Applying to Lowell High School

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 Application ( Español | 中文 | Tagalog | العربي | Tiếng 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.

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 at 6:00 PM

• Saturday, January 11, 2025 at 8:30 AM

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.

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.

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.

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.

• Video Recording for SY 25-26
• English Slides
• Spanish Slides
• Chinese Slides

Yes, if you applied for Lowell by December 13, you can still add 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 Application Revision form, which is available on our website and in our office.

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.

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 for each school year is needed to qualify, but the typical admission points score is 60 per year (3 A’s, 1 B per semester) .

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.

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.

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.