Chicago Selective Enrollment
PreACT 9 Secure Tutoring & Test Prep
Formerly the CPS HSAT — replaced by CPS starting Fall 2026
Expert preparation for Chicago’s new High School Admissions Test. We help 8th graders gain entry to Walter Payton, Northside Prep, Whitney Young, Jones, Lane Tech, and more.
● 50% Test + 50% Grades
● Live Virtual Sessions
● 25 hrs/month $400
● Proven Results
Why the PreACT 9 Secure Matters
Chicago’s Most Competitive High School Admissions Process
Starting Fall 2026, CPS replaced the HSAT with the PreACT 9 Secure — a longer, ACT-aligned exam that is the gateway to Chicago’s 11 Selective Enrollment High Schools, among the most academically competitive public high schools in the United States.
Summer 2026
Course Schedule & Options
Two months of live morning instruction — 25 hours per month for $400/month. Choose your preferred days. Gold = Mon/Wed • Blue = Tue/Thu.
Know the Exam
What Is the PreACT 9 Secure?
Announced by CPS on June 3, 2026, the PreACT 9 Secure replaces the former High School Admissions Test (HSAT) and is taken by every 8th grader applying to a CPS Selective Enrollment or Choice high school program. It is made by ACT, Inc. — the same organization behind the ACT college admissions exam.
📋 Format & Timing
| ✓ | 2 hours 35 minutes — English (35 min), Math (45 min), Reading (40 min), Science (35 min) |
| ✓ | Digital, ACT-aligned — a calculator is now permitted on the Math section (not allowed on the old HSAT) |
| ✓ | Achievement test — English, Math, Reading, and Science mastery, ~143 questions total |
| ✓ | English only — unlike the former HSAT, full-language translation is not offered; ESL accommodations (e.g. extended time) are still available |
📅 When & Who
| ✓ | All 8th graders applying to Selective Enrollment or Choice programs |
| ✓ | CPS students: tested at school during the school day — Wednesday, October 7, 2026 |
| ✓ | Non-CPS students: register via go.cps.edu — test at a CPS center on a designated weekend |
| ✓ | Scores released mid-November via EnrollWise — CPS says the overall admissions timeline is unchanged |
📈 How Scoring Works
Selective Enrollment admissions combine test score and grades, weighted 50/50 — CPS has confirmed this split carries over to the PreACT 9 Secure:
Chicago’s 11 Selective Enrollment High Schools
Rank up to 6 schools on your GoCPS application — rank by preference, not likelihood
The GoCPS Timeline — What to Expect
Our Philosophy
We Teach for Life — Not Just for the Test
Our Socratic approach builds the reasoning skills students use in every classroom, every exam, and every challenge they face. A higher PreACT 9 Secure score is the outcome — critical thinking is the goal.
Questions, Not Answers
Our instructors never hand students answers. They ask the right questions at the right moment — guiding students to reason through problems themselves. The result is deeper retention and a student who can handle questions they’ve never seen before.
Speed & Accuracy Under Pressure
With four sections in 2 hours 35 minutes, pacing across an entire test day is now a real skill in itself. We train students to work efficiently and confidently under timed conditions across every subject — because knowing the material is not enough if you run out of time.
Diagnostic-Driven Instruction
Every student starts with a diagnostic to identify exactly where their score can be improved. We don’t teach to the average — we teach to the individual. Every session targets the specific weaknesses that are costing your student points.
Expert Instructors. Proven Results.
Our online platform lets us recruit the best instructors regardless of location — including MIT and Harvard graduates with years of admissions-test experience. Our students consistently perform in the top percentiles and gain admission to their target schools.
What Parents Are Saying
My son had a strong GPA but kept freezing on timed tests. After two months of prep he stopped second-guessing himself completely. He scored in the 94th percentile on the Math section and got into Northside. The timed practice they built into every session made all the difference.
We enrolled our daughter in the July course and she went from struggling with reading comprehension to consistently finishing the Reading section with time to spare. She got into Whitney Young. At $350 for 25 hours, I genuinely cannot believe what we paid compared to what we got.
Ready to Get Started?
The PreACT 9 Secure is October 7, 2026. Summer is your window. 25 hours for $350 — enroll now or schedule a free consultation.
Expert prep for competitive high school admissions — building critical thinkers since 2014.
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