Eligibility & Admissions

How to Apply

Eligible categories:  “Highly Gifted” (HG)  or “Highly Gifted Applicable” (HGA)

Students are eligible for HG Magnet schools if they

  1. took an "intellectual assessment" (popularly called IQ test) conducted by an LAUSD psychologist (not teacher or private psychologist), and

  2. scored in the 99.5th percentile or above.

This test is different from the OLSAT High Ability test given to every LAUSD 2nd grader by their teacher (qualifies for Gifted programs only).

Priority admission to HGM is given to students whose intellectual scores are in the 99.9th percentile, “Highly Gifted.” If there are openings in their grade level, some “Gifted” students with 99.5%-99.8% (“Highly Gifted Applicable”) can be admitted, with priority based on Magnet points.

Charter and Private School Students

Students currently in any school are eligible for HGM if:

  1. at some point, they were given an intellectual assessment test by an LAUSD psychologist and met the score requirements (see first section of this page), and

  2. they currently reside in LAUSD boundaries.

Testing:

At this time, LAUSD GATE cannot offer tests to private school students at all.

Charter school students (both LAUSD-affiliated and independent) can get an LAUSD intellectual assessment test if the charter school requests testing and pays LAUSD for the cost of the psychologist’s time (about $500 per day during which multiple students may be tested). This is because funds that would have gone to LAUSD GATE were given to the charter school instead. Talk to your school’s Gifted Coordinator about how to get your student tested. Some charter schools allow/ask parents to pay for testing. Some HGM parents had to advocate persistently for their charter school to request testing. If you have questions about your rights, contact LAUSD GATE at 213-241-6500.

If you would like to advocate for these policies to change, contact the LAUSD Board of Education member whose district you live in.

FAQs

My child is eligible. How do I enroll in HGM?

In order to attend any Magnet school, students apply through the eChoices Application.  Applicants will be notified in April as to the initial status of their application. Many HGA applicants are waitlisted, but almost every year, everyone is eventually offered a spot.

Should you miss the eChoices application deadline, walk-in applications may be accepted in the HG Magnet office. Eligible students are then admitted based on available openings and a first come, first served basis.  

Can I tour the HGM?

During Magnet applications season in fall, North Hollywood HGM offers daytime classroom tours and an evening Open House for prospective parents and students to visit our school. See tour dates and how to reserve.  Once the school year has started, IF there are still seats available in your grade and you are eligible, you may contact the HGM office to request a tour.

How do I know whether my student is eligible?

If your student was identified HG or HGA, your school would give the results letter to your student to give to you. However, some people never receive the letter. Ask the Counselor or Gifted Coordinator at your student’s current school to look at your student’s MISIS record to see whether they are “Highly Gifted” (HG) or “Highly Gifted Applicable” (HGA).

Who gets the Intellectual Test?

Even though every LAUSD student takes the OLSAT test (qualifies for Gifted programs), few students get the Intellectual test. These are given to students who 1) are recommended by their school for further testing, or 2) scored very highly on the OLSAT (currently top 1%).

LAUSD students or parents may request an intellectual assessment through the GATE Coordinator at your school if they were not recommended by a teacher/admin. It would help to have supporting evidence that the student shows signs of high giftedness, such as very high academic achievements and test results, in or out of school. LAUSD does not accept private psychologist test for HG identification but private test report can be used as a supporting document in the request for LAUSD testing.