Apply to Ruth Asawa School of the Arts

To apply to Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts (SOTA) for the 2025-26 school year: Link to this section

1. Fill out a 2025-26 SFUSD application in ParentVue by December 13, 2024. The SFUSD application must have Asawa SOTA listed as a preferred school. If the application lists SOTA as a preferred school, additional SOTA application pages will appear.
2. Complete the audition assignment on Ruth Asawa's website, and either upload it using the link in the SFUSD application or bring it with you to Audition Day, based on the instructions for your arts department.

Students who complete steps 1 and 2 will be sent an invitation via email for the in-person Audition on February 8th, 2025 (Times TBD). Invitations go out about 2 weeks prior to the audition. Applicants must visit sfusd.edu/school/ruth-asawa-san-francisco-school-arts for Audition Day instructions for each art department. Scoring rubrics are also available there for better understanding of the audition process and expectations.

Ruth Asawa SOTA has an early application and audition assignment deadline: December 13, 2024.  Link to this section

Ruth Asawa Selection Process

Students who have qualified by audition and list Ruth Asawa as their first choice school will receive an assignment offer to Ruth Asawa. Those who have qualified, but list another school as a higher choice than Ruth Asawa, will go into the assignment process for their higher choices. If they receive a placement into a higher choice school, they will not receive an offer to Ruth Asawa but to the higher choice school. If a qualified student does not receive a higher requested school, they will be assigned to Ruth Asawa. Because of the student assignment process, it’s important that students list schools by preference. Students who do not qualify for Ruth Asawa will not be negatively impacted for their other school choices, and will be included in the assignment process for all the other choices listed on their applications.

Any questions should be directed to admissions_asawa@sfsota.org or cauthornp@sfusd.edu. 

Admission to Ruth Asawa is solely based on audition outcomes. 

A second audition may be held in April for any department that was not filled in the Main Round. Students approved in the second audition will be assigned during the SFUSD Waitlist process beginning April 21st. Students who audition in April should submit a Waitlist application for RASOTA. Students who auditioned in February may audition again in April, but
only for a different department.

Residency Requirement

Admission to Ruth Asawa is limited to students who reside in San Francisco only. Residents who subsequently move out of the district will not be allowed an interdistrict permit to continue.