From https://www.cps.edu/gocps/Mark your calendars for the dates that rising 8th graders can take the CPS High School Admissions Test (HSAT) for Fall 2025 entry to 9th grade. Most CPS high school programs, including selective enrollment, International Baccalaureate, CTE, service academies, some magnets, etc require an HSAT score for the admissions rubric. Sign-ups for non-CPS students will probably be late summer or early September, while CPS students will automatically be given the test during

Putting on our College Search Guidance lens to answer the other questions about college admissions: This year's college admission cycle was indeed a very unusual year in that the FAFSA (free application for federal student aid) revamp and rollout was a major debacle that is still not resolved. It is also the tail end of the test optional wave so colleges were still being inundated with large numbers of applicants. Needless to say, there were a lot of rejections and waitlists but the unusual

Looking for ideas of places that will accept a 13 year old volunteer that needs to complete service hours.   We’ve done the Greater Chicago Food Depository and Beach clean ups in the past.   Any other options that were valuable experiences for your 13 year old?