High School Application info for Skinner West Families

Announcements updated 9/18/25

1. The CPS High School application is an online portal called GoCps.  GoCps released these slides about the overview and timeline of the HS application process.  

2. GoCps released these slides with instructions on how to log in and submit your CPS High School application.  All CPS 8th grade families can click  here and choose "log into an existing account", even if they have never created an account before.   All CPS 8th graders have accounts created for them.  Log in using the Parent / Caregiver's email or phone # that is listed first in a student's Aspen account.  

3. Every student is automatically accepted into the general program at their neighborhood High School depending on their Chicago address which can be found here.  It is not always the closest High School to your home.  If you want to attend a special program at your neighborhood school or a different High School, you must apply by submission deadline and be accepted. 

4. You can begin adding programs to your CPS High School application anytime and must submit it by 5:00 pm on Nov 14th.  There is NO benefit to submitting it earlier. 

5. The CPS High School application will officially close @ 5:00 pm on Friday, November 14th. I'm asking all Skinner families to submit their GoCps High School applications no later than November 7th so I can ensure they were submitted correctly.  You can edit your application after submitting it up until the 5:00 pm November 14th deadline. 

6. Our intern, Ms. Diaz, put together a Chicago High School Open House List.  Open Houses are for 8th grade families to visit schools, take a tour, and learn more about their offerings.  We will add more schools to this list as more events are scheduled throughout the Fall. 

7. Skinner 8th graders are invited to attend a High School Fair on Friday, October 17th @ Crane HS from 10:00 - 11:00 am where representatives from many Chicago High Schools will be present to answer questions and give out information.  Permission slips will be sent home soon; all 8th Parents/caregivers are welcome to meet us at Crane to attend the fair.  We are also looking for chaperones to ride the bus with us to and from Skinner.  Please contact Counselor Brooks if you are able to chaperone this trip KLBrooks@cps.edu   

8. 8th grade Parents/Caregivers can sign up for a virtual training from CPS in October about the High School application process in English or Spanish by registering here.  More information is provided below.

9. The CPS High School Admissions Test (HSAT) will be given at school on October 8th.  You do not need to register for it; all 8th graders at Skinner will take the exam.  Some CPS High Schools use these test scores along with final 7th grade grades to determine admission.  An info page on the HSAT can be found here and is uploaded below. 

10. Students who apply to Jones CTE Choice programs of Manufacturing-Pre-Engineering and/or Law & Public Safety will get priority for acceptance if they live within certain boundaries on this map.  In previous years, students who lived outside of these boundaries were not likely to get an offer to Jones CTE Choice programs.  The boundary does not affect Jones Selective Enrollment program offers. 

11. GoCps puts students on waitlists for Selective Enrollment programs if they did not get an offer to any they applied for, but will NOT give waitlist offers for Selective Enrollment programs if your child gets any 1 offer to a Selective Enrollment program.  GoCps will not tell me the # of students who were accepted to Selective Enrollment programs in previous years through waitlists, but said it was very small. 

12. To help illustrate why it's important to rank your GoCps selections in the true order you want to attend, I created this visual offer example.  

13. Intrinsic High School's downtown campus at 79 W. Monroe does NOT use the GoCps application.  You can apply online using this link.  

14. If you're applying to private High Schools, check their website for application information.  Many private High Schools in Chicago ask you to sign your child up for the Catholic High  Schools entrance exam that usually takes place the first Saturday in December.