2021 Admissions

Detroit Public Schools Community District offers enrollment in six selective admission high school programs, which offer rigorous college preparation, career preparation, competitive athletics programs and inspiring arts programs. Students are required to take an examination for admission consideration.

• Cass Technical High School
  
• Communication and Media Arts High School (NEW for Fall 2021)
• Renaissance High School 
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Senior High School 
• Southeastern High School 
• The School at Marygrove

Students who applied to an examination high school and took the exam, but did not receive their desired placement may petition for admission consideration. Formerly called appeals, the petition process allows students to apply for reconsideration of their school assignment or denial of admission.

Students may submit one petition application to seek admission for up to five schools, which the applicant must rank in order of desire to attend. Each school will review the admission and decide whether to admit the student. The school’s decision is final. If they are accepted, students will receive one acceptance to the highest-ranked school for which they qualified.

Petition deadlines are strictly followed. For fall 2021 admission, the key petition dates are:

• Round 1 Petition Opens: 6 p.m. Friday January 15
• Round 1 Deadline: 11:59 p.m. Monday February 15
• Round 1 Decisions: 6 p.m. Friday March 6
• Round 2 Opens: 6 p.m. Friday July 30
• Round 2 Deadline: 11:59 p.m. Sunday August 8
• Round 2 Decisions: 6 p.m. Wednesday August 18

To learn more about the petition process, please visit our petition web page.

Petition Information

Applications for examination high schools are accepted electronically. Each applicant will be required to provide an email address to set up an account, which will be used throughout the admissions process. The application should be completed and signed electronically by a parent or guardian. The contact information provided in the application should also belong, or be accessible to, a parent or guardian. The application allows for collaboration so that one or more additional people can view the application while it is in progress. 

Three applications will be available for students seeking admission to an examination high school during the 2020-21 admissions cycle.

• Students entering 9^th grade in Fall 2021
• Current high school students seeking to transfer to an exam high school for admission in Fall 2021
• Current DPSCD examination high school students who want to transfer to a different examination high school

Transfer between Exam High Schools

Round 2 Applications

At this time, we are not accepting applications for 9th grade, mid-year transfer or grades 10-12. 
The next application window will open on Monday April 26, 2021. If you are interested in receiving a notification when the application window opens, please complete our interest survey.

Complete the Interest Survey

There are two application windows during which students may apply. Applications will not be accepted outside of these dates. Pleased be advised that fewer seats will be available in Round 2. 

Round 1 Deadlines 
Current 8th Grade Students: Sunday Nov. 15, 11:59 p.m. 

Current High School Students: Sunday Nov. 22, 11:59 p.m. 

Round 2 Deadlines*
New Applicants of All Grades: Monday April 26, 12 p.m. to Friday June 25, 11:59 p.m.
*Round 1 applicants are prohibited from re-applying during Round 2. 

Download the full Round 1 Calendar

• Parents/Guardians are expected to complete the application.
• Applicants are responsible for monitoring the email associated with their Submittable account. All communications regarding the application will be sent to the email address on file. 
• Applicants are required to take an examination in order to be considered for admission. 
• All deadlines are final, including application deadlines, petition deadlines and, if applicable, enrollment deadlines.
• Please review the application carefully before submitting. Applicants may save the application in progress and return to make as many changes as necessary prior to submitting it.
• Do not submit more than one application for the same student. Additional applications for the same candidate will be withdrawn by the Admissions Team.
• You may email exam.schools@detroitk12.org or use Submittable, the application platform, to send a message requesting the opportunity to edit or update your application after it has been submitted. Requests must be submitted prior to the application deadline. Please see our Frequently Asked Questions for information about updating or editing a previously submitted application.

Admissions Essay

• Which Examination High School(s) do you want to attend and why do you want to attend?
• What makes you an exceptional candidate for admission?
• Describe one or more qualities that make you stand out and provide examples to demonstrate those qualities to the admissions team.
• How will admittance help you achieve your goals for the future?

• A transcript that clearly shows your Cumulative Grade Point Average 
  OR
• Full-year report cards (end-or-year or all terms) from the two most recent consecutive school years: the 2018-19 and 2019-20

For information on how applications are scored, visit the Application Requirements web page.