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Every street address in the city of Chicago is assigned one attendance area (or “neighborhood”) high school.

Neighborhood Schools

Students are guaranteed a seat at their neighborhood high school’s General Education program without having to submit an application through GoCPS.
An offer to the General Education program of your neighborhood school will be available in your GoCPS application if requested.
To find your neighborhood school, visit the GoCPS website and click School Search.

No App Required!

You are not restricted to schools that are close to your home; there are a wide variety of academic options throughout the city.
Students must submit a GoCPS application for any program outside their neighborhood program.
Applications are submitted the year before a student will start school – if a student will start high school in fall 2025, the application will be submitted in the fall of 2024.

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GoCPS is the platform that allows families to apply to every CPS-managed high school and program using one site, one application and one deadline.

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Families can use

All District High School Programs

All Cluster High School Programs

All Charter High School Programs

to apply to:

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The application process is divided into three phases.

EXPLORE

which programs are the best fit for your student

APPLY

to programs

SELECTION

issues results for the schools/programs to which you applied

NOW

EARLY SPRING 2025 20252025

FALL 2024

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The application period opens in early fall of 2024.

Exact dates for the opening and closing of the application will be available soon!

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CPS High School Admissions Test (HSAT)

What is it? One entrance exam that streamlines the GoCPS application process by allowing the same exam scores to be applied to the selections processes for all high school programs, where applicable.

What do I need to know?

Computer-based test
No calculators allowed
There are o retakes
The test will be available in 5 additional languages:

Spanish
Polish
Arabic
Simplified Chinese
Urdu

Who should take this exam?

All students in 8th grade who would like to apply for admission to CPS high school choice programs or selective enrollment high schools for the 2024-2025 school year.

Is there a tutorial?

A tutorial session will be available for students to become familiar with the format of the exam. This session will be included at the beginning of the test and will not need to be scheduled separately.

The test is approximately 1 hour in length

30 minutes per section (Math and Reading)

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How do Applicants Schedule & Take the Exam?

Test Date:

Wednesday, October 9th, 2024

Current CPS/Charter Students

Do NOT need to register for or schedule the exam.

Students will test during the school day at their current 8th grade school.

Students will select the test language at their current school.

Non-CPS Students

Students will schedule to test in their GoCPS application.

Students will test at a designated CPS location.

Students will select test language in the GoCPS online application.

Test Dates:

Saturday, October 19th, 2024

Sunday, October 20th, 2024

Saturday, October 26th, 2024

Sunday, October 27th, 2024

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Types of High School programs that CPS Offers

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Admissions

Students are guaranteed a seat in their designated neighborhood school general education program of. They are not required to apply to this program.

To apply to other programs:

Eligibility: Some programs have minimum requirements in order to apply.

Selections: Selections are based on a computerized lottery or a points-based system that can consider several factors, including (but not limited to) the high school admissions exam, seventh grade grades/GPA, and admissions screening results.

Specific information regarding the eligibility and selection process for each program can be found on the School Profile Pages on the CPS website.

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You are applying to a program, not a school!

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GoCPS Categories

The high school programs listed on the GoCPS application are divided into two general categories.

CHOICE Programs

SELECTIVE ENROLLMENT Programs

All programs are in the CHOICE program category except Selective Enrollment programs. This includes:

General programs
IB programs
Honors programs
CTE programs
Fine and Performing Arts programs
etc…

Academic program options at one of the 11 selective enrollment schools:

Brooks
Hancock
Jones
Lane
Lindblom
King

Northside
Payton
SouthShore
Westinghouse
Whitney Young

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CPS High Schools offer a wide range of programs

Program Types

Career & Technical Education (CTE)

Service Leadership Academies

ODLSS Programs

Honors/ Scholars

International Baccalaureate (IB)

General Education

Selective Enrollment

Avid

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Lots of Options...

Agricultural Sciences

Health Sciences/Medical Careers

Accounting

Fine & Performing Arts

Early Childhood and Teaching

Culinary Arts

Career Academy

Construction & Architecture

Business & Finance

Media & Communication Arts

Manufacturing & Engineering

Law & Public Safety

International Baccalaureate (IB)

Information Technology

Honors/Scholars

Service Leadership Academies

STEM/Science

Selective Enrollment

Cosmetology

ODLSS

Programs

World Language

Transportation

Architecture

Auto Body Repair

Carpentry

Broadcast Technology

Dual Language

Entrepreneurship

Pre-Law and Pre-Engineering

JROTC

Diesel Technology

Journalism

Dual Language

Game Programming/

Web Design

Avid

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What are the next steps?

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Make sure all your student’s information is up to date with your current school!

Current CPS and Charter School students:

Make sure that the following information in up to date in the

Aspen system:

Address
Guardian information
Information for all students under same guardian (this is used for any sibling preferences)

Currently Not attending a CPS School but have an IEP/504:

Make sure your IEP/504 information is current and finalized within one year of your test date if testing accommodations are required.

(Must be from a Public School District)

Complete and Submit

both forms located here!

(Spanish Forms Also Available)

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Research schools and programs on the GoCPS website

Start here → GoCPS Search

Type your address here to see what schools are near you.

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Search by School name or use the filters to narrow down your search.

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Click here to see more information about a school by visiting the school’s profile page.

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Click the admissions tab to see program specifics.

Eligibility and Selections Specifics for this program.

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Subscribe to the GoCPS mailing list at https://www.cps.edu/gocps/about-gocps/contact/ to receive important information and updates about the application process.

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Subscribe at cps.edu/gocps

Important Notes

Students should not subscribe using their @cps.edu email. We already have these on file and we will automatically send information to those email addresses.

If the student is under 13 years of age, only their parent/guardian should subscribe.

Parents/guardians should sign up so they can be involved in and directly informed about their child’s application process. CPS students that are 13 years of age or older should subscribe using a personal email address or their parent/guardian’s email address.

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