All applicants who meet the requirements for enrollment in Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) at the time of application and are eligible for the program(s) selected, will be considered for placement.
Baltimore County Public Schools does not employ any admissions criteria for elementary or middle school magnet programs.
Students applying to high school magnet programs are required to attend an assessment. Prior to attending an assessment, applicants MUST obtain the Assessment Guidelines for EACH program selected on the application. The Assessment Guidelines contain specific information about each assessment and any preparation required prior to the assessment. Assessment Guidelines are posted on this website when the application opens.
Elementary and Middle School Magnet Placements:
If the number of applicants exceeds the number of seats available, applicants will be offered placement in the following sequence:
1. Available seats will first be filled with priority placements.
2. A random lottery will be conducted to fill all remaining available seats and to generate a wait list.
High School Magnet Placements:
If the number of applicants exceeds the number of seats available, applicants will be offered placement in the following sequence:
1. Available seats will first be filled with priority placements.
2. A random lottery of applicants who score 80% or higher on admission criteria will be conducted to fill available seats and to generate a wait list.
3. If available seats remain following sequence 1 and 2, a random lottery of applicants who scored 79% on the admission criteria will be conducted to fill available seats and generate a wait list. This lottery process will be repeated in order of descending scores (78%, 77%, 76%, etc.) to fill available seats and generate a wait list.
Priority placements include:
• Kindergarten Sibling Priority Placements – kindergarten applicants receive priority placement when they have an older sibling who is currently enrolled in the same magnet program and who will continue in the magnet program during the year for which the kindergarten applicant is seeking placement.
• Child of an Employee - If the primary work site of a BCPS employee is a school with a magnet program and the employee’s child applies to, and is eligible for, a magnet program in that school, the child will be given priority placement in the magnet program. For high school magnet programs, the child must also earn a total evaluation score of 80% or higher to be given this priority placement.
• High School Magnet Program Priority – Up to 20% of the available seats will first be filled by applicants who earn a total evaluation score of 80% or higher and who earn the highest scores on the magnet assessment(s). Applicants will receive priority placement in order of descending score on the magnet assessment(s) (i.e. 100%, 99%, 98%, etc.). If applicants earn the same highest score on the magnet assessment(s), and the number of applicants exceeds the number of priority placement seats available, no High School Magnet Program Priority placement will be granted. |
Random Lottery:
Using the magnet application lottery system, applicants are randomly sorted for each program and either offered admission or placed on a wait list.
Magnet Admission Decision Letters: (dates subject to change)
Elementary and Middle School admission decisions will be emailed to parents by February 9, 2024.
High School admission decisions will be emailed to parents by March 8, 2024.
If you have questions or need additional information, please contact BCPS Magnet Programs at (443) 809-4127.