentation will be held at 12pm, with presentations occurring approximately every 35 minutes. The last presentation will be at 2:20pm, and will be followed by tours led by current students.

Note that the other Selective Enrollment High Schools have already held their open houses. Walter Payton held theirs on Saturday, September 27 from 9am to 1pm, Northside College Prep’s was on Sunday, October 5 from 10am to 1pm, and Lindblom’s was on Saturday, October 11 from 10am to 11:30am.

If you are interested in checking out a neighborhood CPS school, families can check out the calendar of open houses for all CPS high schools here. Families interested in looking into non-CPS schools can look into Chicago School GPS's open house and school tour calendar here.

If your student is hoping to attend a selective enrollment high school, Catholic high school, or private high school, high test scores are a must. Through group courses (click here), 1-day workshops (click here), or personalized one-on-one tutoring (click here), our programs help to prepare students for the CPS HSAT through full-length practice exams, targeted homework assignments, and expert test-taking strategies. We continually update our materials based on student feedback and evolving exam trends.

GoCPS Applications Open from September 13th to November 9th

The GoCPS application will be available online from September 13th, 2023 to November 9, 2023. Students who will enter high school in the 2024-25 school year are now able to begin their applications for programs, including International Baccalaureate and selective enrollment high schools among others.

Students applying to selective enrollment high schools will complete the High School Admissions Test (HSAT) as part of this application, which will be offered in six languages this year instead of only in English. After receiving their HSAT scores, students will be able to re-rank their GoCPS choices from November 9th until November 22nd.

For a list of all available programs, students are directed to visit cps.edu/gocps. With any questions, families may contact CPS’ Office of Access and Enrollment at (773) 553-2060 or gocps@cps.edu.

Anna Jordan, Tutoring Coordinator
anna@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266

Selective Enrollment Chicago Public Schools Dominate Illinois High School Rankings

Each year, the U.S. News and World Report release a ranking of thousands of high schools across all 50 states. The ranking is based on a number of factors, including student performance on state testing and preparedness for college. Of the 647 Illinois high schools that made the list, the top five are all in the Chicago Public School (CPS) district!

Ranked in order, the CPS schools are Walter Payton College Preparatory High School, Northside College Preparatory High School, Jones College Preparatory High School, Whitney Young Magnet High School, and Lane Technical High School. In fact, Walter Payton is ranked as the fourth best high school in the Nation.

These five schools are all classified as Selective Enrollment High Schools, an initiative designed to support a diverse population of high achieving students. This network of 11 schools provides students with many opportunities and prepares them for success after high school. Schools in this program have a selective application process that involves students’ 7th grade final grades and scores on the CPS High School Admissions Exam taken during the fall of 8th grade.

To help students prepare for the Selective Enrollment Entrance Exam, Test Prep Chicago offers both group courses and individual tutoring sessions. For more information about setting up tutoring, please call (312) 848-1266 or send an email to info@testprepchicago.com.

Nate Mann, TPC Intern

CPS Changes to Selective Enrollment High School Admissions for Incoming 8th Graders

For students applying to selective enrollment high schools for the 2022-23 school year, CPS has modified the admission process by removing the NWEA Map Exam as an eligibility factor. Accordingly, the 900 point score system used in previous years (300 points for NWEA MAP exam, 300 points for Selective Enrollment High School exam, and 300 points for 7th grade grades in math, reading, science and social studies) has been adjusted to have the Selective Enrollment High School Entrance Exam (renamed as the CPS High School Admissions test - "HSAT" ) and 7th-grade grades now each count for 450 points. The elimination of the NWEA MAP exam also means that students need not have obtained a minimum score on the test in order to qualify to take the entrance exam thereby allowing more students to sit for the HSAT.

The Selective Enrollment High School Entrance Exam was renamed as the CPS High School Admissions Test to more accurately reflect that the test is used not only for admission to selective enrollment high schools but also for admission to certain honors programs and IB schools.

The HSAT covers the identical material that the Selective Enrollment High School Entrance Exam covered. Students attending CPS schools will take the exam at their school during a weekday. Non-CPS students will sit for the exam on certain weekends and locations designated by CPS.

CPS has not yet announced the dates of the exam but expects to do so sometime later this summer. CPS has also stated parents should expect to be provided more information about the admissions process from the primary school their child attends sometime this upcoming September.

Nate Hall, Tutoring Coordinator
nate@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266

High School Entrance Exam Prep Course at Test Prep Chicago

Every fall, Test Prep Chicago offers classes which encompass all three high school entrance exams: the selective enrollment high school entrance exam (SEHS), the independent school entrance exam (ISEE), and the high school placement test (HSPT). Over the course of eight weeks, students dive into the content of the tests, test-taking strategies, as well as the formatting and timing of each test. Though eight weeks may seem like a short amount of time to prepare for three tests, its an exceedingly accessible time frame given the likeness of each exam.

First, the content is exceedingly alike. Each of the tests include math (up through geometry), reading comprehension, vocabulary, and language skills (multiple choice for SEHS and HSPT, essay for ISEE). Given these similarities, students studying for any or all exams are able to work toward reviewing or learning the same concepts. Where there are a few differences, such as the essay section on the ISEE, students studying specifically for the ISEE will be provided with supplementary, exam- specific material for homework. However, since the student is engaging in language and grammar in our class, they will still be getting their fair share of in-class language and grammar prep for the ISEE. Additionally, another commonality on the tests is that there is no calculator permitted, nor is there a guessing penalty.

Next, the time permitted to take each test ranges from two hours and thirty minutes to three hours.  Accordingly, the stamina needed to build up in order to successfully take each exam is almost indistinguishable. The only exception is that the HSPT has quite a few more questions than the other two exams. Similar to the essay section with the ISEE, supplementary materials will be provided for those students who wish to work on specifically on quickly getting through many questions that the HSPT will inevitably have.

Lastly, since the formatting of each exam is slightly different, we include questions formatted in the likeness of each exam so students feel fully prepared. If our comprehensive high school entrance exam prep course sounds like the right fit for your student, visit testprepchicago.com and sign up for a prep course today!

Lauren Lynch, Tutoring Coordinator
lauren@testprepchicago.com
(312) 848-1266