How the CPS points actually work.
The scoring formula behind Selective Enrollment and points-based Choice programs is public, exact, and smaller than the rumors around it. Students applying this fall for fall 2027 entry are scored on 640 points. Ten minutes here and no part of a score report will surprise you.
This year: 640 points
Source: CPS High School Program Scoring Rubric for fall 2027 entry (updated Aug 20, 2026). The HSAT is the PreACT 9 Secure.
Two halves, 320 points each. The HSAT half is the PreACT 9 Secure composite (English, Reading, and Math, on a 1 to 32 scale) times 10. The grades half is the final 7th-grade GPA times 80. Nothing else goes into the number: no essays, no attendance, no interviews. Try a composite and a report card below; the arithmetic shows itself, and nothing you type is saved.
HSAT: composite x 10, up to 320
The composite is on the PreACT 9 score report. A finished SchoolNav mock gives an unofficial estimate of it; the method page says how.
Grades: GPA x 80, up to 320
GPA ? x 80 = ? of 320. The rubric says “final 7th grade GPA”; the four letters average on the usual 4.0 scale.
HSAT ? + grades ? = ? of 640 - fill in both halves for a total
Selective Enrollment tie-breakers, in order: HSAT Math score, then HSAT Reading score, then Random computerized lottery. What this page deliberately does not do: turn a total into a “will they get in” for any school. The first cutoffs on this scale will exist after offers go out in spring 2027.
History: the 900-point rubric behind every published cutoff
Every cutoff CPS has published, through the offers made in spring 2026, came from the older 900-point rubric: four 7th-grade grades worth up to 450 and two HSAT percentiles worth up to 450. That is why the cutoff history on every school page is on that scale, and why the war room reads it on the 640 scale as the same share of the maximum. The first 640-scale cutoffs will exist after offers go out in spring 2027. The walkthrough and video below teach the 900 rubric; keep them for reading an older score report or a published cutoff.
Watch the 900-point rubric in five minutes
Prefer reading? The same walkthrough continues below, step by step.
One score, two halves
Through the offers made in spring 2026, every points-based CPS high-school application - Selective Enrollment and the points-based Choice programs - used one 900-point score: 450 points from four 7th-grade final grades plus 450 points from the two HSAT sections. Nothing else goes into the number. No essays, no attendance, no interviews.
Below, build a hypothetical report card and see the exact arithmetic CPS applies. Nothing you try here is saved anywhere.
7th-grade final grades - up to 450
Four core subjects, each graded on the same scale: A = 112.5 · B = 75 · C = 38 · D or F = 0. Pick a grade per subject - the points appear beside it.
Grades subtotal: 0 of 450 - nothing picked yet
The honest hard edge: a D and an F count identically - zero. One rough semester in one subject costs up to 112.5 points, and no other part of the application can earn them back. That’s the rubric, stated plainly - not a reason to panic, a reason to know the math early.
HSAT - up to 450
Two sections, Reading and Math, each reported as a national percentile (1–99). CPS multiplies each percentile by 2.2727 and rounds, for a maximum of 225 points per section. (A widely circulated figure of ×2.25 is wrong - the official table uses 2.2727.)
HSAT subtotal: 0 of 450 - nothing entered yet
Careful with the score report: it shows a percentile (used here) and a standard score (a different, bigger number). Points come from the percentile - the standard score only matters for tie-breaking, below.
The total
Grades 0 + HSAT 0 = 0 of 900 - a running total; fill in the rest above to complete the picture
What this page deliberately doesn’t do: turn a total into a “will they get in” for any school. That depends on published cutoffs, your CPS tier, and how a cycle unfolds - the Likelihood Bands on Compare & Rank are the honest version of that answer.
What the number means in practice
If another child ties
Identical totals happen. For Selective Enrollment, CPS breaks the tie in this order:
- HSAT math standard score
- HSAT reading standard score
- Randomly assigned lottery number
Points-based Choice programs skip the standard scores and go straight to the lottery number. None of this is something a family can prepare for - which is exactly why it’s worth knowing.
Same score, different tier
For Selective Enrollment, most seats are filled within four socioeconomic tiers - so the same 0-point application can clear the cutoff in one tier and miss it in another, in the same year at the same school. That’s by design, not error.
Each school’s published cutoff history (on its detail page) shows this per-tier, per-year. Cutoffs move every cycle - history is context, never a promise.
The 50-point geographic bonus
IB programs and Hubbard’s University Scholars add 50 points for students living in the school’s attendance area - those applications top out at 950, not 900. No other programs award it.
Not at a CPS school?
Same rubric, same 900 points. The four grades come from your school’s 7th-grade final report card, and non-CPS applicants sit the HSAT at a scheduled CPS testing session as part of applying.
Want to see how points play out at specific schools? SchoolNav shows each school’s published cutoff history and a calm likelihood band for your child - create a free account or browse the school list.