Applying to Lowell High School

Lowell Admissions policy for 2025-26 school year

Admissions to Lowell High School is based on academic and non-academic criteria as outlined in the Lowell Admissions Policy. Lowell High School is the only high school in SFUSD with academic based admissions criteria. 

Lowell Assignment Policy

The deadline to apply to Lowell for 9th grade for the 2025-26 school year is December 13, 2024. Find more information in the sections below.

San Francisco Residency Requirement

  • Students who apply to Lowell must reside in San Francisco with a parent/legal guardian at the time of application and continue to live in San Francisco while attending Lowell. Any application with falsified information will nullify the application or result in a canceled assignment.
  • Interdistrict permits are not allowed for admission to Lowell.
  • Current SFUSD students do not need to submit additional documents for proof of address unless the student’s address has recently changed.
  • Non-SFUSD students must submit a picture ID of their parent/ guardian, proof of birthdate and one proof of address when submitting applications.

Applying for Lowell 9th grade

Key Dates and Application Deadlines

Date 

 

Description 

October 18, 2024ParentVUE/online and PDF/paper applications available
December 13, 2024

Last day to submit an application for admission into 9th grade: 

5PM online or close of business at the Enrollment Center (EC)

Week of March 17, 2025Applicants will be notified by mail and on ParentVue of the student’s assignment for 2025-2026

How to Apply

The SFUSD application for the 2025-26 school year will open on October 18, 2024. It can be found at sfusd.edu/apply.

All SFUSD and Non-SFUSD 8th grade students may apply for Lowell HS by listing it as one of their choices on the 2025-26 SFUSD Online Enrollment Application accessible through ParentVue. Additional Lowell-specific pages will open up in the online application once Lowell is selected as a choice. Applicants who prefer to apply with a paper application will need to submit both the general Enrollment Application and the Lowell Supplemental ApplicationEspañol | 中文 | Tagalog | العربيTiếng Việt Gagana Sāmoa )

Paper applications may be submitted to the Enrollment Center in person or via email to enrollinschool@sfusd.edu, or to the applicant's current SFUSD middle school. In addition to Lowell, students can list any number of other SFUSD high schools on the SFUSD application. All requested schools, including Lowell, should be listed in order of preference. Lowell does not need to be the first choice.

The deadline to apply to Lowell for 9th grade for the 2025-26 school year is December 13, 2024. 

Note that the application deadline for Lowell and Ruth Asawa School of the Arts is earlier than the application deadline for other schools. It will not be possible to apply for Lowell 9th grade after December 13, 2024.

 

Admissions Test

Per the Lowell Admissions Policy, all Lowell applicants must complete the required admissions test. Beginning with the 2025-26 application year, the SFUSD Winter Interim Assessment test (Star) will be used as the Lowell High admissions test.  Learn more about the Star test here: www.sfusd.edu/district-assessments

Current SFUSD students will take the Star Reading & Math tests at their current school in late January 2025, and do not need to take a separate test to apply to Lowell HS.

All non-SFUSD applicants, and SFUSD Charter students, will need to take the test at Lowell HS on one of the following dates: 

  • Wednesday, January 8, 2025

  • Saturday, January 11, 2025

On the Lowell application, non-SFUSD applicants will need to indicate which test date they plan to attend.

For more details, view sample test items for Star Reading and Star Math.

What are the criteria used for acceptance to Lowell?

There are three different Bands (qualification methods) for admission into Lowell High School. 

Lowell Band Summary for SY 2025-26

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Approximately 70% of admitted students are admitted through Band 1. In Band 1, admissions is based on: 

  • Final grades for the first and second semesters of the 7th grade in English, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Science
  • Final grades for the first semester of the 8th grade in English, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Science
  • For trimesters: For 7th Grade: an average of all three final trimester grades will be used as a representative of both the student’s first and second semester grade. For 8th Grade: the first trimester only will be used.
  • Test scores from the Star Reading and Star Math tests. 

Approximately 15% of admitted students are admitted through Band 2. In Band 2, admissions is based on:

  • Meeting a minimum GPA threshold
  • Meeting a minimum test score threshold
  • Final grades, same as in Band 1
  • The applicant’s score from the Band 2 evaluation done by school-based committees, based on information submitted on the Lowell Application (extracurricular activities demonstrating leadership skills, extenuating circumstances, demonstrated ability to overcome hardship, and family information); and an essay written at the applicant’s current school in January 2025 (All schools with Lowell applicants will be given instructions for administering the essay requirement in early January.)

Approximately 15% of admitted students are admitted through Band 3. In Band 3, admissions is based on:

  • Final grades, same as in Band 1
  • Test scores from the Star test
  • Attendance at a Band 3 school, identified based on under-representation at Lowell HS

All students have a chance to be assessed for admissions through each of the three Bands. E.g. if a student does not meet the criteria for admissions through Band 1, they are assessed for the criteria for admissions through Band 2 and Band 3.

How is the Lowell application process incorporated into the application process for other SFUSD high schools?

All applications for Lowell HS are reviewed in the winter, and students who meet the admissions criteria will be identified before the Main Round student assignment run in March. Assignment offers will be mailed the week of March 17, 2025.

Students who meet the admission criteria and list Lowell as their first choice will receive an assignment offer to Lowell.

Those who meet the requirements but list other schools higher than Lowell HS will go into the student assignment process for their higher choices. If they are able to be assigned to one of their higher-ranked choices, they will not receive an offer to Lowell HS. However, if they do not receive a higher choice (because there is not space), they will be assigned to Lowell.

Students who do not meet the admissions criteria for Lowell will not be negatively impacted in the student assignment run. All other school choices listed on the application will be included in the assignment run. If the applicant has an older sibling at a lower choice school, but did not qualify for Lowell, they will still retain the sibling priority for the other school in the assignment run. 

Due to the student assignment process, it is very important that students list their school choices in order of their preference.

There is no wait pool or appeal process for Lowell. There also is no sibling tiebreaker for Lowell, nor are the other regular high school tiebreakers applied. All students must meet the admissions criteria to enroll.

 

Have more questions about how to apply to Lowell for the 9th grade?

Sign up to tour Lowell HS, by completing the Lowell HS form at sfusd.edu/tours beginning October 1, 2024. In past years, demand for tours has exceeded the number of available spots. Lowell HS will not be able to accommodate every request for a tour. Do not delay in signing up for a tour.

Attend the Enrollment Fair on Saturday, October 19, 2024 at Balboa HS! You can attend a presentation about the Lowell HS application process, and meet school representatives from Lowell HS. Find more information at sfusd.edu/fair.

If you have additional questions, please contact the Enrollment Center at 415-241-6085 or visit the Enrollment Center in-person. See hours and locations.

 

Can I apply for Lowell before December 13 and then re-order my other high school preferences?

Yes, you can apply for Lowell by December 13 and then later add additional schools to your application, or re-order your choices, by the Main Round deadline (January 31, 2025). However, you will not be able to use the Online Application to do your revision, because Lowell will no longer be an option. You will need to use the 2025-26 Main Round Revision form, which will be available on our website and in our office.

Applying for Lowell Grades 10-12

How to Apply

The Lowell application process for grades 10-12 for the 2025-26 school year begins May 12, 2025. Students may apply online through ParentVue using the Lowell Transfer Application. Paper applications will also be available at the Enrollment Center (EC) and www.sfusd.edu/apply. The application must be submitted in person to the Enrollment Center or via email to enrollinschool@sfusd.edu between May 12 and June 20, 2025. Applications submitted after the June 20 deadline, or those received by mail, fax, or to Lowell High will not be considered.

What is the Lowell Transfer selection process?

Full details are available on the instruction page of the application. 

Acceptances are based on seat availability. Available seats are given to applicants with the highest number of points.  A minimum of 48 points (3 A’s, 1 B per semester) for each school year is needed to qualify, but the typical admission points score is 60 per year.

Grades

To qualify for Lowell admission into grades 10-12, the four best grades from the five academic subjects from each semester of high school will be considered:

  • English
  • Laboratory Sciences
  • Social Studies
  • Mathematics
  • Foreign Language

These classes must be listed on their official transcript. No more than one course from each of the five academic subject areas will be considered. Courses completed in summer school are not acceptable.

Points for each applicant are calculated from their grades, as follows:

A=8 points; B=6 points; C=4 points; D=2 points; and F=0 points.  

There is no extra weight given for honors, Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate classes.  Plusses and minuses are not factored in (for example: A+ and A- are equivalent to A).

Assignment results will be mailed to applicants the week of July 25, 2025. There is no wait pool or appeal process for Lowell.

There also is no sibling priority for Lowell, nor are the other regular high school tiebreakers applied.

All students must meet the admissions criteria to enroll.

Submitting Transcripts

Current SFUSD students do not need to submit transcripts. The applicant's grades will be accessed automatically.

Students who attend school outside of SFUSD or attend a charter school must submit their official transcripts to the Enrollment Center (EC) by June 30, 2025. Transcripts can be submitted separately from the application by the June 30, 2025 deadline. Transcripts must arrive sealed to be considered official and may be mailed or emailed directly from the applicant’s current school.

How many seats are available for 10th-12th grade?

Availability for grades 10-12 depends on the number of available seats at Lowell as determined in July, and varies year to year. 

Available seats are given to applicants with the highest number of points. Typically, a minimum of 60 points is needed to qualify.

This page was last updated on October 28, 2024