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CPS will release elementary school offers for any programs applied to via the GoCPS applications (SEES & Choice Programs) as follows:
- APRIL 11th, 2025 – Results Released
- MAY 2nd, 2025 – Accept/Decline Deadline
- MAY 19th, 2025 – Rolling Waitlist Process Opens
- 2 BUSINESS DAYS AFTER OFFER ISSUED – Waitlist Accept/Decline Deadline
Please feel free to post results to share. Applicants may be offered one Selective Enrollment ES offer and one Choice offer (if applicable). Their neighborhood school is always available for them to attend at any time.
Comment below about your child’s SEES Classical and/or Gifted results and include the grade applied to, your Tier (if applicable), point total or percentage, and what order the school was ranked on your application. If you applied to Choice (lottery) schools as well, please post HERE. Good luck!
Here are videos slidedeck on “Selections Process Explained”
Guide to Understanding Rankings & Cutoff Scores is HERE. Cutoff scores are now posted for Classical and Gifted SEES programs. Tiers are only applicable for the entry year of a program (typically K for RGC & Classical or 7th for Academic Centers). Cut scores are HERE.
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Login is available at the apply.cps.edu website! This year’s website is harder to navigate than last year’s, but once you login, click on View at “Classical and Regional Gifted Center Programs 2025-26 Application” and then scroll all the way down to see your place at the schools you selected. Good luck everyone!
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How much do waitlists move for non-entry grades? My child is on the waitlist for a non-entry grade at McPherson. Does anyone have experience with those waitlists and willing to share a waitlist number and whether they got an offer?
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Last year my child was #12 on McPherson’s waitlist for 2nd grade. We got an offer by late July. I hope this helps.
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Did you accept an offer before then? What happens to your spots on the waitlist if you accept a choice offer?
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Yes actually I tracked that. Last year my daughter was 19 for NTA 1st grade and got down to 8, and 54 at Pritzker and ended up at 40.
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The NTA movement is surprisingly high given they have 28 spots.
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Yeah, my lesson from having a kid there is that kids move around for all sorts of reasons. To be with siblings,
To be closer to home, to the suburbs, they move out of state, etc. I think that’s true a lot of places, and I imagine NTA in particular has a lot of people who consider it their second or third choice and get in to preferred schools, so the list moves.
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It says #3 on my highest rank classical waitlist and #12 for RGC. I’m not quite sure what a tier waitlist is. What are my odds of getting into either?
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Last year, my daughter was #8 in Tier 3 for Decatur in Kindergarten, and it only moved to #3 in Tier 3 by the end of July. This year, she is on general waitlist #2 for Decatur and general waitlist #30 for Edison. Depending on the school you applied to and the demand for it, it is possible the waitlist does not move at all or moves very slowly, because kids who get into these top schools don’t want to give up their spot. #3 waitlist seems promising though. Sorry, I hope this helps.
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What did you end up doing if you don’t mind me asking? Did you apply to choice and if so did you accept an offer before the rolling waitlist?
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@kA We waited until the end of June to decide if we should continue waiting or send her to the neighborhood school, which is what we ended up doing because the waitlist did not move. We enrolled her in extra math classes and work with her on reading at home now, because she is not being challenged enough at school. We applied to choice as well but did that as an after thought, so it was too late. Unfortunately, they CPS does provide any kind of timeline or guarantee for the waitlist. So you just need keep your options open and have a plan B. :/
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Is there a scoring rubric again this year? One of my kids actually had the point total for RGC, but the other one did not have a total for the Classical. And also, I’d be interested in the cut scores.
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I think this is the cut scores, they are calling in Point total now.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RUmvrTbe7j4gK3fEhrB8zWGL10aK4U9a/view-
Thanks!
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How does the general waitlist work for grades 1 and above? are all the students ahead of us really on the waitlist? I have heard that a lot of students that are already in classical or RGC will take the test every year for practice, so do these kids list other schools to see how they do?
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I’d like to know about this too. My daughter is #2 in Decatur and General waitlist #30 in Edison for Grade 1. I know a few families who are in classical/RGC already and they take the test every year like you said to see where they stand. If they get into a better school, they take it.
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Which Grade did she test for? What are her Verbal/Math scores?
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@ChiDadAttorney My daughter tested for Grade 1. Her scores are
Classical
Math: Percentile — 99; Score – 157
Reading: Percentile – 99; Score – 154
Point total – 300/300RGC
Non-Verbal Score — 124
Verbal Score — 120
Composite Score — 125
Point total – 212.5/300
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Kindergarten, T4, offered SN. There will be a spot at Sheridan opening up.
Good luck everyone!
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We got into Skinner North Kindergarten. Tier 4. 242.5/300 on Classical and 245/300 on Gifted. Skinner was our top choice.
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Tier 1, tested for K at 4 years, 8 months and offered SW (1st choice). Good luck everyone.
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apologies, meant tier 4
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Anyone know how to interpret the results? Last year there was chart that showed you what the scores meant. Esp RGC scores
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My child applied to 3 regional gifted programs. We did not receive an offer but it says we are “general waitlist” for each of these programs and it tells us the waitlist number for each school. We only applied for RGC, not anything else, but waitlist says “general.” Does that mean we are that waitlist number for the RGC program at each school or does “general waitlist” mean something different? My understanding is that if her score wasn’t high enough to be considered that the response would have been “not offered” but the terminology “general waitlist” is confusing.
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That means you’re on the waitlist for the RGC program and there are no tier considerations (you must not be an entry level). Your kids score qualified them for the waitlist, otherwise as you say, it would say Admin declined.
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Sorry, one other thing to note: This is for 4th grade entry to RGC (oddly enough, the cutoff scores listed are only specified for kindergarten, so I’m not even sure how to interpret her score). I also have not been able to locate the scores from last year–we used to be able to see the history. Any insights on where to get her prior scores?
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My understanding is that for non-entry years, tiers no longer count, so that’s why it says general waitlist.
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Sorry, just to add – I don’t think they give cutoff scores for non-entry years, either (but I could be wrong on this!) I can see my child’s scores from last year if I log in to the old schoolmint site where the application was last year. Hope this is helpful!
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For my son’s entry, into 3rd grade, his composure score was a 134. He got in off the waitlist. I think the K scores run about 10 points higher than the non-K scores because they’re scored on a different metric but don’t quote me on that.
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Which school did your get into for 3rd grade?
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We are #4 on Tier Waitlist (Tier 4) for Beaubien RGC for 1st grade (entry year). Wondering if we stand any kind of chance but assuming we likely don’t? And can anyone help explain how the tiers work with waitlists?
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There were at least some tier 4 off the waitlist last year at Beaubien for 1st grade. No idea how many.
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Thanks for the insight!
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We received an offer from Beaubian for 1st grade, tier 4. Will decline the offer so at list one spot will be free soon. Good luck.
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28 on wait-list at Lane, Tier 4, RGC point total: 257.5, academic center: 557.5
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My kiddo is number 2 on waitlist at Pritzker gifted program for second grade. What are the chances of her getting in? Does anyone have any similar experience and got in?
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Very high. The rising first grade list moved 15 points last summer.
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Was this for non entry level grade? My daughter is a rising second grader.
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Yes, 1st isn’t an entry grade. I assume older grade waitlists move less but 2 is still good odds.
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Thanks. Was that for Pritzker? I’m hoping she is able to get in 🤞
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Chances may be good depending on class movement. Currently kiddo is in 2nd grade at Pritzker. We had 2 kids leave last year and 4 new students join this year.
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Our daughter received an offer for Pritzker’s gifted program for kindergarten, but we recently saw comments from another parent who pulled their child after two years in the gifted program due to problems at the school. Wondering if anyone here could share thoughts on their experience at Pritzker, good or bad?
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Our oldest was offered Pritzker for PreK shortly after the pandemic hit. We ended up withdrawing, mainly for logistical reasons, but also because we were very unimpressed by the school’s communication. I distinctly remember asking what options there were for working parents given the 9am start time and being treated like this was an absurd question. It eventually became clear that before care programming was up in the air due to the pandemic, which is understandable, but I’m not sure why I had to be chastised for asking about it. I also went to their open house this fall and found it absolutely chaotic. It was by far the least impressive school tour I’ve ever experienced. I’m acquainted with a few families and their feedback (bad for diverse learners, poor communication) has reinforced my perception that it’s probably not the best option out there.
We’re located about the same distance from Morton as we are from Pritzker and were really impressed after their tour, so although it’s less established and in a less desirable area, we felt it was a stronger choice. We also ended up getting offered Morton, so I may be biased, but I would recommend giving them a look if you have misgivings about Pritzker. Given their lower cut score, it could be a possible alternative option if you’re up for trying the waitlist.
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We are considering Morton for our rising 2nd grader but are interested in the community factor. Have you found that the parents are involved and kids see each other outside of school? I know it varies from class to class but wasn’t sure how spread out people are throughout the city. We have heard great things about the principal and were impressed on our tour but community is an important factor for us.
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Our offer is for Kinder, so not a lot of insight on the community yet unfortunately, but I agree that the principal seems great, as does the RGC coordinator. I appreciate that their program seems to be coherent and intentional, and I love that one of their specials is “genius hour”. I think I am concerned that other families may be basing their decisions on school reputations without giving the school a good look, as I know from the class sizes they shared during their fall tour that they have not filled all their seats in the past. We are going to wait until after the 4/23 open house to accept, as right now our main fear is what if they end up with a class size of 10? 15? Our child is very social. But as I see others in our circle tending to be more interested in Pritzker/Bell or SW/SN (even through I hear complaints about Pritzker and SW), now that we have a Morton offer, I am hoping others will give the program a look and see what we see so that we end up being able to be a part of a growing, viable program.
To go back to your original question, since that went on a tangent, the RGC coordinator did address the community aspect some on the fall tour we took. The way they put it is that they have seen a divide between the way RGC parents want to engage vs the neighborhood families, but the RGC parent involvement is strong, and the school is actively working to bridge the gap and build a more connected and engaged school community. They seem to have a lot of activities and events if you look at their calendar, which seems encouraging.
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My youngest is at Morton and we love it there. We’re considering sending our oldest there. What grade is your Morton student going into?
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We have been at Pritzker for years. The first couple years after the pandemic were pretty bad, both in terms of administrative and classroom communications. This year is so much better. I think it’s teacher specific and the PTO is also back together and organized, which is making a huge difference.
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My child started in the RGC program at Pritzker in fourth grade this year, and the experience has been fantastic. I have heard similar complaints from parents about poor communication by the admin, but so far we haven’t had any complaints. My kid has really thrived here in a way that has made me believe this is the right school for him. The fourth grade teacher is absolutely amazing and very supportive of neurodiverse kids. There is also before school care available now although it is quite expensive compared to the program that was available at our neighborhood school.
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Can you please share the prices for before and after care?
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Here’s the pricing from the provider: https://apollo-pritzker.jumbula.com/
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Thank you!
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Hello, my kid is currently #2 on Pritzker waitlist for 2nd grade entry. We previously received a Morton and NTA offers, but declined as we wanted to see if he gets a chance at Pritzker. Does he have a chance at this point for Pritzker, or should we just move on at this point? Thank you!
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We have always been waiting for our ideal option and were always #1-2 on waitlists there and unfortunately we never received offers from our top choices and regretted afterwards. We have been testing for 3 years now and it is getting more and more competitive, and less spots are available, so I would recommend to take what you are being offered because there is no guaranty spots will open throughout the summer. I would say based on our experience, between now and mid-June is the most fluid time for waitlist movement. In July-August it is usually pretty calm as families finalized their plans.
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Thank you very much Simone. That is what we feared as well that we’d let go of opportunities at other schools and never get into Pritzker after waiting… If you wouldn’t mind me asking, could you share where your top choice school was? My understanding is that some schools have more movements in waitlist than others, but completely understand if you don’t want to share that information here.
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I agree with Simone. Whatever comes your way, you have to take it, especially with this new policy of smaller classes in CPS starting this year. We wanted to be in Pritzker last year as it was close to us, but at the same time we waited for an offer from Edison as our score was pretty good and we thought it would be great to be at a full-site RGC. So as a result we never received an offer from Edison (even though we were WL #2) and all open spots to Pritzker went to other kids (as we withdrew from the Pritzker waitlist for June-July), and when we added my kiddo again to Pritzker RGC waitlist in the end of July, all spots were taken and no new spots were offered. I would say everything will be finalized by schools in the next week or so and spots will only open later in the summer if there is an emergency or something unexpected happens.
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We are #6, tier 2 wait-listed for gifted kinder at pritzer- guessing we don’t have a chance?
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I think that’s a good number TBH.
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My child got an offer from Edison, she will be grade 4, currently at Bell. So 2 spots will be available for 4th grade at Bell coming year: my child’s, and a classmate relocating to a different state
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Is it okay to know why you choose to go to Edison not staying at Bell?
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Bell is a great school, especially parents are a gem! We chose to switch only because Edison is closer to our home, it will be walking distance, we wouldn’t have to drive her to school anymore. My child and I both love Bell so much!
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Hi my daughter received an offer at Edison for kinder. Would you mind sharing a bit about your experience at Edison? We really love our neighborhood school but we obviously have to accept the offer at Edison. We’d be crazy not to right? Thanks!
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We’re at Edison this year and have had a great experience. Great communication, the teacher sends a weekly email with a rundown of what’s going on and all of her lessons if you want to really know what is being taught. We love Edison.
There are a lot of great schools (I toured 13 before kiddo got into Edison – they were all fine.) If you love your neighborhood school, there’s value in that too – walking to school, friends in the neighborhood, etc…
I recommend you tour both and see how you feel about it.
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And her brother already goes to Edison, so for our family logistics wise it would be easier. Thats the only reason
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Hi There,
Can someone explain how CPS determines the composite score?
RGC Non-Verbal Score — 128
RGC Verbal Score — 132
RGC Composite Score — 132
Thanks,
Confounded Dad
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This year’s scoring system confused me too. I asked chatGPT, it was able to explain well. Just as an idea, try asking chatgpt! Hope it helps! 🙂
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Hi does anyone have any experience with Pritzker gifted program? Thanks
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I do. What grade are you going into?
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She’s going into second grade.
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We’re currently in 2nd grade at Pritzker.
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Do you like Pritzker? My child is currently on waitlist there. How do the waitlists move at Pritzker in older grades? Specifically talking about second and third grades. Thanks in advance for any input
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Hi! We really like it here. The PTA is great and there are a lot of fine arts classes that the kids go to on different days of the week. We really like the 2nd grade teacher.
I’m not sure if there is a set pattern on how much waitlists move in non-entry years. From 1st to 2nd grade, 2 families left, and 5 more joined. I don’t think the class is “full” (aka at max capacity), but I’m not sure that it necessarily translates to the school opening more spots. My limited understanding of this whole admissions process for older grades is that if a students leaves, the school can choose to fill in that spot or cap the class smaller.
I don’t know how many (if any) of the kids that joined the class this year got offers or were on waitlists. No one is leaving that I am aware of, but that doesn’t mean they won’t before school starts.
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Hello, does anyone know how much the waitlist moves for Bell? Daughter currently # 13 on waitlist for second grade.
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Last year’s Bell’s rising 2nd grade class had only 1 open spot.
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Does anyone know for kindergarten entry when the tiers are no longer taken into consideration for the waitlist?
Right now with the waitlists, I’m guessing my position means that that # of people in my tier would need to turn down an offer.
But at some point they combine all those waitlists and just make it all one list, right?
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Is your waitlist for General or Tiered? What’s your# and which school?
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I don’t think so. The tiered waitlist lasts throughout the whole waitlist process for kindergarten.
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They used to do this in previous years, but no longer do. You will remain on the waitlist for your specific tier throughout the waitlist process.
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Hello. We are #5-6 WL for Bell and Edison 3rd grade entry with composite RGC score 141. Does anyone have an idea if something may happen for us this summer?
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In my opinion, there is a small chance. Last year for Edison’s 2nd grade, I think someone at #6 or 7 was offered a spot near the end of the summer.
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Last year, we applied for Bell RGC, second grade, and the waitlist only moved about five spots. It was unclear how many of those were kids just dropping from the waitlist compared to actual acceptances.
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Last year’s rising 2nd grade Bell RGC class had only 1 open spot. I think Edison had 3-4 spots open up. My guess is those on the Bell waitlist took Edison spots (or other school spots, or declined for other reasons).
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Did you apply this year as well for 3 grade? Any intel as to whether there will be any openings in Edison and Bell again in 3 grade?
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I have a 2nd grader at Edison and am not aware of anyone who is planning to leave. There were 4 students who left between 1st and 2nd grade and 2 between K and 1st, so in total they’ve added 6 new kids over the last 2 years.
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For kindergarten, it says Bell had 28 offers out of 747 applicants last year. I’m guess if you’re not in the top 3 wait-list, you’re not getting in.
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I am asking for non-entry grade, not K.
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I got in to Decatur, my first choice. 298.5/300.
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Wow! That’s one genius child. Congratulations!
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my son tested for fourth grade,, he is tier 2 with a 253/300 score, im wondering why he wouldnt be offered a seat at Skinner North, anybody know how to make sense of the numbers?
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I could be wrong but you need an almost perfect score to get a seat at SN depending on your tier.
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Tier is only considered at the entry year. Since you’re applying to 4th grade, Tier doesn’t matter. There are usually very few spots open at SN if you are applying to any grade 1-6, so the score required for an offer is often 99/99 or close to it
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Tier is only a factor for Kindergarten entry.
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My kid is #1 waitlist for Tier 4 Skinner West, kindergarten. I know they have very few spots, is there still some chance to get the offer?
Thank you!-
Last year my son was #8 Tier 4, and when the rolling waitlist opened up, he dropped to #6. So there’s a chance!
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(He was in the skinner west waitlist)
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Thank you for the information!
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Our score is reading 96% math 99%, classical 226.3/300
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My son is listed at #9, tier 2, for POE classical. Has anyone had any experience with the tier waitlist vs. general waitlist? Do the RGC’s and Classical schools both have general and tier list? Thanks
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My kid got 99% on both math and reading for classical for non entry year (rising first grader.) He is waitlisted #10 for Skinner West. Has anyone seen movement on the skinner west non-entry year waitlists in the past?
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Skinner west has only 1 classical class per grade. A spot would need to open up in this years K class for another student to enter at 1st grade level.
This happened this year twice in my daughter’s 1st grade class. Two kids dropped out of the program end of K opening up two spots.
They should let parents know how many spots are available after K so you know how to rank schools. Applying to skinner west after K makes no sense of a spot isn’t available.
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It makes sense if you don’t know whether a spot will open up when you apply in the fall.
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Do you mind sharing the reading/math scores? (I think may different scores may map to 99 percentile.)
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Hi – sure— his math was 157 and his reading was 154. His classical point total was 300/300. I don’t know the scoring rubric used to get the points, but it’s nice this year that they just told us and we don’t have to do the math! Both were 99th percentile. So I’m thinking getting into skinner classical is not going to happen. But I will put in a plug for Morton RGC – it’s an excellent program. My 5 y.o. Is thriving. We might move my 8 y.o. From skinner classical to Morton RGC.
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Thank you! Those are the exact same score as my daughter. She got a Pritzker RGC offer, but wondering what waitlist number she would be at SW classical. I guess you answered my question!
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My older soon is at Skinner West classical, however he got accepted into Morton RGC. His brother is in Morton RGC, but got waitlisted for Skinner west classical (non entry year.)
My older son is desperate not to leave his friends. The issue is that Morton RGC is a better run, higher quality school. And they’d both be in the same school.
Any thoughts on detrimental effects on elementary school children changing schools at that age? I know there’s no perfect answer, but looking for perspectives.
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I think it really depends on your kid! Mine moved from his neighborhood school to Pritzker RGC for fourth grade this school year. At first he was a little resistant to the idea of change but he had very few actual friends at his previous school and he was constantly bored in class. So the change was relatively easy for him. I can imagine the transition being much tougher if your child has deeper social connections though. Good luck! It’s a tough decision.
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Hi there. First year applying for Regional Gifted Center for 1st grade. So confused by how these numbers add up. We’re far down on waitlist. I see on the tiers points pdf that you have to score above 150 to even be waitlisted. Our kid’s scores are listed below. So is it the 172 that counts for her? Cause if it was the Composite one listed she wouldn’t have even gotten a waitlist, right? Just no idea how to evaluate this.
Scores for School Year 2025-26
RGC Verbal Score – 115
RGC Non-Verbal Score – 104
RGC Composite Score – 109Point Calculations for School
Year 2025-26
RGC Point Total – 172.5/300We also totally misunderstood the RGC application process and only applied to the school she’s only attending for their RGC. So is it too late to see if this score could have got her into another school?
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Yes, It’s the 172 that is the comparison. Only Keller and Beaubien have first grade entry so only those scores will show for the cut-off score in the PDFs. For Non-entry years it just depends on how many seats open up and the school likely doesn’t know that yet but typically only a few and high scores. yes you can add to the waitlist of other programs when the rolling waitlists open.
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Thanks for your help!
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Rising 3 grader with a classical score 99/99 and 1st on waitlist for Skinner North. Thoughts on whether there will be movement or do other factors go into changes to rankings? Any current parents of 2nd or 3rd graders at SN that have some insight to school/program/classroom environment? Is the environment super competitive and every student for themselves or generally do the kids all get along?
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Does a 99/99 add up to 299/300? I’m new to these scores. My kid got 99/97 and composite 297/300. High on SN wait-list (we aren’t taking it even if offered). I’d assumed a kid needed 99/99 to get in, especially non entry years, but 297 also seems really high?
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99/99 is 300 for 1st-8th Classical (99/98 is 298.5). There is a rubric on the GoCPS website, but I can’t link it because it’s being flagged as spam.
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Do you know if they distinguish within 99/99 by exact scores?
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I think they do. My kid has 99/99 with 300/300 points. But he’s #10 on skinner west waitlist. So they must?
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I’m not 100% sure, but I think they do. For example, 300/300 is the max score that they can get, but the actual classical math and classical reading score they achieve can be higher than 150.
My guess is that if a lot of kids got 300/300 (99%/99%), then they get an offer/waitlist number based on their actual scores.
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I think they do too. My daughter tested for first grade and her scores are 99/99 percentile with 300/300 points and her score is 157 – Math and 154 – Reading. She got no offers, but we are waitlisted #2 at Decatur and #5 at both Skinners.
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Try Morton RGC. It’s awesome.
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What school is your child currently at? Can you share how you’ve managed to keep their academic progress so high?
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Hi! I’m not sure if this question is for my post or another person. If it is for mine, we are currently at Pritzker. They tested in for K entry. To be honest, some of this may just be the child. I mean this in a nice way and not a “my kid is naturally gifted” way. LOL.
Our kiddo has been reading since they were around 3-4 years old and really enjoys reading (almost to the point of distraction). We just kept fostering that interest with many trips to the library. It was easier when they were younger as we got into short chapter books that had many volumes, but it’s getting slightly trickier now as they get older.
As for math, our supplementation actually started from my need to learn how they were learning math at school. I wasn’t able to help with homework initially as I couldn’t explain the topics the way they were learning it at school. I obviously could solve the problem, but kept getting told “that’s not how we learned it”. I ended up getting a common core math workbook for their grade at the library and it was helpful. Although the flow wasn’t matching what they were learning exactly at school, I was able to see the general topics and then actually started introducing them before they learned it at school.
For example, we’d talk about how many cookies would each one of us get if there were XX in the box to begin with (to introduce the topic of division) or we’d talk about estimation of costs for items at the store when shopping. Nothing super formal, just general conversations using everyday things.
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Hi:-). We are currently on waitlist at Pritzker. Any intel on if there are any spots that will open up in the upcoming first, second and third grade classrooms. Three kids from our family currently on waitlist there! Wondering if there is a chance for any of them lol
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I haven’t heard of any families leaving, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that none won’t. Probably more movement during summer than now.
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That’s not a whole lot of movement so basically if you are not in the top 4 or 5 on waitlist, chances are slim to none ☹️
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Do you mind sharing what school is your child at? Did you prepare him for this exam to get 99/99? What materials did you use? I am always amazed when I read here that someone in non-entry grades got 99/99, what a smart kiddo you have!
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Hey Chloe! Not OP, but I have a rising 5th grader who scored 98/98 on classical test and 300 on gifted. We did not prep – this was a “try and see” low-stakes year for us. Based on her feedback immediately after the test, she knew exactly what she missed. It amounted to a math concept she just hadn’t heard of yet and a reading question where she wasn’t 100% confident between two answers. I would say to get them working ahead in math (our current school works a bit ahead of CPS, but obviously we could have closed that gap a little!), logic (even if you don’t take the gifted test, some of the math questions are logic-based), and reading comprehension skills. Also, work on general test-taking skills like time management, working on a timer, and choosing the BEST (not a “good”) answer. You can start with workbooks at their level (Amazon has a ton). Even if they breeze through them, that’s a huge confidence builder! Work your way up to a grade ahead (or as far as they want to go.) Khan Academy is amazing for explaining math concepts to kids if you run into any obstacles.
I did prep my 8th grader for the SEHS exam. He got a 900 and was accepted to Payton. We did a combo of the test prep workbooks and test-taking skills regimen I described above (former homeschooler, so I set out a 6-week timeline and tutored him myself) and individual math, reading, and test-taking skills sessions with BEC tutoring for good measure.
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Hi! Not sure if this post is off my question or for someone else (there was another post from someone on this thread that had their child score 99/99). If it is for me, my kiddo is currently at Pritzker. To be honest, we did zero test prep. We tested in K and I had them retest this year just to see how they would do. Anecdotally, they did say that the RGC test was “harder”, and that the classical test was “easy”. I’m not sure what that means exactly and asking more questions just got me that the “harder” test wasn’t harder content-wise, just “harder”.
We’ve just been working on test taking strategies (IE: reading questions more than once, double checking answer, not rushing to read and solve) throughout the year since they are old enough to start practicing these skills. Not sure if that helped or not for the actual test.
Sorry, I don’t have a better answer for test prep. We really tried to keep it low key with testing. I’m going to be honest and say that I was pretty shocked with how they scored, but I have learned to just expect the unexpected with this kiddo. (Classical Math Score — 208, Classical Reading Score — 224, Point total 300/300). The funny thing is that their RGC score isn’t that great… so I really don’t know. (*shrugs)
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this makes sense because the gifted and classical test two very separate types of knowledge. classical tests ability of math and reading just as objective facts, the kid may be advanced in these subject areas and performing above peers. gifted tests more critical thinking and ability to see things differently.
I think there’s definitely a continuum and some sides of this come easier to kiddos and this will probably ebb and flow and kids will continue to develop and learn skills.
I think it’s wise advise to cover test taking strategies, that is so helpful as they go on in school and into PSAT, AP, ACT, and so on. And I think if your kid naturally tests into a program (as opposed to being prepped into it) they will probably do better on their own. I think kids who are prepped extensively may be over-reaching and will require support to perform at the school they are placed in.
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I saw an application for a 2nd round of SEES Classical, RGC and Academic testing planned for 2025-26. Am I seeing things??
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They do a second round but your kid had to not have taken any test in the fall to be eligible to take the spring tests.
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Hello! We are #2 and #4 for 3 RGCs going to 7th grade next year. Don’t want to get to excited. Anyone know anything about 7th grade waiting list? Thank you!
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Where do you see that?
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You’re very likely to get in, lots of movement in 7th because of AC acceptances.
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There will be many, many openings for 7th grade. Last year at NTA all but 4 kids left for academic centers.
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My son is applying for K, got #5 for Skinner West and #8 for skinner North and #7 for Decatur. Is there any chance he would get in? Really confused by this. Thank you!
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Hey tim, what tier are you?
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Hi Tim – would you mind sharing SN and the classical score? I’m hoping to add my son to the rolling waitlist and will give me an indication on where son MAY end up on the waitlist.
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My son got 99% on reading and 95% on Math. Hopefully it helps you.
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Hi Tim – Thank you very much for responding. Could you also kindly share the classical composite score out of 300? It will give us a better indication since that determines that waitlist ranking.
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We are in Tier4. I checked his score should be good enough to get in all schools if we were in Tier3…lol
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We are in Tier4. I don’t know how many kids could get out of the waitlists every year on average… but this year seems harder.
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For Skinner West, my some was going into kinder. He went from #8 to #6.
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Hi Tim,
My kid is tier4 #1 for SW and #2 for Decatur. We are going to remove SW since Decatur is our top choice. Good luck to both of us!-
I think I see his ranking got moved 1 place upfront for SW. good luck for all of us!
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Hi @Mia, curious if you see waitlist # changes for SW and Decatur, after rolling waitlist starts this week. Both are good schools and hope you get the offer.
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I believe SN tier 4 WL moved up 10 spots last year for K entry. So I believe you will get a good chance to SN this year.
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Hey Eva- can I ask how you know that? Thank you!
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As my kid was K entrance last year. We moved 10 spots up on WL.
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Hopefully this year works the same way, but I heard they changed something…
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Hello families – congratulations to those who were offered spots at schools of their choice.
Question – I am trying to understand from folks if tiers play a role in rolling waitlist offers for SEES school, kindergarten admission?
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Yes, tiers still play a role in waitlist offers. So if someone from Tier 3 declines their offer, then that spot will be offered to the next person in the Tier 3 waitlist, even if the Tier 4 Waitlist #1 student has a better score.
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We’re Tier 4 for Kindergarten and were offered a spot at Decatur. We won’t be accepting it, so a spot will be opening up!
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Why not, ooc?
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It’s a great school, but we’ve decided it’s not the right fit for our family. Much earlier start time and it would double our current school commute. We also have a younger child who will test in a few years, so we’re inclined to stay at our current private for the sake of logistics and long-term balance.
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Curious if you decline the offer, will people on the tier 4 waitlist move up one spot? Does that update once rolling waitlist starts?
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There’s no option for us to decline, only to accept, so we’re just waiting for it to expire on May 2nd. I don’t think it will necessarily move up one spot, since families may change their minds or reject current offers to join another school’s waitlist. If another family with a higher score joins the same waitlist, your spot might also move back. I expect the waitlist numbers to shift significantly on May 19, once families finalize their decisions and spots begin to move.
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That is how I understand it. A tier 4 declined spot opens up a spot on the tier 4 waitlist
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Does it feel like more kids took the test this year? My son keeps doing better every year on both the Classical and RGC tests. However, every year we’re placed further back from the finish line. This year he’s applying to enter 4th grade.
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I don’t think so. It gets harder and harder to get in as the kids age because there are fewer and fewer openings because kids are already occupying those spots and are less likely to leave. A composite score of 145 will get you in anywhere for K, but might not be good enough for 4th. It’s tough.
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While it does get harder as the kids age, they also wouldn’t get offers until May 19th at the earliest. So it’s not like current students in sees programs are in front of him minus those who took the test to see where they scored. In any case, don’t they open up 3 more slots in 4th grade in addition to those who leave? I read that someone on these boards was waitlisted 17th for a good rgc for 2nd grade and got an offer in July.
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Ok. I think I figured it out why these waitlist numbers seem off. Previously parents were only allowed to pick three schools initially. This year we could rank upto 5 schools. Obviously more people in each pool which could also mean more movement if families aren’t as committed due to logistics or for some other reason.
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???
You’ve always been able to apply for up to 6 Classical/RCG programs and 6 ACs. 5 is the max for PreK programs. 3 is the max for the RGC-ELs (the Spanish gifted programs)
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I’m talking about in the 1st round.
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The maximum number of programs one can apply to in each category, which is in effect in both the initial round and during the rolling waitlist:
– 20 Choice
– 6 Academic Centers
– 6 Classical/Regional Gifted Center programs
– 3 Regional Gifted Centers for English LearnersWhere are you getting your numbers?
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In the old system (used last year), in the initial first round a parent could up to 3 schools. Once the 1 round closed and then the second round opened, then you were able to add three more schools. This new system lets you pick up to 5 schools in the first round.
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Question we had our son take the test as prep for the academic center test. How close in comparison is it? Is it more close to classical or RGC?
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That is really not a great use of everyone’s time and resources, is it?
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The Academic Center admissions exam literally is the RGC test. As in, if you apply to both RGCs and Academic Centers for 7th grade, you will only take one test.
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The RGC test *is* the AC test, AFAIK.
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Got it. I was curious on how it compares.
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Our daughter (K->1) got offer Pritzker, even though we ranked Skinner West higher and her classical scores (154 99%, 157 99%, 300/300) are higher RGC scores (147, 267.5/300). Is there any way to check what waitlist number she would be at SW without declining Pritzker first? She’s currently in SW neighborhood so it would be easier if she can get into SW classical.
By the way, she tested for K as a pandemic baby who didn’t talk to adult strangers, and the scores are night and day (29-40 point improvements in each of the categories). I have long thought that using a 1-on-1 interview for K is bonkers. Since they read them the questions during the group 1st grade testanyway, why can’t they use a paper test for incoming K as well, or at least give that as an option?
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Amazing job to your daughter!
If you don’t mind me asking, what test prep did you do for her – for both the classical and RGC exams? Thx!
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No test prep. We do of course do a lot of educational activities with her, e.g. math and reading books, games, and puzzles (sight word bingo was a fun one), but no test prep classes. Her aptitude hasn’t changed within that year, and her knowledge has grown in a way that is consistent with getting a year older, but her scores are completely different. This is a failure in the way the test was administered.
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Arguably the only solution to children having different scores in different years is to eliminate selective enrollment schools entirely. When you test on the scale that CPS does, there will always be variability in results for some participants.
This isn’t even abnormal. The same child can get a D on one math test and a perfect score on the next. (This happened to my primary-aged child this year. We studied the same amount for both tests.)
Testing is imperfect and there is absolutely no way to make it perfect.
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I agree there is no way to make it perfect. But a standardized achievement/aptitude test should not have a variance of 40 points between administrations that were not reported as invalid. This is very different from a school test which is not standardized. Obviously without statistics of the outcomes we have no idea whether she was just an extreme outlier or the test was poorly designed/administered. One also cannot rule out tester bias in the 1-on-1. A paper test is cheaper than a 1-on-1 interview, is less prone to bias, and allows greater access, so I’m not sure why that isn’t offered at least as an option for K.
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Thank you for the anecdote. I have always had the same thoughts about the 1 on 1 interview for K but I wouldn’t have known otherwise (my very reserved child tested for K this year).
Do you mind sharing if you thought your child’s scores from last year were not reflective of her abilities, and is that what prompted you to retest this year (especially w/o extra prep)?
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I saw the same variance with my son (now in 1st grade). He score so low going into K that he wasn’t even waitlisted for RGC. Took the test the following year and his RGC raw score (I don’t understand this years score out of 300) increased 33 points and he got into an RGC program. My 4 year old, who seems slightly smarter, also scored too low to be waitlisted. Hopefully she has the same increase next year and can get in for 1st grade and this issue for my kids is 1-on-1 with a person vs a paper test.
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We had a strong inkling that the entering K scores did not reflect her ability. She had a mid August birthday, so was extremely young when testing. Because of the pandemic, she did not interact with anyone outside of our immediate family and a nanny until she was over 3 years old (we have no extended family and few friends nearby, and nobody was traveling or having gatherings). And after that most of her interactions had been with kids her age in preschool/pre-K, plus a few teachers. We kind of knew going in that she wouldn’t test well.
I know every parent thinks their kids are smart. But her first iready after entering K was very high (well beyond 99/99 percentiles). She hasn’t taken any other gifted tests (again all are based on interviews with a stranger), but she readily solves puzzle toys (like kanoodle) well beyond her age, enjoys Sudoku, etc.
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While I understand the instinct to question the test format, it honestly sounds like your daughter simply wasn’t developmentally ready at the time. This isn’t a reflection of her intelligence. A paper test might have helped her feel more comfortable, but the bigger factor seems to be her age and limited social exposure during a critical developmental window.
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Not developmentally ready for a 1-on-1 test with an adult stranger at 4 years 4 months, but absolutely ready for classical or RGC classroom in K. She has been killing it in K in our SW neighborhood classroom starting in August in every aspect including social-emotional, executive function, and academics. She would have done better than average in SW/SN classical (judging from the entering K cut scores).
A couple other parents have reported the same kind of discrepancy in this thread. I get that some students cannot write properly entering K or lack the concentration required for a paper test so they would need an interview, but that was not the case for my daughter, as she could already print very well and could readily focus on activity books. All I’m saying is that there should be a choice.
After all, a group of students working on some activities on paper with a teacher giving instructions is much more similar to a classroom than a 1-on-1 interview, and so evaluating the students in the former environment is much more appropriate.
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If there were an option to choose between a paper-based exam and a one-on-one evaluation, that would require using entirely different assessments for each format, which means you’d lose consistency across testers. And it’s not like the current kindergarten evaluation is just an open-ended interview; it’s closer to a (very) brief neuropsych eval. When my 4-year-old was evaluated for ADHD, there wasn’t an option to do paper-based IQ or academic achievement testing either.
Sure, the system isn’t perfect. Different tests, different days, different developmental stages–it all contributes to potential variability between a kindergarten score and a first grade score, especially since kids at this age can change so much so quickly. If CPS were really aligning with best practices, testing would be universal, and kindergarten wouldn’t be the entry point for these kinds of programs in the first place.
If we’re going to talk about improving assessment, that’s where the conversation should be focused. Unfortunately, offering paper-based tests to 4-year-olds instead of one-on-one evaluations doesn’t actually solve any of the underlying issues…and in some ways, it could make things more problematic.
I get that it’s frustrating when your child’s kindergarten results didn’t come back the way you hoped, but this suggestion probably isn’t the fix you’re looking for.
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Had to chime in here to agree with Applying Parent. Having universal testing and delaying entry to 1st or 2nd grade would be much more aligned with best practices. I think CPS is a big bureaucratic system, and K is the entry point for the rest of that system (for the most part), so SEES entry also aligns to K. It is a shame, really, because a lot of research suggests that a play based approach at K is much more developmentally appropriate. So this approach really accelerates an academic emphasis earlier than many families want or kids benefit from.
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Oh I absolutely agree with universal testing and 1st- or 2nd-grade entry. The fact that parents had to know about it, apply, and drive the students specifically is a problematic practice.
Giving paper tests definitely solves the tester bias issues, makes the test more congruent with the purpose (selecting students for accelerated classroom learning), lowers the cost and therefore increases availability, and enables universal testing. Giving them to 5/6 year olds instead of 4 year olds makes a lot of sense as well.
Structurally not a lot needs to change to make SEES start in 1st grade. There are only a handful of exclusive SEES schools which will cut down by 1 class, and the rest will just have an extra K neighborhood class. Keller starts at 1st and is an all-around success.
ADHD is a behavioral test, which is not the same as a test for academic aptitude, for use in an academic classroom setting. My older took an IQ test (WISC-V) and tested well into the extended norms, and he and I still think there are a lot of problems with the format and contents. (For example, there was a specific vocabulary definition that he was more familiar with than the tester so there was some back and forth; another tester may have marked him wrong.) So ApplyingParent there is no need for the condescension. My response and suggestions aren’t just because “[my] child’s kindergarten results didn’t come back the way [I] hoped”. I’m just opinionated lol.
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Neither of my kids would have been ready for a paper test at 4 years old. They are both summer birthdays, so they were quite young when taking the K entry test. I don’t see a move to a paper based assessment as realistic if they entry grade stays at K. Paper assessment works fine for older grades and agree scales better and allows for more universal testing.
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paper and pencil does not make sense for a 4 year old child.
most of us know it is, on a longer run, better if our children spend more time playing and less “studying”/”prepping” for sees test, (or god forbid watching screens), yet most of us play the same game: some form of prepping, while they are uber young. I would assume that a successful placement on a paper based test, administered to a 4y4m old, would require even a higher level of a test prep, well beyond basic reading and mathematics.
now for logistics: imagine putting in a room 10-ish children, 4 or 5 years old, and trying to keep them focused on their small bucklets, while neatly filling in the provided spaces, following the instructions, etc. it would be ridiculous.
all kudos to you and your child is she is/was able to do this at the time of kindergarten test.concerning the discrepancy of scores, it could be because all the better prepared children were already tested and assigned to their desired schools in kindergarten, which opened the door for other kids to shine on their 1st grade test. the pool of applicants is not the same, and comparing the results would be equivalent to comparing apples and oranges. one of my children also bombed kindergarten test, scoring 44/46 ten years ago (yes, it was that bad that I still remember the score), and yet scored 99/99 (of whatever was the maximum) on the first grade test, was first on the waitlist for our desired school and got accepted because someone moved out the state.
if it was me, I would push sees tests to 4th-5th grade.
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> paper and pencil does not make sense for a 4 year old child.
Circling with a pencil is definitely a pre-K skill. My kids were interested in activity books in preschool/pre-K (like connect the dot or find the difference type things). I thought it’s pretty common. They don’t write anything even in the entering 1st test.
> it could be because all the better prepared children were already tested and assigned to their desired schools in kindergarten, which opened the door for other kids to shine on their 1st grade test.
That’s not how standardized tests work. They are normed based on a typical age-based population. The cut offs, but not the scores, depend on particular test takers per year.
> scoring 44/46 ten years ago … and yet scored 99/99
The problem having occurred for a long time =/= there is no problem.
> I would push sees tests to 4th-5th grade
Truly gifted students need gifted classes well before 4th-5th grade. Universal testing in K or 1st seems reasonable.
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“Circling with a pencil is definitely a pre-K skill.”
The 1st grade and above tests all use scantrons…. There’s a world of difference between circling and answer and shading within the lines. I, an adult, still worry that I’ve made a mistake when shading in the bubbles on my ballot.
Also, it’s not best practice to assess for giftedness in children 6 or younger.
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point no. 1 could be debated, depending on individual parenting style.
for everything else: there is an opinion, a practice, a research based practice, …
nuances of every word and what we decide to cling on and analyze.
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Same question here. I have a RGC offer so I can’t see the potential WL ranking of my kid on other schools such as SN, SW or Bell, Edison. The only way for me is that I know two other kids WL ranking and they happen to have similar scores with my kid (but still not accurate).
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If this helps – my son is in K going to 1st. He had 99th and 99th percentile for reason and math and I think they were like yours – 154 and 157 (can’t remember that par specifically.) he is currently #10 on the skinner west wait list.
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I had the same experience with my current Kindergartener! When we tested during PreK going into Kindergarten, the RGC score seemed surprisingly low and I wondered if the 1:1 format had an impact.
My child’s composite RGC for incoming K was 104. What seemed strangest was that the NonVerbal score was over 2x higher than the Verbal score, and my child is very talkative with trusted adults, but not strangers. That gap between NonVerbal and Verbal scores led me to test again last fall for incoming 1st grade. This year, the gap between Verbal and NonVerbal nearly disappeared and composite score was 130.
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There are several stories of such discrepancy already in this thread. It seems the test is very unreliable, especially if like us the other cases did not involve test prep.
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Hello – first time navigating the CPS system for my kids (entering 2nd and K).
My 2nd grader was offered a spot at NTA but my younger kid is currently waitlisted for SN, SW, Decater and NTA with waitlist numbers ranging 9-12, tier 4). Does he have a chance getting into any school? We would ideally send both kids to the same school (NTA) if at all possible.
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I’d say you have the best odds at NTA. The list moves.
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Thank you. Both kids seemed to have done much better on their classical exam than RGC, so was somewhat surprised that it was the RGC school that my older one got an offer to and my younger one seemingly has the best shot at getting in… it looks like that is also a function of how popular / competitive the schools are
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Hello Confused mom – could you kindly share the SN waitlist number, reading & math percentile and composite classical score for your child applying entering KG? my child did not get a waitlist number hence trying to gauge my child’s chances should I enroll him in waitlist. Your input would be very helpful to our family. Thank you
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For SN, looks like we are actually #14 (80/99.6 for reading / math). Doesn’t seem like we have a high chance getting in, but hopefully helpful for you as a datapoint
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Thank you!
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@bportmom – I am a bport mom too:) You seem like you might know a bit about NTA, and there is very little online about it. Can you share the good, the bad and the ugly (if you have it)? I am trying to decide if we stay the course in our Montessori program, switch to RGC at NTA OR decline and see if we get an offer from RGC at Pritzker.
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We have been very happy at NTA (currently 1st grade but started in PreK). Admin is very responsive and the parents are involved. The class work seems challenging and my son loves going to school. My favorite part is all the different after school activities available from standard aftercare, chess team, swim team and multiple sports (most sports start in older grades though). It looks like they are having an open house in April 22 at 9am. https://www.ntacourage.org/apps/news/article/2057266
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My kid started later and I have heard that the communication from teachers really falls off starting in 3rd grade. The K-2nd grade teachers are very good about communication, from what I’ve heard. In my experience, the third grade communication is very limited but 4th is better, so YMMV.
Good: good teachers, strong sense of community, on-site swim team, on-site pool, good principal, friendly staff, great facilities. They also place a ton of students in academic centers. Given the potentially problematic situation where the RGC program is “housed” in a neighborhood school and the programs pull from different demographics, NTA handles that with care. Kids are mixed RCG/neighborhood for essentials and for homerooms but do academic work separately. This helps it feel less like a school within a school, but it doesn’t solve all of the problems. The school is racially conscious and much of their classwork, special projects, school assemblies, etc are all focused on the Black American experience. If this is going to be a problem for you, it is not the school for you.
Bad: No language, and no real fine arts (there are obviously art/music classes as part of the normal rotation, but it’s not a strong emphasis). As I mentioned, the communication falls off in 3rd grade.
Ugly: Nothing’s really horrible, but there has been some churn among the teachers and my kid has had at least one teacher a year they dislike. Drop off and pick up can be chaotic.
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Would you mind sharing your specific waitlist numbers for each school? Thank you.
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Confused Mom- Feel free to message me if you want more insight into NTA. My son is currently in 1st grade so would be in the same class as your rising 2nd grader if you take the spot.
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I am navigating CPS admission for the first time. My daughter is #33 waitlisted for McPherson. Are there any chances at all? We are applying for K.
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Tbh, I doubt it. In the 30s is hard.
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That’s what I thought. Do you know if we accept offer from a non-selective enrollment school then are we removed from all SE schools waitlists too?
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I’m not 100% sure but if you accept a choice offer, I believe you will need to re-add yourself to the SE waitlists but you can still be on them even if you’ve accepted a choice offer. And if you’re kicked off the waitlist and re-add yourself, it’s not a crisis because the waitlist order is a function of test score.
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Accepting a choice offer doesn’t impact your current waitlists at all. Accepting a SE offer doesn’t either, actually, though it will prevent you from joining SE waitlists. It’s *receiving* a SE offer that will kick you off other SE waitlists.
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Good to know. I feel like last year you had to re-add yourself to the waitlists if you accepted a choice offer but either I’m misremembering or they changed that.
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What are the chances of waiting number 4 with tier 3 to get a spot in Decatur??
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I’d say pretty good. Good luck
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Just a heads up that when we respond with where our littles were admitted you typically list: tier, classical reading percentile, classical math percentile, rgc composite; and what school you were offered or list all the waitlisted school along with the waitlist number
I.e.
Tier 4, reading 99, math 99, rgc 150 waitlisted SN #25This is really helpful for the greater community as we all navigate this journey together.
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Good morning everyone,
Thank you so much for all the information, it’s been very helpful, especially since this is the first time navigating through this process. Can anyone give information or experiences with having a child in National Teachers Academy? -
Given that they post entry year cut scores now, this seems most helpful for non-entry grades, where tier is irrelevant.
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I have a question about the WL ranking. One of my close friend’s kid has exactly same classical scores with my kid. (And we know another kid also has the same score). But the first kids rank almost #30 on SN and another kids is #15. We are all tier 4. The same thing happened on the two kids last year. Same score but ranking is very different. I’m curious how they decide the WL ranking when kids are at the same score? The only possibility I can tell here is girls ranking higher than the boy?
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They include tiebreakers on the rubric. For K Classical, it’s:
1. Math standard score
2. Reading standard score
3. LotteryFor 1st-8th Classical it’s:
1. Math + Reading standard score
2. Math standard score
3. Reading standard score
4. Lottery-
Does sibling preference matter at all?
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No, there’s only sibling preference for choice programs, not for selective.
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But based on our experience last year for K entrance, the other kid had higher math score, and their total scores were the same, but my kid ranked much higher than the other kid on WL. Unless it’s totally lottery? Not sure how much other thing would be considered for tiebreakers. Such as month of born? Gender? Sibling? (We do have an older sibling in the same school, not sure it was actually considered or not). We have a RGC offer so I can’t know the WL ranking of my kid now. It’s a tough situation that whether I should accept the RGC offer? (even if I turn off the RGC offer we may get accepted to another RGC immediately as my kid got a relatively high score on RGC test this year) Or should I wait for the possibility of getting into the same classical school with my older one? That’s why I’m so curious of the WL ranking for tiebreakers.
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I would not turn it down unless the school is completely no longer feasible. I was in a similar situation 2 years ago. I wanted an RGC but got a classical offer and almost turned it down but I’m glad I didn’t
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Thanks for your advice. Yes, logistic is a main concern for us but still feasible.
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This is tough, it’s hard to make an informed decision when you don’t totally know all of your options. We were in a similar situation and ended up getting into our preferred school off the waitlist after declining an initial offer (commute would have been very difficult so that was a major factor for our decision making). It is a risk, but it helps if you have any kind of gauge of where your kid’s score would place them within the other waitlists. There are just so many unknowns- good luck!
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While the percentile and total points may be the same, my guess is that the child’s individual reading and math score differs slightly.
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It was so funny. Their individual score is completely the same, just math and reading are opposite. The same situation last year. They are best friends and we both feel it is really cute coincidence.
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Anyone have a sense for how much the wait list moves at Pritzker?
We have an offer from NTA RGC for Kindergarten (242.5/300). Seems like that is above the cut score for our Tier (3) at Pritzker, but the middle of the pack for Pritzker overall. Does anyone have a sense if that seems very unlikely or probable that we might get an offer for Pritzker. We based our SEES list purely off distance, but the more I look into it I think Pritzker might be significantly better.Also anyone have any feedback on the RGC program at NTA? There seems to be very little info.
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I just commented a lot about NTA upthread, you can read that there.
One of my kids was on Pritzker’s list for 1st and it moved about 12 spots. Not sure whether that’s applicable for K though.
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New to the process. Can someone help me understand when waitlist offers start going out to families? Like anytime now as the lists move(specially if you are #1/2 on the wait list) or only after the 5/2 deadline do waitlist offers get made?
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I have the same question. Hoping someone with experience with this can answer
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I don’t think you’ll see any changes or new offers until May 3rd.
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My child is on 3 wait lists and the numbers haven’t changed at all. I’m thinking that the wait lists don’t change until the rolling waitlist process in May.
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You won’t see any change to wait list until after the initial 3 week acceptance period has expired. Then if schools still have spots they’ll start pulling from waitlists on a rolling basis. So you won’t see any movement until May.
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I have seen movement in my waiting lists, specifically for McDade, Bronzeville, and Skinner West. He has no chance for Bronzeville (29) or Skinner (in the 70s), but he is #10 for both Poe and McDade. Really hoping for Poe.
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Tier 3
classical reading percentile: 66
classical math percentile: 79
rgc composite: 148
RGC pt total: 270/300
Classical pt total: 172.5/300K entry, Bell offer (1st choice so no other WL to share)
In case there are parents wondering how tests at the age of 4 might point to their kid’s strengths, we did no prep, no effort to study or boost reading/math performance, just wanted to get a baseline, an idea of his brain as it’s developing. I found it interesting, that our results illustrate the difference between testing achievement for specific reading/math skills and testing critical thinking, reasoning, & problem solving.
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My daughter is #8 waitlisted tier 4 for K at bronzeville. Does she have a chance? Or should I start looking for private?
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I know 2 kids with near perfect or perfect classical scores (99/99 and 97/97) and neither got offers there. Both were older grades though.
I think it’s a very “hot” school and the list doesn’t move too much, but I honestly can’t give good specifics about the K list movement.
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Bronzeville is a tough market.
Before jumping to private, did you put in an application for magnet schools? My kid did not test into selective enrollment for K but got into a magnet school and it’s a great school. Even if he doesn’t get an offer to a selective enrollment school (entering 3rd grade), I know he will be ok if he stays where he is.
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5th grade entry (tough, I know, but we tried!)
Classical reading percentile: 98
Classical math percentile: 98
RGC composite: 160Classical point total: 297
RGC Point Total: 300#17 Skinner North
#16 Skinner
#4 Edison RGC
#5 Bell RGCFortunately we are happy with our small private school and fine staying put, but I’m glad we had my daughter test this year.
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Holy moly those scores are on fire.
Don’t count your RGC chickens before they hatch. They say you need a near-perfect score to get in as a 5th grader to Bell or Edison, and that score is definitely right on the money.
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Thanks for the encouragement! However it goes, I’m so glad we had her get the experience of testing under her belt and we’ll try again next year (and of course, in 7th!)
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One of our kids had a 99/99/160 and at that time it was uncommon. Seeing it more and more nowadays. Getting increasingly competitive.
Private schools have a lot of pluses, but the secret sauce at these selective enrollment schools is surrounding your kids with other gifted and motivated students from around the city. Only a handful of opportunities like this in the country. Big caveat being the high student:teacher ratios at public schools vs private. Non-trivial issue
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So true on the competitiveness – and on the opportunity. We love our current school, but my daughter has expressed that she would like to “explore her opportunities” (actual quote lol) to be around other kids working on her level. We have a child entering Payton in the fall, so SN would have been really convenient. Edison and Bell are not far from where we already commute for private. Our current school has been amazing with tons of support and room for our kiddos to grow – we homeschooled for a while and it has been a great place to land after lots of 1:1/work at your own level. Always the small chance that the waitlists will move – but we can always try again next year and in 7th for ACs!
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Hi everyone,
I’m a first-time mom who recently moved to Chicago, and I’m feeling anxious about my son’s school placement. He didn’t get into any schools we applied for, and I’m worried about making the right decisions for him.
Here are his scores:
RGC: 23.5/300
Classical: 195/300
We’re in Tier 4
Neighborhood school: Prescott
Waitlist positions: #60 on SN, #4 on Bell RGC
We applied to one classical and one RGC school
Choice school: #41 on Hawthorne’s proximity preference
Questions:Based on past experiences, what are the chances of moving up the waitlist for Bell RGC and Hawthorne? We are really interested in Hawthorne.
Which schools should we consider that are better than Prescott, given our priority for academic rigor and proximity to home?
I appreciate any advice and help. Thank you!
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We live in the same area. Are you applying to K? Your RGC score seems to be not correct. If you are applying to K, you should have very big chance to Bell but should be no chance to SN and Hawthorne. They are all good schools. I would say if you got an offer from Bell, go for it. Otherwise, Prescott is good enough.
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I would advise you to look at Prescott. I don’t have anything first or second hand knowledge of the school, but it’s got great published test scores and seems highly regarded. While on these boards it can seem like everyone is clamoring to get into a magnet or SEES, there are a pretty decent number of neighborhood schools where people buy in order to avoid the circus of testing/lottery bc they are great schools. If you are concerned about your kid not being challenged, ask Prescott what they do about differentiation.
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You can also add yourself to the waitlist for additional SEES schools. With the scores you posted, it looks like McPherson or Edison could be potential waitlist possibilities also. However, it is tricky since you may then get an offer from those schools before Bell waitlist. If you only want Bell, it doesn’t make sense to add other SEES.
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Does anyone know how the tiers work? For example, for tier 4 for Bronzeville Classical, do you HAVE to have at least a 203.8 to be considered? Or if you have a lower score are you placed on the waitlist?
Also, does anyone know why some of the tier 3 cutoff scores are higher than tier 4 cutoff scores (Bronzeville, McDade and Poe have higher tier 3 cutoffs, to name a few).
Also, what does the rank number mean? The tier cutoff score guide says rank is students selected by their point score only. Does that mean anyone who has that score has a guaranteed spot?
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The cutoff scores tell you the minimum for those who have been given offers. You will still be placed in the WL as long as you are qualified (for example, 75 percentiles for classical test)
Rank means the first 30% who got offered by the schools regardless of tiers for they are the top scorers.
As for why some of the cutoff scores in tier 3 are higher than those in tier 4, it may indicate that those schools are more popular among people who are in tier 3, thus require higher scores to be competitive.
Hope it helps!
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The reason tier 3 is higher is because more people from tier 3 applied than tier 4 the neighborhood surrounding McDade is more tier 2-3 than tier 4
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Does anyone know how the waitlist works if a “rank” spot declines for tiered entry year? Does it go to the next highest score? Or does it flip to the tier the declining student is in? Or does it start over at tier 1? I can’t seem to find any clarity on the website about this and super curious how this works. Thanks!
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Pretty sure they just split declined rank back up as equally as possible among the tiers. For example:
– 28 offers made: 8 rank, 5 each to each of the 4 tiers
– 4 rank declined, 2 tier 1 declined, 1 tier 2 declined, all tier 3 accepted, 1 tier 4 declined
– Available waitlist seats: 3 tier 1, 2 tier 2, 1 tier 3, 2 tier 4 (one declined rank seat went to each of the 4 tiers)If only 3 rank seats were declined, not sure how they’d determine which tier would be left out when they reassign them.
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Instead of redistributing ranked seats across the remaining tiers, wouldn’t it make more sense to first fill all open seats within each tier, then allocate any remaining ranked seats based on the highest scores? That seems like the most equitable and fair approach.
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Agree 100% – this makes way more sense to me and appears the most equitable (replacing ranked spots with next highest rank). I’m surprised that they would do it differently and also that I can’t find a description of the process anywhere in writing.
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@CoffeeCalmsMom, May I know if your kid got the offer through “rank” or “tier”? I assume it can be figured out from the cutoff score of rank/tier? Thank you so much.
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We got in through tier. Hope it helps your chances. Best of luck!
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Thank you so much, CoffeeCalmsMom. And wish you the best too, on the choice your family is making.
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Hi,
I wrote to the Office of Access and Enrollment with this question and this was their answer.
“ If a rank seat is declined, that seat will be reallocated to a tier seat for the rolling waitlist process. However, rank seats are not necessarily reassigned to the tier of the declining student. The overall goal is to keep the number of acceptances as equal as possible across the four tiers. This means that, for example, if 4 rank offers are declined, they will be equally split so that one seat is reallocated to each of the 4 tiers. If only 3 rank offers are declined, then we would reallocate those seats starting from the bottom, so one seat would be added to tiers 1, 2, and 3.”
I hope this helps. Also, if you ever have questions feel free to email them at gocps@cps.edu. They are very responsive.
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Thank you very much for sharing.
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This will put tier4 in disadvantage, cause they always come last.
Thank you for sharing this information.
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Tier 4. Offer for Skinner North (our first choice) for K. I have some minor questions about the classical test percentiles:
My kid got 99.9 percentile on math – is that quite different from 99 percentile which I saw more often on this group?
My kid got 93 percentile on reading – is this relatively low for Skinner North? Trying to understand if I need to prepare him more on reading before Fall
Thanks
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Congrats to the offer and welcome to SN. Don’t worry about the small difference of the scores. My kid got a 79% on math last year for K entrance and this year is 99%. K testing is 1on1 and it can vary a lot based on who was testing your kid.
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Yes the decimal is weighted differently. There is a huge difference between 98 vs. 99 vs. 99.9 percentiles. A good way to illustrate this is to convert the percentiles into fractions. A child scoring in 98 percentile will be at the top of 1/50 children, at 99 percentile they are 1/100, and at 99.9 percentile they are 1/1000. For instance, my child scored 99M/97R yet still didn’t make the SN cutoff, even with a higher reading score as the difference is exponential, not linear.
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Wait, your kindergarten kid got a 99/97 and didn’t get into skinner north? My kid’s score wasn’t that different (99.8/98) and he got a rank score.
I’m surprised the slight differences make such a huge impact.
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There are likely kids with lower reading scores who will be in kindergarten. My tier 4 kid got a 99.6 in reading and got in and is now beyond kinder at skinner. Her reading group is just different than other kids who are reading at a slightly lower level.
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If given a choice, would you choose Bell or Pritzker? Do most kids go to AC/ selective enrollment high schools eventually or neighborhood high schools from these two schools? Anyone has any experience or insight? Thanks.
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I’m sure this has been asked and answered before but who is the test normed against? If 60/960 people got accepted to Skinner North, it means the odds are around 6%. So if it was normed to test takers, that would mean a 94/94 should get you in (if tiers didn’t exist). and 30% of 6% is 1.8%, so in theory 98.2/98.2 would get you a cut score. but clearly based on the scores and results from folks on this thread the scores needed are way higher.
is it because the people taking the test are already a skewed population? sorry we’re new to all of this and it’s overwhelming to figure out.
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Only 50 kids in the upcoming school year for kinder
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I did not spend much time thinking about this, so I may be completely wrong, but this is how i understand it: you are correct that it is already skewed sample (not every child eligible for kindergarten is tested), but does that metter?
I assume that the results from all tested students are taken into account. I would expect it to be normed against the perfect score. I do not believe we know how many children are taking test, but it must be more than 1000 and less then 10000 (otherwise we would have 99.99 instead of “only” 99.9?). then they sort the results and match with the preferred school using some matching algorithm. that is where the variability in results comes in, depending on school, rank, tier, …
that 60/960 are likely 60 children that qualify to be accepted into SN and for which sn was the first choice, out of 960 for whom sn was the first choice (and they maybe achieved the minimum score needed to qualify, if there is such a thing???).
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Is there any official or unofficial principal discretion for elementary? My kid is on waiting lists for five schools, #10 for both Poe and McDade and #18 for Lenart. Poe would be the best fit for him, and I was going to email the AP to indicate this, but I don’t want to annoy them if there is no discretion.
I assume there must be something because I have heard that some preschools have a pipeline into certain selective schools (like Bronzeville). Who knows, it’s Chicago, though, so there is always unofficial stuff going on.
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3rd grade entry – I have seen some movement on waiting lists
Classical reading percentile: 99
Classical math percentile: 81
RGC composite: 122Classical point total: 273
RGC Point Total: 205#10 Poe
#10 McDade (was 12 or 13 originally)
#18 Lenart
#29 Bronzeville (was 30 originally)
#75 Skinner West (was 77 originally) -
Zero principal discretion unfortunately. The offers are 100% out of their hands
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Ok, thanks. I appreciate it.
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I forgot to say that my kid is a rising 3rd grader.
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Hey! Stressed mom here…So, our Tier 4 kinder kiddo is WL #2 for Skinner North and WL #1 Decatur . We are pretty sure we’re going to get an offer from Decatur, but we would really love SN because live very close to it. Do you think we stand a chance for SN ( I know many things are different this year, including smaller classes)?! Thanks
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Have you visited both schools? What makes you want skinner over Decatur? If you get an offer from either I’d take it bc nothing is sure
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We were #2 waitlisted at SN last year and #1 at Decatur with 99/99 classical score. We were thinking the same way – we want SN over Decatur. As a result, someone else got our spot at Decatur when we refused and SN never had any openings throughout the summer, so I would just get whatever is available at this point as the competition is tough.
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Brutal. What did you end up doing for your child?
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This was for a non-entry year and we ended up staying at our private school as we did not want to commute to Decatur. It is a great school, but without buses and with two full time working parents and two other younger children it is impossible to handle.
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Hi Wendy – was this for SN, KG entry, Tier 4?
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You are talking about non-entry grade. If it is for entry grade kindergarten at SN, #2 on the waitlist has excellent chances to get accepted. Not everyone will accept the initial offer.
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You should be proud—I’m sure that was a very high score! How close was it to the cutoff, if you don’t mind sharing?
I’m sure it is stressful but don’t forget how well your kid did. You have a smartie there!
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Hi Val,
My Son will be lower on the waitlist Tier 4 KG for SN but I am trying to gauge where he may land up. Would you be so kind to share your child’s Math and reading percentile along with the composite? It will be very helpful for our family. Thank you very much.
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Hi JC!
Her scores were
Math: 99.6
Reading: 94-
You are so kind. Thank you. What was the composite classical score? That will give me a better indication.
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Also congratulations to your child on the low waitlist numbers!! It’s not easy!
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227.5
Thank you! How about yours?-
Thank you. 228.8
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Congrats! So is your kiddo WL #1?
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No, we have an offer at Morton hence no waitlist number.
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FYI the decline rate last year was VERY low. This is risky IMO
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Agreed! Hence weighing all our options.
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Hi – decline rate and which school, grade and tier? Kindly help clarify.
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Hi! Kindly confirm if you accepted the Morton offer. Thanks!
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Hi @JC, May I know if you accepted the Morton offer? Thank you very much
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We declined it. Tier 4.
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Hi @JC, may I know the reason you declined Morton, and what school(s) do you have in mind for rolling waitlist? Our kid has lower total score, and I am considering to add him to some waitlists from other schools. Thank you so much.
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Pure logistics and quality of life (driving vs walking over to our rank 1 choice school close to home). Per tour we took, the Morton program sounded great!
TBD on which schools to go on waitlist.
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@JC – would you be open to sharing your child’s reading and math % scores?
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We are going to Decatur tomorrow, we were invited by them to tour. The only reason we’d want SN is because of the location. SN is 5 min by car away from us, Decatur 40 min…
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Hi Val, did you tour both SN and Decatur? What do you think the difference is between the 2 schools? Academia, Staff, location, etc? We toured last year during open house, SN seems more student/community driven and Decatur more teacher/staff driven, I could be wrong. And good luck and I hope you get what you want, WL#1 and #2 are very impressive.
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For selective enrollment, if a child who was admitted based on overall rank score (instead of tier bucket) declines the school offer, which bucket is that open spot then backfilled from?
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From the tier where this declining rank kid lives.
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Hi,
I posted this above but will paste again because it seems to be frequently asked question.
Hi,
I wrote to the Office of Access and Enrollment with this question and this was their answer.
“If a rank seat is declined, that seat will be reallocated to a tier seat for the rolling waitlist process. However, rank seats are not necessarily reassigned to the tier of the declining student. The overall goal is to keep the number of acceptances as equal as possible across the four tiers. This means that, for example, if 4 rank offers are declined, they will be equally split so that one seat is reallocated to each of the 4 tiers. If only 3 rank offers are declined, then we would reallocate those seats starting from the bottom, so one seat would be added to tiers 1, 2, and 3.”
I hope this helps. Also, if you ever have questions feel free to email them at gocps@cps.edu. They are very responsive.
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Hi all- One of our twins has a WL #3 (tier 4) at Morton for K. How likely do you think it would be to receive an offer once the rolling waitlist opens up?
Our situation is complicated by his twin also being on the SEES waitlists (albeit a little lower and we think may end up at a different school entirely), so would you recommend removing schools we think are waitlisted too high and put more in the area closer to Morton to try and get them semi-in the same area since it’s an entry year?
Our other twin received a choice offer at Stone on the other side of the city that I don’t think we could accept if Morton was likely for the other twin since we can’t go both directions at once.
Appreciate any help with WL odds here or advice for kinder twins! Thank you!
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We are planning to decline our spot for SN Kindergarten. So a spot will be opening up. Good luck to everyone!
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@go cubs
Do you mind sharing your reason why you are declining the SN offer?
Did you receive the rank offer or by tier? (This info will help people in the forum to have a better idea)
TIA
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Yes, sure.
Not an easy decision, but we have an older child who is having a really great experience with our (highly ranked) neighborhood school. He’s pretty close on the waitlist for SN, so I think there’s a decent chance he could get an offer this summer or in a future year.
But switching would have us give up some components that are very important to us, including the local community, extracurricular programs, and a really supportive parent environment. We also feared that the older years would introduce a pressure that made us nervous. And we didn’t love the idea of a long commute and where friends would be scattered around the city. We just realized that as a family we would all be happier at our local school, knowing that we will need to provide our kids some additional support to push them academically.
This is personal to us and by no means relevant to everyone. But definitely the right decision for our family.
We are tier 4, but our child got a rank score.
I hope this helps!
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It’s definitely a difficult decision for your family!
Making the right choice for your family sounds perfect!
According to one of the threads, the spot you are letting go will go to someone in Tier 1.
Wish everyone all the best!
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According to one of the threads, the spot you are letting go will go to someone in Tier 1.
You’re intentionally misconstruing that post (because obviously it’s more equitable for this seat to go to tier 4 /s). I will bet you a million dollars that SN doesn’t even have a tier 1 waitlist right now, in which case there’s no possible way for it to go to tier 1.
I’ve seen some old FOIA’s (they were posted here on a thread called Kindergarten Offer Data), and between 2019-2021, they made 5% OR LESS of their offers to tier 1. It’s supposed to be 17.5%, by the way. During those same years, 43-51% of their offers went to tier 4. I would recommend reconsidering your position on what’s “fair” here.
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@Applying Parent
I would love to have your free million dollars from you!
Office of Access and Enrollment with this question and this was their answer.
“ If a rank seat is declined, that seat will be reallocated to a tier seat for the rolling waitlist process. However, rank seats are not necessarily reassigned to the tier of the declining student. The overall goal is to keep the number of acceptances as equal as possible across the four tiers. This means that, for example, if 4 rank offers are declined, they will be equally split so that one seat is reallocated to each of the 4 tiers. If only 3 rank offers are declined, then we would reallocate those seats starting from the bottom, so one seat would be added to tiers 1, 2, and 3.”
Please be nice and kind. Have a good day
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Thanks, I’ve read the response; I did my research before responding. It doesn’t address what happens if there are no tier 1 students waitlisted in the first place, so it’s irrelevant.
Please email them to ask what happens to a seat assigned to tier 1 if there aren’t any students on the tier 1 waitlist, then post here. I’ll wait.
Also, I’m curious: any thoughts on how bad tier 4 families had it that one year when OVER HALF of the offers went to tier 4?
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What’s your updated info then?
It looks you are using data that was a few years back.
I can tell you that there are about 10-12% of SN who are tier one.
Tell me how to get the million dollars from you
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You can get it by sharing accurate, verifiable data, which you have yet to do. While it may be old data, I have a source. Where’s yours?
I will also happily drop this discussion if you can agree to stop implying that tier 4 students are 1) more deserving of seats than students living in lower-income areas, and 2) somehow victims in this process. (And if you think you’re not doing that, then at least stop snarking on tier 1. It’s not a good look.)
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Also I might as well cop to posting under different names sometimes because I value anonymity and am paranoid, but I stand behind my earlier statements. I’ll show myself out…
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Please don’t take it personal.
You have no data to back you up, and you are accusing others not correct.
I don’t need to reveal identity or anything to prove anything.
If you really did your research, you wouldn’t be that offensive to others.
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I know that arguing on the internet is a zero-sum game, but can we at least be honest? I did refer to three years’-worth of data that clearly showed that tier 4 applicants to SN have historically gotten the largest share of offers, and tier 1 has gotten an egregiously low percentage. I have also asked you to provide a source for the one statistic you cited, and you have not. I have yet to hear from you, as well, about what the OAE email you quoted says about what happens to a seat when there are no applicants left in a particular tier. If you continue to ignore these points and refuse to engage my argument on its merits, then I think we’re done here.
For what it’s worth, I find the snark you directed towards tier 1 families offensive, so perhaps consider taking your own advice when it comes to being offensive to others.
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Never had I commented anything snarky about tier one families. As a matter of fact, I have a wide circle of friends and acquaintances (quite a few of them are tier one/two).
Peace out
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“I’m not racist I have lots of black friends”
Petra is an OG (thanks for that spreadsheet btw) and you’re a classist brat.
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Did anyone see the info where the number of applicants to each SEES was posted? Or can anyone post a link here? I heard that this info was posted somewhere but I can’t find it anywhere.
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My son was accepted into Edison for kinder. This is a politically charged topic, but would anyone know how Edison is in regards to its culture or environment when addressing LGBTQ+ issues? Do parents ever feel their children are being exposed to early to said topics?
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It’s a VERY inclusive space. The principal has a heart of gold and wants to make sure all her students feel welcome and safe. It’s a beautiful school.
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Couldn’t agree more with the above. It’s very, very inclusive and staff and students are comfortably represented if they choose to do so.
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Wonderful to hear! Is space given however for those who do not want to partake in things like pride or trans books?
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I mean, there are LGBTQ+ people who are part of the Edison community, including staff members. If you’re of the mind that you don’t even want your child made aware of trans people’s existence through a book, Edison probably isn’t the right fit for your family. (Or arguably vice versa — someone with an ‘opt out’ mindset would not be a good fit for Edison.)
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Petra – Yes yes yes!!!!
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I think being aware of people as people is fine, and that everyone is equal. Not so sure if bringing attention to sexuality or gender is necessary until later.
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Respectfully, if that is your primary concern, perhaps CPS is not the best fit for you and your child. I’d suggest you consider homeschooling or a conservatively aligned private.
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Many of our friends are not even considering CPS due this very specific topic. They send their kids to catholic schools that are decently priced and where this topic is not prioritized. They also appreciate the discipline and smaller class sizes, which is important. We are also considering some catholic schools and will be touring this summer.
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My kids go to a parochial private, but it is fully accepting and affirming of LGBTQ+ parents, families, and children – all of which we have in our community. To your point, I don’t personally know of any school that “prioritizes this topic” to the cost of striving for an excellent education. I personally feel it’s important to send my kids to schools where the full spectrum of gender and sexuality are welcomed and affirmed, in addition to excellent academics. To each their own, I suppose. Best of luck to you on your search.
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Thank you for all the thoughts, very helpful
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Since this seems to be topical, sharing a FOIA request I did on acceptances by tier for the 2023-2024 school year. This is for entry grade for elementary only. It’s worth noting these are pretty small numbers and can shift quite a bit year to year, so read it with that in mind. I suspect numbers will also shift as the bussing situation is still pretty fluid and that impacts where families realistically can accept offers.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-Kp5jtiAHv14i96TgHysT5s_mZ4hRb-H/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=108949464930229234350&rtpof=true&sd=true-
Thank you for the data. It is very kind of you and I share.
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Amazing thank you for sharing this. Just another point for Petra’s argument.
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Thank you for sharing this document. Is it possible to have similar file from CPS, for the current year?
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For last year’s admission cycle (current school year 2024-2025), I did recently request it via FOIA, but those requests take a while to be fulfilled. Perhaps if someone else on the forum has it they will be kind enough to post it. For the current admissions cycle (for school year 2025-2026), admissions can occur until the 20th day of school, so it be something to request in October 2025.
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Hi cb, wonder if you received the file from last year? Thank you.
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Hi @cb, could you let us know if you receive the FOIA from current year? Thank you so much.
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Hi Headache Dad, just received it yesterday actually. It’s worth repeating the same caveats about these being small numbers that will shift a bit year to year, so please keep that in mind.
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Thank you for sharing, cb. This is incredibly helpful. Based on the data and how things are shaping up this year with CTU contracts and what seems to be a more competitive applicant pool (perhaps due to more families relocating to Chicagoland?), it seems like any waitlist movement for Tier 4 will be limited this year. We are within top 5 on a few SEES waitlists, but given the landscape, I’m not holding my breath. We will likely move forward with our backup plan. Wish everyone clarity and peace as you make the best choice for your child and your family. There are many meaningful paths to a joyful and thriving school experience, and SEES is just one of them.
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Thanks so much for sharing, very helpful. It is also sad to realize that in all three top choices we were next on the waitlist but the offers were no longer made… I also noticed that there is no information for certain grades, which probably means there were no open spots at all for these grades last year?
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Thank you @cb for sharing this information! I wonder what waitlist offer and waitlist accepts mean? Have rolling waitlist offers started to give out? I don’t see any changes to our waitlist #.
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@ccmom, no, they will start next week on Tuesday!
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Then what do “waitlist offers” and “waitlist accepts” on the FOIA form mean?
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@ccmom, the list is from last year!!
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@Val– correct, this is for last year’s admissions cycle.
For the current admissions cycle (for school year 2025-2026), admissions can occur until the 20th day of school, so this file can’t exist yet. The earliest it could be requested would be in October 2025 (or maybe late September 2025).
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This is very helpful. Thank you! Does anyone have any idea what patterns can be expected this year? If last year there were 3-5 offers made to waitlisted candidates at school X, does it mean that attrition has already happened in that school and less offers (if at all) will be made within the same grade at that school X?
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This information is only for entry grades. Does anyone have this FOIA spreadsheet for non-entry grades for 2023-2024?
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The file I shared on 5/23/25 had offer numbers for all elementary grades. This was for 2024-2025, though.
Note: the current offers going out are for *next* school year, SY 2025-2026. There is not a file available for next school year as the process is not complete yet.-
Thank you! I understood that. My question was regarding 2023-2024 FOIA file (not 24-25). That file only has entry grade data.
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Ah, okay, glad you saw the more recent one. I did the FOIA request for both years. I’m guessing I wrote the 2023-2024 request more narrowly to just request entry year, so what I shared for 2023-24 is all that I received. Perhaps someone else has additional data, though.
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Entering 1st grade and these are our scores. I do not understand how the point total is calculated from the reading score, which should have been 103 points for reading and 120 points for math based on my understanding of the scoring table that was posted for kinder. Is there a different rubrric for 1st grade that was not posted?
Classical Reading Percentile — 33
Classical Reading Score — 123
Classical Math Percentile — 85
Classical Math Score — 136Point Calculations for School Year 2025-26
Classical Point Total
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178.8/300 -
Never mind my above question. Yes there is a completely different score rubric for 1st-8th. Raw points aren’t used only the %tile.
https://www.cps.edu/globalassets/cps-pages/gocps/resources/elementary-school/25-26.sees-applying-to-1-8.pdf -
Just saw this link about waitlist and want to share:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1v2DsYMERjKyUB0wptyScy1IAOzkDQ8l_UOFnqwg9vEA/edit#slide=id.g32e9204f618_0_7726Couple of things that are different from what I thought:
1. All waitlist offers come from Office of Admission and Enrollment, instead of school.
This means school doesn’t know who will get an offer??
2. Students are automatically removed from All selective waitlists if an offer is received.
Does this mean, for example, if you are waitlisted for both SN and SW, and you receive an waitlist offer from SN, your waitlist number from SW will be removed?Feel free to comment.
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1. I think this is similar to years past. From what I knew, the school will authorize the OAE to offer the next student on the waitlist if the school wants to offer the spot. Meaning, if the school wants to keep the class size at 27 instead of 28, then that last seat won’t be automatically offered to the next student on the waitlist.
2. That sounds correct from what you wrote. If you decline the waitlist offer from SN, then you will go back on the SW waitlist, according to your score.
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It seems like the answer to your first question is on slide 25:
“Schools should notify parents who received an offer!
Schools will know who received an offer the same time as families.
Schools should contact families through phone or email to let them know they received an offer and when their offers will expire.”If what you’re asking is whether schools will know which applicants are next up for offers before they go out, then it does sound like they may not know that with 100% certainty, especially since ranking will still matter this year.
On your second question, that’s how it’s worked in previous years. In your SN/SW waitlist example, if you declined the SN offer or let it expire, you wouldn’t automatically go back on the SW waitlist, though. You would have to go back in and click the button to rejoin it.
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Does this apply to non grade entry as well?
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Yes.
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@KW and @SP-82 Thank you so much for your explanation.
I think what I was trying to check, is school doesn’t know who is the next on the list before families. Office will call families and notify schools on the same day.
Does anyone know when the earliest possible waitlist offer is? From the slides, it reads as rolling waitlist opens on May 19th (Monday), and waitlist offers only start on Tues & Thurs. So is it fair to assume May 20th is the earliest possible date that a family on the waitlist can possibly receive an offer, if any open spots?
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Per feedback from OAE – waitlist offers will start on May 27.
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Thanks, that is new info! I had assumed it would be May 20 after the waitlist opens on May 19. Maybe they are holding on things for a week to give everyone an opportunity to add to their waitlist selections?
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This is what they did for high school. Waitlist opened on 4/21 and the first offers went out this week on Tuesday.
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From my past experiences with a couple of the SEES schools, the schools did know who was next on the list, since many times I would ask the school if my kid was still #1 on the waitlist, and they would confirm for me. But they weren’t the ones who would send the official offer through the CPS website, that would be the OAE. The school would send an unofficial congrats/welcome email usually the same day or day after. I don’t know if it will be the same this year since it looks like there’s an entire new system in place.
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Schools did make all their waitlist offers in past years, they just might not have wanted to open themselves up to liability by sharing that kind of information.
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When we talked to OAE, they said that schools will not know who is getting the offer until the offer is extended by OAE, as it is being extended to the family and the school is being notified at the same time, which I guess is a change in process.
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BTW, I heard there are 3 families not planning to accept SN initial round of offer. This is only from what I see online, and casual chat with people. Please verify yourself as I can’t provide a reliable source :/ (We are on their waitlist too, lower in ranking though)
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Hi:-). Is this true for non entry grade classes as well? Thanks
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This is for Kindergarten only: not sure about non entry grade.
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What is your wait-list number for SN (if you don’t mind sharing)?
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We are waitlist #4, tier 4 for SN. What is your ranking?
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Mine have been in SEES, then SEHS. We got in with rank score 99.9 & 99.6; 900 for SEHS. Just checking to see how competitive it is. Looks like more and more people are scoring high scores in recent years.
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Hello – what is your total points?
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Headache Dad – if you don’t mind sharing, what was the classical point total?
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This is the Zoom recording accompanying the Spring Notification Elementary slidedeck and around minute 32, it also talks about this year’s changes. https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/Cmjz8WjDJrDVy-O6zRgvTkKJa1vixjgPoJ8_lia5PEqXJlk_cbbzZx-7U8C7xQW_vXs115Y6C36WY3dS.xKhuQtYmGNamiJUd?accessLevel=meeting&canPlayFromShare=true&from=share_recording_detail&startTime=1743789922000&componentName=rec-play&originRequestUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fus02web.zoom.us%2Frec%2Fshare%2F5fuFu1dYpUQOkimwAnEO_uGggZlGS_mlHN3dQ3hN4E7VSDGcOsIrXQBF_hoObHCd.pkkBO7lq8c2PnnHJ%3FstartTime%3D1743789922000
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If we have a classical school ranked as #1 (Bronzeville WL #8) and a regional gifted as #2 (NTA WL #3), do they count each program separate or will someone who has that regional gifted school ranked as #1 have a higher chance for an offer? Just wondering if I should remove the classical school from my #1. My child is entering 1st grade so I know it is more difficult to come off a WL
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You should keep it in your actual preferred order. So that might mean an NTA offer comes earlier than a Bronzeville offer given your position on the waitlists. There is a myth that you should try to factor in probabilities but CPS is very clear the highest qualified person for that spot gets the offer even if someone else ranked it higher. See CPS’ info on rankings and that persistent myth at this link. https://www.cps.edu/gocps/elementary-school/apply/ranking-gocps-programs/
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Once you are on the waitlists, preferences do not matter. As offers are made and declined to those on the waitlist before you, you may get your last preference sooner than your first one depending on how many people are ahead of you in the waitlist for each individual school. So, unless you know you will not accept an offer from a certain school, do not remove it from your waitlist.
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This is from OAE:
Schools will know who received an offer the same time as families.
Schools should contact families through phone or email to let them know they received an offer and when their offers will expire.
Families will also receive automatic notifications from our office when the offer is made through an email coming directly from EnrollWise. -
On Monday, you can a schools main office and ask how many students accepted/ declined the offer. They should be able to tell you that number ahead of the rolling waitlist starting on May 19th.
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Some schools may share and some school may not.
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For those of us whose kids did not get in and don’t understand the assessment results:
Copy and paste the scores into ChatGPT and ask them what it means. Initially I thought my kid just failed. However, the AI explained that he had a near perfect reading, verbal reasoning and non verbal reasoning score and his math score though high for PreK wasn’t as competitive for SEES. If his math score had been just a little higher he probably would have gotten at least waitlisted. I realized his math scores were a result of exposure as his teachers pretty much said you can count to 10, know your colors? Cool we’re done. Even the math enrichment class I put him in left him bored and instructing other students in the class on the assignments. Chat GPt even gave me suggestions on math enrichment that would actually challenge his demonstrated level of understanding (Mathnasium). Most helpful though is I was able to present his scores to our district public school and now he is slated for an advanced differentiated curriculum as an incoming Kindergartner. So if your kid wasn’t competitive for SEES they could still be competitive for the regular program and get slated for advanced classes instead of relying on a public school teacher to declare your child a genius.
My point is that your kid might have had an off day or they might not be as competitive compared to a kid who might have been prepped from birth or is just a genius however there are things you can do to test better in the future and position your kid for greatness in a school district that ranks just as high on performance as the SEES schools.
Hope this helps those of us whose kids were declined.
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Can anyone clarify for me the current waitlist process? I understand that the deadline to accept / decline initial offers was this past Friday, but the rolling waitlist doesn’t begin until May 19th. Does this mean we should not expect to see waitlist movement until on/after May 19th? Or depending on offers accepted/declined could there be movement any time now?
My child is waitlisted #7 (tier 4) for Decatur kindergarten. We’re keeping our eye on things but from my understanding it seems like it’s a pretty big long shot that my kid will get an offer. I’m just wondering when we would expect to see any movement (if there will be any!).
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Decatur usually seems movement as it is not the best location for those who live in the city, so you should be hopeful. Waitlist opens up on May 19 and first offers will go out the following week on May 27 (as confirmed by OAE).
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Got it. Thank you for the info! 🙂
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I got similar information too: rolling waitlist starts May 19th, waitlist offer starts May 27th and it will be from Office of Admission of Enrollment. According to CPS guideline, school doesn’t know who will get an offer before families. But some said school knows but doesn’t share.
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@Confused mom, do you know how many first round offers have been accepted/declined for Decatur? Office of Admission and Enrollment won’t tell when I called them.
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@HeadacheDad No, I have no idea!
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Does anyone know if they will ever release stats for number of applications for grades beyond kindergarten?
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What does “admin declined” mean for an offer? We got an offer for a lower priority school but chose to decline it. For Skinner North, it says “Admin declined” though.
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It means the school decided not to accept more students
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“Admin declined” means the scores didnt mean the minimum threshold to be on the waitlist for that school, e g 50 percentile in both Reading and Math for classical.
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Hi HeadacheDad, thank you! We toured just Decatour, and is a lovely school. They are both great schools, the only problem for us is the location. We live in River West so driving to Lincolnwood every day isn’t doable for us. Plus they start pretty early at 7:45 AM.. Did you call the schools to inquire about how many seats they might have available?!
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Hi Val, I contacted the school but they didn’t reply. But I do know that Decatur will open up one more classroom next year, so first grade next year will have 50 seats. And it will be test score based not tier, since it is not entry grade.
Skinner West seems close to you, and it is also a good school. I heard the bus service may come back this year: https://www.skinnerwest.cps.edu/apps/pages/?type=d&uREC_ID=590103&pREC_ID=1137848
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We know about Skinner West, we might get on the WL but the opinions about the school are mixed….Btw, from what I heard SN has only 2 spots available…
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@Val – do you know if those 2 spots are ranked or tier seats? We are planning to join the SN waitlist as we are very close to the cut score…
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@CuriousMom, we called and we were told they have only 2 spots per both classes( not Tier related)
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Thanks so much for sharing! Wow that is very unfortunate for 2 classes of 60 students total. Decline rate must be very very low this year.
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The classes are smaller this year. I think 25 seats/class
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I heard 3 are available (but seems out-dated if you already confirmed with the school).
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Are there administrators here? Can we please ban the advertisement of the above services that are bad? Several people we know took classes for their K entry with this company, and nobody got in, and parents thought the materials were very simple and it was a waste of time and money.
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Eagerly waiting to see movement on the waitlist, hopefully in a positive direction. Does anyone know when or how often the numbers will change? Is it daily?
Also…what comes first…an email/call from the school or will the Go CPS website post offers? (First time/only child mom, with all the questions)-
My guess is that numbers will change as people join/leave the waitlist? Rolling waitlist opens at 10am today. SEES offers come out every Tues/Thurs starting next week, and choice offers will start this week (Tues/Thurs). You should get an email from gocps if you receive an offer (and 48 hours to make your decision) followed by a call from the school.
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Correction: Tues/Fri*- classic case of an anxious mom’s Monday brain!
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Anyone knows how to join waitlist? We have an initial offer but declined due to logistic. Now would like to re-join the waitlist to other selective schools closer to our home but can’t see anywhere to join waitlist now. I think GoCPS website changed this year and it’s a little bit confused.
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The waitlist opens up at 10. You can’t see it yet
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OK, thanks. I tried one more time now but still not available. Will check later.
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I just tried it and it works now, took 10 minutes past 10am. Does anyone know when they will update waitlist numbers? We can’t see any waitlist number after joining.
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Yes it works now.I resubmitted my application (removed two schools from my initial application) and saved my change. The wait list ranking showing up now.
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Does anyone see any movement on your waitlist? Ours remains unchanged. Is this just us?
I do see the option of moving ranks becomes available.-
I didn’t see any of our numbers get lower, our numbers just got higher on the waitlist. Wondering if they haven’t gotten declines from the first round loaded into the system yet?
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No movement for us either. Maybe they’ll move tomorrow, or maybe we just picked popular schools or something.
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Try logging in again, we see our waitlist # now.. I also saw it move in real time from #2 to #3
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I guess there will be even some move down on waitlist. Some students will rejoin the waitlist after decline the first-round offer.
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Okay, I just saw one of our waitlists # went down by 1.
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Hi @ccmon, do you mean your waitlist # went down (rank in a better position)?
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I feel that the new rolling waitlist system will have many glitches and may even break down. Just don’t trust CPS.
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First time applying for the gifted program as we have just moved to the US. This is for my kid moving from K to grade 1
What does this score mean? Is it good/average/bad?
RGC Composite Score — 125
RGC Non-Verbal Score — 126
RGC Verbal Score — 118
RGC Point Total — 212.5/300-
An RGC composite score of 125 is good, it is about 95th percentile. The trick is that Grade 1 is not an entry year for most RGCs (except Beaubien and Keller), so there are less seats available. I would suggest putting yourself on the waitlist for any schools you would realistically consider to cast a wider net.
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is there a percentile conversion somewhere for rgc scores?
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It’s supposed to be standard score (bell curve), so you can do the conversion that way (ie, 100 is exactly 50%, and 115 is one standard deviation above the mean, so about 84%). The site below is a good reference:
https://www.medfriendly.com/standardscoretopercentileconversion.html(the disclaimer is since we don’t know exactly what test CPS uses, the standard score could be off by a couple points, so I would treat this as a rough conversion).
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thanks!
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Anyone willing to share their experience at McPherson RGC? I’m particularly interested in upper elementary/middle grades!
Now that the rolling waitlist is open, I added it to our list for 5th grade entry, since it’s within the boundary we’re willing to commute. Our current waitlist numbers are:
#17 SN
#16 SW
#4 Edison
#5 Bell
#2 McPherson-
McPherson is amazing. We got an offer last year and toured, and they were so kind and nice, and all our questions were answered in a very professional and knowledgeable way. You can see this is a rising star program that cares about improvements, etc. We declined because it would take us 45 min one way to drive, but we got a very good impression of both curriculum and people involved in this options program.
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Thank you, that is encouraging!
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We just joined waitlists of some RGCs and Classical in addition to initial application, and what I see is this: “Required Event: Classical Test” or “Required Event: Regional Gifted Center Test”, though we took the test and were waitlisted for other programs… Is it a glitch? What should we do?
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I see that, too, but I think it might be a glitch? I added McPherson to our list this morning; immediately after adding, we were in the 40s. Now we’re #2. The requirement tag has not gone away, but it looks like *something* is working correctly.
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I see, I will wait for the same “wonder” to happen then. Also, I would be curious to know if you get an offer for Bell and Edison with these waitlist numbers. My son is #5-6 for Bell and Edison as well (for 3rd grade though).
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It did take a few minutes to update! After reading the positive comments here, I also added Pritzker to our list (close to us as we live in Logan Square). When we I added it, we went from no waitlist number, to 101, to 1 within a matter of a few minutes between each. My newly added schools still have RGC test as a “required event” in red.
Our dream school would be SN. My son is starting Payton in the fall and that would be SO convenient, but with #17 I don’t see that happening. Hopeful that one of our other, higher numbers will work out! Good luck to you!
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SN usually will have a lot of spots open for grade 7 as a lot of kids will leave for Academic Center. Just keep testing and you will be there.
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Can I ask what score your son got on the RGC test?
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Son who got into Payton never took the RGC; we homeschooled and then went to private for 6-8. Daughter took RGC and classical tests this year.
Classical reading percentile: 98
Classical math percentile: 98
RGC composite: 160Classical point total: 297
RGC Point Total: 3005th grade entry. We’ve had zero movement on any of our original waitlisted spots; I added Pritzker and McPherson today and saw movement as the system updated and placed us on the list (at least, that’s what I assume happened.)
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Wow, this is very impressive. Congrats on being such a successful parent with two star kiddos. Do you mind sharing how you prepared for RGC/Classical exams for 4-5 grade entry? And what materials did you use to homeschool before?
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Thank you. We actually didn’t do any formal prep at all – we had a a major scramble in the fall when we found out our current school was having enrollment challenges and my spouse lost their job, so we decided to test her “just in case.”
I think for any child, familiarity with timed test taking and some basic strategy skills go a long way (stuff like not getting hung up on one question, choosing the right vs. best answer, making educated guesses, etc.) If your kid is into workbooks, Amazon has some great options.
For the homeschooling years, I highly recommend the methods and materials taught in The Well-Trained Mind + Primary Mathematics/Singapore Math (teaching my kids this math changed my brain and I think it lays an amazing foundation for being a “math person.”)
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FYI, McPherson’s 5th grade is the first RGC cohort class in that school. The RGC program is phasing in after Coonley was phasing out their RGC program due to neighborhood overcrowding and the need to reclaim classrooms to keep neighborhood class sizes low. The McPherson RGC program will grow each year to serve K-8th but because that is their first RGC class, it may be on the smaller class size.
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Thank you, that is very helpful info. Kiddo’s current class size is very small (coming from a small private.) So, I don’t think it would prevent us from accepting if we got the offer and it seemed like the right move, but it is good to know!
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What grade is your child applying for? We are # 2 on the waitlist for 3rd grade at Pritzker
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Applying for 5th!
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That’s awesome! Did you get an offer today from Pritzker?
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I did not! I didn’t see any movement on any schools today. You?
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Looking for any insight at all given that CPS is now taking into account rankings as well as wait-list positions.
My son is entering third grade. Here is the current situation, including my current ranking as well as the wait-list positions.
1. Poe: 8
2. NTA: 14
3. McDade: 9
4. Lenart: 18I ranked NTA as #2 even though he is in position 9 for McDade. I am kind of equivocating about McDade. It seems to have more of an arts emphasis rather than STEM/STEAM and I have a science and math kid.
Does anyone have thoughts about McDade vs. NTA? Do you think he has any hope in position 14 at NTA? I am wondering whether I should move McDade up to #2.
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School rankings do not matter when it comes to waitlists.
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That has changed this year – there is a ranking system that I am still trying to wrap my head around.
“Click ‘Browse + Add Programs to Application’ to join the rolling waitlist for up to 20 programs. You can also add previously chosen programs from the ‘Removed Waitlists’ dropdown. After selecting, rank your choices in your true order of preference, with #1 representing your top choice. You will only remain to be waitlisted for programs ranked higher than the waitlist offer you receive.”
Also see this site:
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Rankings matter for Choice schools because you remain on the waitlists for schools you rank higher, but not for SEES, once you receive an offer for a SEES school you are removed from all other waitlists.
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Sorry to be completely clear, you are removed from all other SEES waitlists, not Choice.
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What I quoted was on the application for selective enrollment, not choice. My kid is already in a choice school so there was no application for choice.
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14 for NTA is the kind of number that very well might get you in… in September. So if you’re able to wait that long, you have a shot. But no guarantees. You can see how it progresses over the course of the summer, and evaluate if you do get a spot at McDade.
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Thanks for this info. I am reading some not so great things about NTA starting in 3rd grade so I am not sure whether we would take it even if offered. Any other thoughts on NTA from anyone would be helpful.
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Hello all – is waitlist number provided the child’s dedicated waitlist number in their tier or is it for overall for all kids?
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Hi JC – Tier waitlist # shown is for your Tier only. May I ask what WL position you are for SN?
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Thanks, I am trying to figure out whether my chosen ranking combined with the waitlist number makes it more likely that he will get a spot. Does that make sense?
My current understanding is that it does not, just that once you get an offer, everything ranked below is no longer an option. Is that correct? I have major brain fog this week, lol.
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@JC kindly confirm where your child’s classical score placed him/her on the current SN waitlist. it would be helpful for all of us to understand the spread between top 5 tier 4 candidates.
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The waitlist is very fluid and can change hourly. What may be applicable today my not tomorrow. Trust you have your child’s waitlist number at this point which you are most welcome to share with the community for the benefit of others. Val has kindly shared her child’s waitlist number which i believe may help you. Having said that, this year there are 2 open spots at SN, same as last year. What i can share though is based on data i was able to get from FOIA, last year 2 spots were filled in SN from waitlist. For these 2 spots, 3 waitlist offers were made – 2 in tier 3 and 1 in tier 2. I have ZERO idea how things will pen out this year. Wish everyone the best!
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Fully agree with you. The wait list process is so fluid that sharing current wait list numbers can be misleading.
I would also suggest that if parents offer to share their wait list numbers that is certainly fine, but parents should not be pressured to do so. We’re all here to help, but not everyone wants to put their child’s test scores online for everyone to see.
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We moved down the waitlist 😢
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People add themselves to the list when rolling waitlists start, nobody removes them right?
So I guess waitlist # either goes up or stays unchanged?
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Hello,
Is there an admin or someone from CPS who can confirm that it is normal to see “Required Event: Regional Gifted Center Test” when I add an RGC to my ranked list as part of the rolling waitlist? My son already took the RGC test and it shows “Completed Event: Regional Gifted Center Test” against schools that we applied to in the Fall.
I have not seen any movement in our waitlist positions at any of the schools we applied to, so I’m concerned I may have missed a step or two while adding ourselves to the waitlist.
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I’m not sure why it says that, but I can tell you that after adding myself to two new waitlists, I was re-ranked into order based on score within a few minutes. Otherwise, my rankings haven’t changed and I haven’t received any offers.
I’m not sure of the date they’re starting to send out waitlist offers, though? This site says Tues/Fri; one comment says waitlist offers won’t start until 5/27, and the CPS website says offers go out Mon/Fri.
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@HopefulDad- Reach out directly to the helpful GoCPS staff at gocps@cps.edu and they will be able to answer your question. Please report back their response if you can. It may have to do with a delay in syncing information or it could be a glitch. Worth contacting them directly, though. Good luck!
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@hopefuldad, I emailed them earlier today and they replied that it shows as a completed event on their end. I did reply with a screenshot of the issue from my end and asked them to confirm it won’t prevent offers from going out – I’ll post if I get a reply!
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@chicagoschooloptions Thank you for that suggestion. I emailed gocps@cps.edu and they responded promptly and fixed the view in my account. Every school tile now shows “Completed Event: Regional Gifted Center Test”
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Any current or new SN families commuting from Hyde Park?
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We’re not a SN family, but we know many who are. The commute via Lakeshore Drive is doable, though I’ve heard of more families commuting south to Hyde Park (for Lab) than north to SN. They also eventually relocate to Hyde Park. There are also many Bridgeport families who make the 20-30 mins drive (depending on traffic) to SN regularly. It’s manageable, but if you’re thinking long-term, you might want to consider relocating closer to save yourself that hour long commute each day. Also when you start getting more involved at their school, like school events, your kiddo forgetting their homework/lunchbox or PTCs, that commute will start to add up and wear on you if you are not a stay-at-home parent.
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Thanks, @CuriousMom!
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my child got tier 4 # decatur school, earlier he was in tier tier # 3.
does tier# 4 means his wait list is 4 the number?-
Hi @ali, a tier 4 offer or a tier 4 waitlist number?
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Hi! Are you talking about the WL #?? You can’t switch Tiers……
So I m thinking what you see is the waitlist no, which went from 4 to 3-
Upss…from 3 to 4 ( meaning someone else added themselves to the WL)
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I am not sure if tier 3 is better or tier 4 ?
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You can’t choose your tier! It’s based on where you live. I think you probably mean you are #3 or #4 on the Tier waitlist? #3 will be better than #4 because it means you will be third in line to get in if 3 students decline their offers.
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Did anyone get an offers today? Or do they start going out on May 27? Does anyone know. Thanks
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Someone in this forum says next week
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The first round of Choice offers will be released this Tuesday and Friday. Selective Enrollment offers will begin next week and continue every Tuesday and Friday.
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So there is some information from friends on school boards at Edison and Bell RGC that there are no available spots in 1-4 grades. In fact, Edison and Bell only have spots in 7-8 grades as more than half of classes in those grades are going to ACa. Pritzker and McPherson are rising stars and are also full with potentially 1-2 spots available in 1-4 grades. Many people moved to Chicago from NY, Florida and SF, and competition is more brutal now. I thought I would share with folks so you can manage expectations and plan accordingly.
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Thanks for the inside info! Have you heard anything about 5th entry at those schools? (We’re in the top 5 on all those waitlists, but we’re #1 and #2 at Pritzker and McPherson.)
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For Edison, one offer went out for rising 5th grade and was accepted, from what I hear. No one else is leaving. All grades are full, except for 7th and 8th, as Kat mentioned.
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Did you mean this week?
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I assume that’s from the original round of offers. I’ve been watching my waitlist like a hawk for MONTHS (like, not to embarrass myself but I look multiple times per day lol) and haven’t noticed movement.
And yeah, Kat mentioned Edison and Bell, but no mention of upper grades at the other two, so I was curious. Obviously, nothing proactive to do but wait!
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*months is hyperbolic. It feels like months!
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You are right, I called CPS yesterday and they told me that selective enrollment offers will go out on the 27th. Choice elementary school offers started to go out yesterday (Tues and Fri).
We are also waiting for Pritzker (moved from 1st to 2nd position on the waitlist after you added your daughter! 🙂 ). Judging by her scores, she should get into any of her top choices.
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We will be leaving McPherson so at least one spot will open for the incoming 2nd grade class. There may be one or two others leaving as well.
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Hello EC,
When did you communicate your decision to McPherson? I wonder if the spot you are opening up was filled before the rolling waitlist opened on May 19th.
Can you share why you are leaving McPherson?
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Hi, I only told the school office this week but we did indicate a change of schools via the GoCPS website at the initial deadline. However that was to a choice lottery based school rather than a selective enrollment school so I’m not sure it would have automatically removed us from McPherson.
We moved from Lincoln Square to Ukrainian Village last fall and the commute has been really bad (1 hour round trip on a good day, 2 hours on a bad day, twice a day). The first grade RGC teacher is phenomenal and we’ve heard from other parents that the 2nd grade teacher is fantastic but we just can’t justify the commute long term when there are other great schools closer to home.
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Did SEES waitlist offers go out at 10am this morning? I haven’t seen any movement on the Tier 4 waitlist rankings…
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Haven’t seen any movement on mine, either – though we are general waitlist for a non-entry grade.
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Yes. We received an offer mid morning for K at Morton. We were WL #6 for Tier 4.
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I have not seen any movement on my waitlists today for RGC/Classical OR Magnet (Tier 3)
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Same with us. No movement for SEES for non-entry grade.
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Same, no movement. Kindergarten Tier 4
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Just got an offer off the waitlist for Carnegie RGC, nonentry grade. Anyone have feedback about Carnegie? Can we stay on the choice waitlist if we accept a RGC spot?
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Just received and accepted an offer for Bell RGC for rising 2nd grade—so the waitlist will move! Bell was our first choice (composite RGC score 160). We were also waitlisted #1 for Bell last year but no waitlist offers were made last year. It was totally worth the wait for a year!
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Exciting and congrats to you, @bellmom and @ladybug! Did you get offers right at 10 or later on?
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I got the email from CPS around 11:50 am, as well as text message.
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Congrats! This is so exciting! Do you mind sharing how you prepared to get such perfect score for your kiddo? CONGRATS again!
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CogAT and NNAT, the score will be better and better each year. He was 143 last year. The verbal part apparently improved a lot for this year’s test.
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Wow, we have also 143, and our verbal score is actually lower than non-verbal. Any tips on how to improve that specific verbal portion?
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We didn’t specifically prepare for the verbal section. I think the kids naturally pick it up as they read more and more.
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Ok, Kindergarten Tier 4
We were:
WL#7 SN
WL#4 SW
WL#2 Decatur
We got an offer and accepted SW.-
This is fantastic. Congrats! SW Classical is amazing!
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@Sam , Thank you! First time going through this, it’s been really stressful! For the rest of people out there we also got Choice offers from Disney and Franklin
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Many congratulations!!! Happy for you. 🙂
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@JC, thank you! How about you guys? Did you get an offer from SN?!
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Not yet.
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@JC fingers crossed!😊
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@val – HI Val, what made you accept Skinner West (Despite the mixed reviews)?
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@JC, logistics! We can’t commute for Decatur, and can’t move this year! We also know someone that goes to SW and is happy with the program. From what I understood the scores ( and reviews )are mixed because they also have a neighborhood kindergarten class. This being said they still teach 1 grade ahead and I want my kiddo to be challenged.
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For Kindergarten Tier 2,
little one got WL#1 at NTA and WL#4 then moved to WL#6 at Lenart.Rejected NTA and was told that the waitlist resets when you get an offer from a gifted school. Can’t see that updated on our profile yet.
Does little one still have a chance at Lenart?
Any feedback on going back to NTA or holding out for Lenart?
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You need to rejoin the waitlist yourself. Declining the NTA offer will not automatically put you back on any other waitlists.
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We just got an offer at Morton gifted program (had been waitlisted #6 until now). Does anyone have any feedback on this newer program? Parent community/involvement? Social emotional learning? Whether they tend to be working 1 vs 2 yrs above grade level or any details on the program?
Thanks for your help!
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We accepted Morton for Kinder and I was very impressed by the tour/open house. It is incredibly apparent that the staff (admin, teachers, everyone) really care, and literally every parent I’ve spoken to with a child in the program has had only glowing things to say. The principal is extremely responsive, so I think you would be likely to get a response if you reached out. Here is a link to the presentation they shared after a tour I took in the fall: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1pezmFRI7d-_3YX6RriFJrGFpVadxcZuxnaASCMKahCs/edit?usp=sharing
To your specific questions, they mentioned that their model is to start at grade level but scale up quickly, though it’s clear that they differentiate beyond that if needed. They are 1 full grade level ahead by 2nd or 3rd I think, and they aim to get them 2 grade levels ahead by 4th or 5th. They also mentioned that they do a lot of enrichment to the curriculum. They spoke to SEL at the open house, but I can’t recall specific details, only that it is clearly a priority (but not at the expense of academics). We’ve been invited to a playdate at the playground and a community gardening event, so they are clearly motivated when it comes to community engagement and welcoming new families.
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Thank you for this!! Exactly what I was looking for but could only find the general slideshow on their website. It was so helpful since I reached out to both gifted coordinator and principal and sadly did not get a response at all. Hoping it was last week of school chaos, but didn’t set a great tone if I’m being honest. What you described sounds so much better!
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I don’t see much movement on the upper grades (5th grade entry) but for 2nd grade entry I saw the waitlist position to move quite a bit on most schools.
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We’re 5th entry, too, and have moved up one spot at both Bell and Edison. Otherwise, no movement. It looks like they may be working their way through the grades?
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All – quick question, has anyone seen any movement in their child’s Tier 4 waitlist no. at Skinner North today? Did it reduce at all today?
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I do see our waitlist # moving up by 1 for Skinner North. But we are 5th grade entry not K.
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We’re 5th entry, too, and saw our # go up by one on SN and SW, but it happened either late last week or this weekend, not yesterday. (I check probably too often lol.)
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@JC, it moved. Our friend was #15 and is now #11, but I think it is because 4 of us accepted offers somewhere else. I don’t think there were any offers made for Tier 4 yesterday.
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Yeah – that’s my suspect too given what happened last year.
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FWIW – there is a waitlist across all 4 tiers this year at SN. Even if you are WL#1 it may still take 3-4 families to decline before it gets to your number, and there are only 2 declines for K this year.
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@CuriousMom
Can you please explain more? Why 3-4 families to decline to get that 1 spot?
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@Birdy: Declined rank seats are reallocated to the tier pool to balance offers across all four tiers. This year’s higher Tier 1 cutoff suggests Tier 1 has a waitlist, unlike past years. As usual, Tiers 2-4 also have waitlists. Per OAE, seats are reassigned base on real-time distribution, typically in the order of T1>T2>T3>T4. So even if you are #1 on T4 WL, it may still take 3-4 declines before your number is called, esp if the seat wasn’t originally a T4 allocated seat.
On top of that, I personally know 2 families who have already accepted T4 offers, and am aware of a few others who also received T4 offers and have accepted. With only 8-9 T4 seats total, highly unlikely there will be any more T4 rejections. So at this point, the only realistic chance for movement would be from rejections in other tiers or ranked seat declines, but two ranked seats have already been redistributed and neither went to T4.
We have committed and enrolled elsewhere and are not taking the WL gamble this late into the game, so hope this observation helps those deciding between offers. I know how stressful how it can be!
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Yeah – that’s exactly my fear too. No Tier 4 waitlist offers being made at SN for KG.
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Glad to hear you made the decision to forgo the SN wait-list and have confidence in the alternate offer. Could you please share where you accepted your offer?
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Eh? Not sure how that helps anyone but compromises my family’s identity lol. Community is small.
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@val congratulations! It was us who declined the SW offer.
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Hi @birdy, can you share your reasons for declining SW?
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@CuriousMom Thank you so much for explaining it to me. I was naive to think that we might get an offer. We declined SW in order to get on a waitlist for SN (mostly for convenience since my parents live close by). Oh well, I wish I knew earlier all those details. Thank you and good luck
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@birdie, we applied only for SN and Decatur in first phase. She would have gotten into SW because her score was above the cut ….
Second phase I knew she wouldn’t have a chance with SN because I called and they told me that they have only 2 seats available and we were WL #2 (I was sure they wouldn’t be Tier4) so we added ourselves to SW waiting list…if not for SW we would have gotten a Decatur offer ( they had 4 spots available), but is way too far for us.-
@Val we only picked SN and SW for classical. We didn’t get SN due to tiebreaker even though he got 230. We accepted SW but after long consideration decided to drop it off when waiting list opened up. Main reason: I thought he will get to SN if we put him on WL (how naive I was 🫣) I guess, catholic school is waiting for us 🙂
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Oof, that’s rough..you were so close. With your kiddo’s strong score, you’d be #1 on any classical Tier 4 waitlist. Do you know that you can put yourself on multiple schools WL including for both SW and SN to maximize your chances? A number of SW offers are still being made to T4 WL.. so much higher probability of a SW offer unless you are set on your private>SW.
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Hi, what’s your source for the # of open seats at SW in general and being allocated to T4 WL? I called the school after the rolling WL opened and they wouldn’t tell me.
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Strange that they wouldn’t share that… did they at least say how many declined? I just deduced it based on Val mentioning she was #4 on the T4 WL and received an offer. There had to be at least 2 or more offers made this year, even if some families chose to go elsewhere. With so few seats at SW for T4, I’m surprised too, but that said might all be filled now and even if there’s a shot you prob need to be at least WL #1.
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@CuriousMom, we called too! The lady that answered was clueless, told us there are no seats available and we can’t get on the WL 😅
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@Val, we might be in the same class! We are KG tier 4 too 🙂 can you share what helped you decide on SW? We’re really excited, but my daughter has formed many solid friendships at her current school (been there since preK) so I am worried about the transition and pressure at these schools.
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@NewToThisGuest Hi! 😊
Honestly I don’t know what to tell you! SW wasn’t even on our list the first phase…because it had some mixed reviews… we do know someone that goes there and is happy with the classical program. Our kiddo is going to an amazing daycare, so we would have to move her anyway at the end of the summer, so not the same situation like yours. We had her last year in a private school, and We weren’t happy at all with it. Same as other parents here we thought that she would get into SN , but surprise there were many changes this year, including smaller classes. So we will take this year as an experiment and see how it goes…Good luck to you, and if you guys decide to accept the offer I would love to get in touch and maybe set up a playdate 😊-
Thank you so much for sharing your experience!! We were able to find a bit more insight from another thread as well. Wishing you all the best with your experiment year—hope it turns out to be a great fit! 😊
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Hi Val – we are also considering SW as a late option coming off from the wait-list. We haven’t toured recently but was curious how you made the decision on SW with limited time coming off from the wait-list. Would you mind sharing what made you feel comfortable accepting the SW offer without taking a tour?
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Hi! We chose SW because of logistics. As I said before, I already knew we don’t stand a chance for SN since they had only 2 spots open and not for Tier4.We can’t commute for Decatur, and can’t move this year! We also know someone that goes to SW and is happy with the program. From what I understood the scores ( and reviews )are mixed because they also have a neighborhood kindergarten class. This being said they still teach 1 grade ahead and I want my kiddo to be challenged. We will take this year as an experiment and go from there. Hope it helps…
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@Birdie, I’m sorry! First time going through this process , it’s been brutal!
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Different question here for all parents of kids who are seeking to relocate their kid(s) to a selective or gifted programs above grade 2: how do you approach the fact that your kiddo may have already formed good relationships with other kids (and even very close ones) at current school and the kiddo thrives off of that. We have received an offer but now are unsure as our daughter loves her school and has a best friend she is very close with and academically her current school is pretty solid ( she is at LLA).
We do recognize how being able to thrive socially really improves academic performance. Just wondering what are everyone’s thoughts on that…
Please know that we are hyper focused on academics, but ultimately worried about the risk of our child not having the same social setting/experience once moved over to a new school.
(P.S. She is hesitant about the potential move)-
We were in a similar situation last year. We decided to move my daughter from her 1st grade class to a different 2nd grade school. She had 2 really good friends in her 1st grade class, and she liked her school too. I think there was one night of alot of crying from my daughter just before the new school year started. My daughter felt quiet and nervous during the first month of the new school year. But she eased in and made a couple of friends at first, then at some point she was friends with all the girls in her class, and the boys are alright too. We feel lucky that her current class is filled with great kids.
I threw out a hypothetical question to her this month – What if you change schools for 3rd grade? Even though she has 2 best friends and alot of good friends at her current school, she replied back nonchalantly, “It’s ok, I’ll make new friends.” And back to her previous 1st grade class, she still sees 1 one of her good friends from time to time.
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Thank you! I do believe kids are very “nimble” and can adapt better than adults often. Appreciate you sharing your experience.
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@Unsure-Mom – All good responses from other parents here to this difficult question. Would you mind sharing if you decided to stay at LLA, or accepted the SEES offer? Either way, I’m sure your daughter will excel in whichever path you choose 🙂
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I think you need to be careful and assess your child because nobody knows your child better. We have seen kids moving to SEES and then moving back to our private school as it did not work out… Kids were just very different and there were several little groups that did not allow those kids in… We also know kids and families who do not care and they have been at 3-4 schools already, and I will not be surprised if they switch again. So ultimately it is you who decide, but with the understanding how your child will feel. We have an introverted child, for example, and I know it will be hard for him to move, so we are only applying to SEES schools in the area where we live to make the commute more convenient. Otherwise we are just staying at our current school and continue with enrichment options. I agree with the above comment that socio-emotional conditions are sometimes even more important than academics.
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Thank you! Such valuable insight – so glad I went for it and asked the question to this community here.
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So individual but i would think through the tradeoffs (and balance of those) with how important those things are for you.
We have opted for our neighborhood school over SEES because it felt like a better overall package for our family and we think we can supplement academic rigor in other ways.
I’m sure people would disagree. But we thought through what we wanted for our kids and what we thought would drive the best happiness and well being and long-term success.
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We are also thinking to supplement – and this is giving me confidence that she should stay where she is. Academic support is key but I agree with you about happiness being key to success (and being a platform for building leadership skills too – I think).
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@Unsure_Mom I can relate! We used to homeschool and now we are at a small private.
My kids are both high academic achievers and gifted. If we’d continued homeschooling, they would have continued working several grade levels ahead and done extremely well academically on paper…but it was the social element, arts programs, extracurriculars, (and my bandwidth!) that sent us to “real” school.
My oldest is now graduating from 8th and on to SEHS after 3 years at a private. We love that school but we’re considering moving my youngest for several reasons. One, she is very curious and self-motivated about being challenged beyond what she’s doing now and excited about possibly trying out a new school (big factor!) Two, our current school is quite small and we’re wondering if another place might be a better social and opportunity fit for this particular child. Three, it would allow us the budgetary wiggle room to align our spending with our family values in the next phase (traveling, lessons, savings.) Also, full transparency – there will always be room at our current school if we try something new and it’s a disaster, and we could go back. I know that’s not always the case, depending on where you’re enrolled now!
Honestly? If the community and friendships were rock solid and my kid was doing well academically, I would lean toward staying put. Gifted children with access to resources and invested parents will thrive and succeed with or without a SEES. There’s more to “thriving” than pedal-to-the-metal academic achievement, and those other factors are hard to come by – especially in the city where one school community can be so spread out!
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So well said! Thank you!
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Really appreciate you proving your perspective here!
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Like others said, you will have to view this individually for your own daughter. Although being in a SEES school has its advantages, what’s more important is how you as a parent guide your child, academically and socio-emotionally. I’ve been exposed to a few SEES classes where some are great, and some are disruptive. I would tend to lean towards staying put too since it seems like your daughter has a solid foundation socially and academically at LLA. Just my two cents.
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Does anyone have any feedback on McPherson SEES? We went to the open house and it sounded great, but the overall rankings and reviews appear so much lower than non-SEES schools in the neighborhood. We have an extremely high waitlist number there for SEES but are also waitlisted #1 at Hawthorne (Tier 3 waitlist).
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Someone shared this stat with me from the current Bell 8th Grade RGC class: 28 out of 32 kids were accepted into a SEHS program. Just curious if anyone had similar stats from other 8th grade SEES classes.
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We toured SN in the fall, and I believe theirs was somewhere around the 80% mark. My son’s graduating class is small (private, not SEES), but 100% got into their HS of choice. One’s moving, one went private, the rest are in SEHS or IB programs.
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This is understandable because all SEES go 1-2 grades above, so it is no brainer the kids will get into their schools of choice. That being said, there are a lot of great Catholic and other private schools in the city that prepare kids very well. In our private school it is always around 80% of kids who go to their first HS choice (mostly SEES), so I am saying this to show that if you are in SEES or not, the key is to continue enriching your children.
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So true! The numbers are impressive at many schools, but the truth is that every SEHS enrollment is a combination of factors and children can be well-prepared in a number of settings.
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Decatur – 83% received SEHS or IB offer
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Edison – 85% received SEHS offer
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My son was #5 on Bell, #2 on Pritzker and #6 on Edison RGC waitlist for a non-entry grade. We know there was an offer extended from one of these RGCs on Tuesday as all waitlists went up one spot. Now, however, it shows he is #4 on Bell but still #6 for Edison and #2 for Pritzker. Does that mean that someone declined the Bell offer? Does he have any chances for Bell or Edison with these waitlist numbers or should we just take Pritzker once it becomes available?
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@Dora My understanding is that it means whoever was #1 at Bell got an offer…no way to know if they took it or not, unless you hear from that family!
We’re also non-entry grade and moved up a spot at SN, SW, Bell, and Edison in the last week. However, no movement at McPherson or Pritzker, which is funny, because I expected those to move the most. I don’t see anyone on here reporting about their numbers those two schools moving up, so maybe OAE hasn’t gotten around to them yet? It’s frustrating that all we can do is wait and speculate.
I would say to keep an open mind, give schools a second look, and accept the first offer you’re realistically excited about and that would work well for your family. I was originally hoping for SN (we’re #15) or Edison (#3), but those schools are so locked tight that I added some more schools to our list. After reading opinions here and factoring in things like the arts program access, proximity, and a good waitlist number, Pritzker has started to look pretty good, and I would accept if we got the offer rather than hold out.
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Thank you and agreed. We also heard great things about Pritzker’s arts program, and my son loves theater! Hope things will move for Pritzker soon.
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Has anybody seen any movement on 5th grade waitlists? The 2nd grade waitlist is moving up a lot, but no change on the 5th grade for us.
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Do you mean current grades or incoming 5th and 2nd (for which kids tested and will start this fall)?
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Also 5th and not at all today.
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Hi! Any SW parents here on the forum? Care to share any thoughts or insights on the school? We received a waitlist offer this morning. We’re very happy with our current private but trying to see if it makes sense to move my daughter since we haven’t toured SW and need to decide pretty soon.
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Congrats. I think pretty much every good school (especially SEES) is full at this point. Do you plan to accept?
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What is the “Admin Declined” status? We just received an offer from Beaubien. And all other school’s waitlist status in our priorities is “Admin Declined”. If we decline the offer from Beaubien, what will happen?
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If you receive an RGC offer, you’re automatically removed from all other RGC and Classical waitlists when the offer is made. If you want to go back on the waitlists you were removed from, you have to decline Beaubien, and then you have to manually add yourself back to the other waitlists. There’s a visual that explains the SEES offer/waitlist process on slide 11: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1v2DsYMERjKyUB0wptyScy1IAOzkDQ8l_UOFnqwg9vEA/edit?usp=sharing
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@Lakshmi I know that for choice programs, if you get an offer from a program that you ranked e.g. 3rd, all the other waitlist positions that are 4th, 5th, etc will be “Admin declined”, but you will remain on the waitlist of your 1st and 2nd choice.
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@SK Thanks! Beaubien was 3rd on my list and everything list, 1st, 2nd, 4th-6th are all marked as “Admin Declined”. I’ll update what I see if we decide to decline Beaubien.
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It will still say Admin Declined for the other schools if you decide to decline Beaubien. You will have to go back in and rejoin the waitlist.
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@SD we are very low on some of the waitlist, e.g. in the 30s, and I would expect to see some movement as offers were being made to those higher on the list. But, nothing at all for 5th grade.
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Right? I know that non-entry grades are tough, but it seems strange that it hasn’t moved at all (we’re on the WL for 6 SEES).
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Hi! Are there any Lenart RGC parents here? I need some insights on the school. I am trying to decide between Lenart RGC and Mark Sheridan Math & Science Academy (choice school). My Kindergartener received offers for both, Sheridan last Friday which we accepted and Lenart today. My 4th grader received offer for Lenart on Tuesday(accepted) and is 1st on waitlist for Sheridan. I would love to hear from current or past parents of Lenart RGC or anyone that has enough information to compare both schools.
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Anyone has kids in Beaubien or Mc. Pherson? Would love your opinion. Thanks
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I have a child at Beaubien and we’ve been very happy. Seems to be a good down to earth community and good/appropriate focus on SEL. FYI they do jump right into 2nd grade level material (basically skipping 1st grade material as supposedly 2nd grade reviews a lot of first grade material) at the beginning of first grade (entry year at Beaubien) which can be challenging if a kid scored well on RGC test but not super high on the classical (more achievement focused) test. There are several other mentions of Beaubien (and McPherson) on the forum if you do a search.
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Is there anyone who can help with forum registration issues? I have tried to register multiple times. The system is recording the username and email address, but I never receive the confirmation email. I am unable to establish a password and therefore cannot log in.
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If anyone is considering Morton but hesitant about the uniform policy (I was), it sounds like they are very nearly doing away with it next year:
For school year 2025-2026, Morton is adopting a dress code based on school colors. The intention is to give students more choice in dress while also maintaining unity through school colors. Please note that current school uniforms may also continue to be worn under the new dress code.
Shirts— shirts must be one of the following colors: blue, black, or grey. A shirt may be any style (polo, t-shirt, sweater, etc) so long as it is one of the school colors. A sweatshirt or hoodie may be worn as long as it is one of the allowed colors. Designs, logos or patterns on shirts are allowed, in accordance with CPS guidelines (no profanity, violence, gang signs are allowed). Blue, black and grey colors are not grade specific.
Pants, skirt, shorts or jumper—pants, skirt, shorts or jumper may be worn. They may be any color or pattern. For pants, there is choice in style. Khakis, jeans, leggings, and athletic wear are acceptable choices.
Also found this to be a nice surprise: their aftercare pricing is much cheaper than what we’re paying elsewhere ($440/mo at a northside SEES vs. $209/mo at Morton, with a 10% discount if you pay quarterly and a 15% discount if you pay annually).
Hope this info is helpful to anyone currently considering waitlist options!
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There will be an opening in Prescott for kindergarten.
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Did anyone get any offers from WL?
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Nope. Our waitlists actually moved up for Classical, not sure how this has happened. Maybe spring testers are joining the waitlists now?
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How can you do a test in the spring?
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I think there is a way for late testing in spring (for those who just moved to Chicago, etc), but they can only join waitlists based on their test scores, and this is what can happen now.
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Nope. No offers, no movement.
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Hello everyone,
This site (and forum) has been beneficial to me. I mean no disrespect to the owners of this site, but I have found myself unable to use it due to a lack of ability to register and receive alerts for replies, etc. I have established a subreddit for discussing selective-enrollment schools. I hope that you will join me there, especially those of you who are in the midst of the elementary school years. I have set the forum up for only approved members. Please bear with me at the beginning, as approving members, etc., will take some time.
I have set up a couple of rules, but please suggest any that you feel are needed. Also, if you are interested in being a moderator, please let me know (on Reddit).
http://www.reddit.com/r/ChicagoCPSSEES/
My very best to everyone who is navigating this process!
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Hello everyone, I have a quick question regarding SEES waitlists. If a child receives and accepts an offer from one SEES, can they still be added to waitlists for other SEES? To clarify, if a SEES offer is extended and accepted, is the child still eligible to be added to waitlists at other SEES? Additionally, if a new offer comes from one of those waitlists, can the child accept the new offer, making the initial offer they accepted available again to another student on the waitlist?
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If you accept a SEES offer you will be removed from all other SEES waitlists and cannot be added unless you decline the offer. Once you decline an offer you would have to add yourself back to SEES waitlists.
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You will be removed from all SEEL and your offer will go to the next in WL.
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I meant, if you don’t accept it – it will go on Friday to someone else on a WL.
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Everything above is correct. I think I understand the nuance to your question though, maybe it’s this kind of situation. What if you’re #1 on the waitlist at both Decatur and Skinner North, and you’d really like to go to SN. But then Decatur sends you an offer. You accept the offer, and then you’re removed from the SN waitlist so you won’t get any more offers.
Your only strategy would be to find out who was next in line in the SN waitlist (assuming same tier if Kindergarten entry). And then if that person receives an offer from SN, and if they are going to decline the offer, then they would let you know. Then you would decline your Decatur offer the same day they decline their SN offer, and you would manually enter yourself back onto the SN waitlist. That’s assuming that no one else with a higher score than you entered the waitlist the same time as you. Then you would get their SN offer. At least that’s how it worked last year (and it did happen with a family I know), but this year CPS changed to a new computer system so no guarantees that would work this year. Hope that helps!
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This wouldn’t apply this year since you can rank your schools. If you’re #1 on both waitlists, you’ll receive an offer from the school you ranked higher.
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At this point in time in the application process with the rolling waitlists, you’ll get an offer from whichever school has an opening first.
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Just took a tour of Pritzker today and wanted to share since I know some of you are also considering it/on the waitlist. First of all, I thought it toured pretty well! Granted, my main point of reference is the SN OH last year, but I thought it presented better than SN. Granted, my kid is very into the arts, so that goes a long way with us, but I was pleasantly surprised. We also stopped by the office on the way out to chat with staff. They were incredibly nice and told us that it is very common for them to receive notice of withdrawal from families into July and that while you can never know for certain, high on the waitlist is a good position to be in with good chances of getting an offer.
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Agreed. I am surprised by the level of obsession with SN on these forums. I attended their open house last year and found the experience underwhelming. The tour felt rushed, the presentation relied on recycled slides from the previous year, and the principal’s delivery came across as scripted and mechanical. The building was small and somewhat dated, and overall, nothing stood out in a meaningful way. Even the staff’s demeanor felt rather perfunctory—lacking the warmth, enthusiasm, and genuine passion I would have expected, especially given that this is their only open house of the year. In contrast, the other RGCs I visited came across as far more welcoming and deeply invested in their students. The difference was quite striking.
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Agreed. We had the same experience and were very disappointed. We also asked a question on differentiation and the answer was “everyone will get into a SEES high school, do not worry”. It was very indifferent. We also felt the sense of entitlement there right away. We toured and added other SEES to our list after this. It is not for everyone for sure.
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Right? SN almost felt like, “oh everyone wants to be here; take it or leave it.” Just not welcoming at all or an impressive display of one of the most “desirable” CPS elementary schools. It was a shock after doing high school tours, where they genuinely welcome the kids and treat families like they are competing to win their application and enrollment (even if the reality is the other way around.)
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did anyone move along on the waitlist for skinner west tier 2? have another SEES offer, and honestly kind of depends if we want to risk SW waitlist b/c already have a magnet admission that we really like
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