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Principal Discretion gives students a second chance

This chart details the number of seats available for Principal Discretion per Selective Enrollment High School (CPS).

By Isabella Oganovich , Reporter April 6, 2017

Opening a letter from your dream school denying you admission is a devastating feeling that thousands of Chicago 8th graders experience each spring. For some students, though, this isn’t the end.

Principal Discretion is a process that allows students who did not receive a high enough combined score out of 900 (7th grade grades, NWEA test score from 7th grade and Selective Enrollment test) to reapply to one Selective Enrollment school that they originally applied to.

Selective Enrollment schools are allowed to admit 5 percent of their current freshman class, as measured on the 20th day of school, according to the CPS Office of Access and Enrollment.

Principal Discretion happens after the regular selection process, according to CPS — the deadline for the application was March 24.

If a student is interested in applying to a school through the Principal Discretion process, that school must have been on their list of schools they originally applied to, and they must have taken the Selective Enrollment test — which was offered on four days in the months of December through February, according to CPS. It could have been taken at one of five sites: King, Lane, Lindblom, Westinghouse, and Young.

According to CPS, there are four criteria that a student can base their application off of. These include demonstrating a unique skill or ability, demonstrating social responsibility, demonstrating the ability to overcome hardships, or evidence of some extenuating circumstances that affected your standardized test scores, or your 7th grade grades.

One junior said that when she was applying to Lane through Principal Discretion, she based her application off of overcoming a hardship. At the time, her father was going through a lot of health issues and this affected her performance in school.  

Along with these criteria, there are three parts to the application that are not required but are strongly recommended in order for the application to be the best it can be, according to the Principal Discretion application. These include a personal statement, some proof of accomplishments, and letters of recommendation.

Ms. Johnson, the admissions counselor at Lane, is currently starting her fifth year in the Principal Discretion process.

Johnson said 15,000-16,000 students typically apply to Selective Enrollment Schools in general, and 12,000-13,000 rank Lane as one of their choices.

“All the students who are accepted to Lane in the first selection round, that’s just completely done by test scores,” Johnson said. The Principal Discretion process takes place after the first selection round and isn’t solely based on test scores.

This year, Lane’s freshman class was rather large, so there are 49 seats available for Principal Discretion, according to Johnson.

Johnson said on average, 480-600 students apply for Principal Discretion process at Lane. Her first year, 2013, 603 students applied and that was the most students that had ever done so since she started doing Principal Discretion. Last year 479 students applied, which was their lowest number of applicants since she started, according to Johnson.

Johnson and Ms. Ward, the admission clerks, do the majority of the reading and are the ones who choose the final students they think would fit at Lane, but the principal, Mr. Tennison, makes the ultimate decisions.

Johnson said Tennison will be very active in the process this year and plans to read all the applications recommended to him.

This is Tennison’s first year doing Principal Discretion and he said he is looking forward to taking part in the process.

“ I feel great pressure, but I’m not nervous,” Tennison said. “It will feel good to say yes, but it feels awful to say no.”  

Lane has specific aspects they look for in students aside from the general criteria.

“We have students who apply in the full score range, as low as 390, so we do look for students who have a score that we think they would be successful at Lane,” Johnson said.

Johnson also said that they look for students who they think would enrich Lane’s student body and contribute to the school.

“We typically find a handful of applications that are really great, that off the bat we’re like ‘Oh, this kid is going to do great here, they have a lot to contribute’ and then there’s a whole bunch that are in the middle ground,” Johnson said.

There are many applications that have stood out to Johnson. One year a student drew a picture of Dr. Dignam, previous principal of Lane, to show his artistic skills. Johnson said she appreciated his creativity and ingenuity, and for that he was admitted to Lane.

“Some people are going to be selected because they just missed the cut off, some people are going to be selected because there is a specific talent they have, whether it’s art or sports, maybe,  but I think honestly some may be a very compelling story and the essay is written very well and the entire package looks good.” Tennison said.

Regardless of what your application presents, Tennison advises that you stay true to yourself.

“Whenever you make an application the best advice that I can give is to represent who it is that you are, and then see what happens,” Tennison said.

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My name is Isabella (Izzy) Oganovich. I am a junior at Lane and I am on Ukrainian Club and have been on Varsity soccer since my freshman year. I have lived...

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Principal Discretion Process

Principal discretion information.

Principal Discretion is a process that allows the principals of the 11 Selective Enrollment High Schools to fill a limited number of seats outside of the regular application process.

To apply for a school through Principal Discretion, students must have included the school on their GoCPs application. Students can apply to only one school through Principal Discretion.

To apply, students must submit a Principal Discretion application. They can also submit a personal statement, letters of recommendation, and copies of honors and awards.

The Principal Discretion process takes place in spring 2022.

The Principal Discretion application process will open on Monday, March 21,2022 and will close on April 1, 2022 at 5:00pm.

Students can accept a first-round offer from one school and still apply to another school for Principal Discretion.

Principal Discretion results will be released the week of June (TBD).

Principal Discretion (Selective Enrollment only)

Principal Discretion

Families interested in submitting an application packet for the Selective Enrollment Principal Discretion process can do so beginning Monday, March 21st . Principal Discretion for the 2022-2023 application cycle will close on Friday, April 1st at 5 pm CST . Please read the Principal Discretion handbook in its entirety before beginning the process. Handbook found below...

School Search News

Cps sehs 2018-2019 principal’s discretion.

This is cut & pasted from CPS’s website:

Principal Discretion Process: 2018-2019 School Year

Principal Discretion is a process that allows Selective Enrollment High School principals to fill a designated number of ninth grade seats, outside of the regular selection process, based on information provided through application packages submitted by students.

Applicants to ninth grade can apply to a Selective Enrollment school through the Principal Discretion process if they (1) did not receive a Selective Enrollment offer, or (2) they received a Selective Enrollment offer but would like to be considered for a different Selective Enrollment High School. (You do not have decline an offer in order to apply for Principal Discretion).

The Principal Discretion application period for the 2018-2019 school year begins at 9 am on April 9th and ends at 6 pm on April 20th. The application will be posted beginning on April 9th. Click the links below to access the Principal Discretion Handbook and Frequently Asked Questions. The handbook provides step-by-step instructions for submitting a Principal Discretion application package and contains the guidelines and requirements for the process.

If you have questions after you review these documents, contact the Office of Access and Enrollment  773-553-2060  or  [email protected] .

• Principal Discretion Handbook
• Principal Discretion FAQs

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For Parents, By Parents, About Public & Private Chicago Schools

Principal Discretion Letter

Home › Forums › CPS High Schools › Selective Enrollment High Schools (SEHS) › Principal Discretion Letter

Tagged:  Principal Discretion Letter

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Several questions; I read that the students should be within the ballpark of the “mean accepted” score to have a real chance at getting in using Principal Discretion Letter(PDL). So what exactly is the “mean accepted”? I’m aware of the published cut-off scores but there is a tier 4 mean and rank mean. Also – what does in the ballpark mean.. 🙂 .. very arbitrary term.

Does anyone have experience with PDL? If you received an offer using this can you share your score/900 and the cut off score for the school applied to at the time. Just want to get an idea of the probability of success so I can manage expectations. Our student scored 894 and also scored a 300 on this years test. I think I could really help him make a good argument for a PDL but don’t want to waste the time if it’s unreasonable.

Based on your score you must be talking Payton. Remember in tier 4, even though the minimum was 895, there are most likely many kids who got an 895 but still didn’t get in (who also had a 300 in the entrance exam). They then use the tie breaker using the SE test sections.

I know nothing though about the PDL.

You might try looking at the old CPSObsessed website. It is still live and they have several discussions on principal discretion.  My understanding of PD is that it’s not necessarily about the test scores but rather whether the student has a exception talent, overcame hardship, demonstrates leadership/social service etc.  Test scores are only one part of the application.

Any updates on principal discretion packets?  I have contacted Office of Access and Enrollment, but have not heard back.

Anybody hear anything new on Principal Discretion Timeline?

Office of Access and Enrollment sent me a note that they were revising the guidelines and would release shortly.

Are you folks seeking a timeline or guidelines? The guidelines for the PD will be the same as all last years.

1. Personal essay – play up hardship if it applies

2. 3 letters of recommendation

3. Any awards/achievements (this includes sports). Some schools basically just select Athletes ( ie. Whitney)

I wish everyone luck! To bring this down to earth though. If you have a 292-295, come from a joe blow background, and are trying to get to Payton, you have a very (very low chance). Gov Rauner’s kids got into Payton in PD to give you an idea of who they are using those 10-15 seats for.

Does anyone know if the admissions officers get to see your tier? Got an 815 which is low compared to tier 4 kids but high when you look at my tier. Also any idea of how competitive the seats are? How high PD admission scores are, how much the achievements matter etcetera.

Yes, they do.  They know where you come from.  There is a push at Jones from the staff for those PD seats to be used to add more black and brown kids.  Currently, many of those seats are used for siblings who didn’t quite make it.

my child was able to get into his HS via principal discretion. His score was horrible but he made a great case for himself.  it was definitely nail-biting for weeks…

I am a student within CPS who is attempting to get into an HS via PD.

Are there any tips your child can pass over I want to put my best into the application? I have average grades (C – B)

I don’t have any tips, but my suggestion would to get your grades up to A’s.  They’re not bad, but grades are worth 450 points now and are very important.  See what you can do.  Good luck!

Would you mind sharing what criteria they applied under? I’m really torn about what to write.

FYI – Principal Discretion timeline was released yesterday.  Good luck everyone!

I was wondering if anyone had a result of principal discretion yet.

Hi! Have you heard about the results yet?

Several of my kid’s friends heard positive news about PD from Lane and Jones yesterday.

Anyone doing PD this year?

Yes, I am applying to Lane Tech.

Nice, my son is applying to Jones through PD. Do you know when they release the results? On goCPS it says the week of the 14th (next week) but do you have any idea on the exact date/time?

Has anyone heard back from any PD results? I am aware they were supposed to come out today, however, I am not too sure about the time.

Did it come out today?

I did not receive the results today. We will keep checking

What school did you apply for?

We applied to Payton, have not heard anything yet

Anyone receive the results yet?

We applied for Jones and got an email at 3:37pm today saying that an offer was extended.

However, we are unable to see it in go.cps web site. I hope this is a temporary issue on the go.cps web site.

For students that received a Principal Discretion letter, the Go CPS website will show the offer starting tomorrow at 9 a.m.

“ Your offer will appear in your GoCPS account beginning at 9 am on FRIDAY, June 18th.”

I believe PD offers were emailed directly from CPS for all/most SEHS schools (LT, WY, WP, Jones, etc.) yesterday.

Sadly I wasn’t able to get to Lane, will try transferring next year. Congratulations to everyone else!

my daughter needs help on the essay for principle discretion.  Her skill is music/band (flute/ piano), swimming team,  math competition city wide 4th place for the team school and 8th place over all and spelling bee 3rd place in school. We don’t know how to start the essay. Any help really appreciate. thanks

Hello, can anyone give some tips on what they wrote for their principal discretion letter? I currently got offered into Gwendolyn Brooks High school but I am looking to get into Whitney Young with principal discretion, so any tips would help. Thank you.

Agreed – any tips or pointers from people who had been successful in the past would be very helpful.

Hello, everyone! I hope anyone could give me some guidance. I’m a 14 year who just wants a better future. I’m low income due to my father getting injured and being forced to retire early. My parents have always told me that only with an education I can open doors, life has been hard but I’m grateful. I work very hard to get all A’s and 1 high B, but unfortunately, it’s not enough to get into a good high school. I am on many waiting lists for many of the schools. I will like to complete the Principal discretion package, I don’t have  a printer and will need guidance. I reached out to my case manager at school. As a young teen education is very important. Many schools are lacking quality education, and many of us are left to fight for spots.  I  have limited resources, but I have faith that someone reading this may be inspired to make the changes in the future to help young students like me. May you all have a great day, just remember tomorrow will be a better one.

I believe you don’t need a printer to submit the Principal Discretion package. Just log in with your parent’s GoCPS account, go to the place where you can see results for high school, and then press on the “request application for principal discretion” option and you can go from there. All you need is the documentation (personal statement, awards, LOR’s) online. You should also check out the PD Handbook on the GoCPS website. Hope this helps and I wish everything works out well!

If you aren’t bright enough to know how to use a lo array, maybe Selective Enrollment schools are not for you

Do you really think you contributed in a positive/meaningful way to the “dialog” those two were having?

I understand this is a stressful, high stakes situation, but we are all good intentional here so maybe you should leave your rudeness in the cave you crawled from?

To CPs staff: Nice job picking on a kid asking for advice above. Perhaps you are not the bright one here, your sentence doesn’t make sentence

Ur mad goofy dude

Nate, if you are still struggling with this issue, ask for help from school counselor/teachers/school admins/CPS officials.

I  am sorry I can’t be of more help.

You don’t need a printer for this application process, you just need a word processor like Word or Pages to write the 1000 word essay about yourself. And make sure to get some recommendations from teachers that know you really well and your academic strengths.

Here is the principal discretion handbook:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EAHcwmBjwFd5jQvivrbuu59tdVRgEsCC/view?usp=drivesdk

Make sure to read through this in its entirety. It tells you everything you need to do for this process. You should choose Extenuating Circumstances as your application criteria.

You have already began your journey to making the best decisions for yourself. I hope and pray everything works out.

I really hope this helps, and God bless you 🙂

anyone from 2024 on here??

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