• Application Process

     
     
    This year we have made a significant change to how applications are handled, so please read carefully. The application system has not changed but the way we process applications has.
     
    Parents may apply to up to five (5) Magnet programs (we recommend that you do not select only Vanguard schools). For parents' convenience, we have extended our Phase 1 window by a month so that it now stretches from September 28 through December 7, 2018. Phase 1 is the period in which all qualified applications for students who live within the HISD boundaries or those of HISD employees who live outside HISD's boundaries are given equal consideration. In cases where demand exceeds supply, we hold a lottery. For more on the phases, visit our phases explanation page.
     
    This year parents will be asked to rank applications in priority order, from first choice to last choice. Parents will be able to adjust the order of their choices through December 7. After December 7, choices will be locked into place. In March, when we notify parents of the outcome of their applications, the highest ranked program to which a child is accepted will be critical. All applications ranked below that choice will be dropped automatically. Any programs to which students are wait listed that rank above the highest accepted choice, remain active.
     
    The example below is of a student's outcome. The parents applied to Four schools, and listed their priorities in the order below (top to bottom). The highest ranked choice at which the student was offered a seat was Baylor. Therefore, the outcomes for Sharpstown International is no longer relevant. The student did not meet the qualifications for consideration at Hamilton and remains on the wait list for Pin Oak. If, subsequently, the student is offered a place at Pin Oak, the Baylor offer will be dropped. (However, before that happens, parents will have the option to withdraw their student from the Pin Oak wait list and thereby lock in their place at Baylor.) Parents will still need to provide proof of residence after being notified of an offer or the offer will be withdrawn.
     
     School  Outcome
     Pin Oak  Waitlist
     Hamilton  Not Qualified
     Baylor  Accepted
     Sharpstown International  N/A 
     
    The big advantage to this system is that it will greatly reduce the number of students who remain on wait lists waiting for others to make up their mind where to send their students. A large number of students (and parents) will learn much sooner where they will be going to school the following year, reducing the stress that this process has caused. The statistical chance of being accepted at your top priority school has not changed.