Beginning with the 2026-2027 application period, we surveyed students preparing for the ISEE private school admissions test. Based off early survey results from about 1/3 of our 600-strong cohort, General Academic's students listed some well known institutions like: St. John's School The Kinkaid School Episcopal High School St. Agnes Academy [...]

Most major Houston private schools offer some form of need-based financial assistance, while some also offer academic- or athletic-based merit or other special-interest scholarships. Some prominent schools that offer ONLY need-based scholarships (no merit-based scholarships) include St. John's School, The Awty International School, The Kinkaid School, and St. Agnes Academy.

Yes, but many schools have far fewer openings outside their main gateway years. Availability may depend on factors that are outside of a school's control and hard to predict, like number of current students leaving. Competition is often greater for these years since the prospective student to available spot ratio [...]

For the 2026–27 admissions cycle, many major Houston schools have initial deadlines between late November and mid-January. Recommendations, testing, transcripts, and other materials may have separate submission deadlines that are sometimes up to six weeks after the general application deadline. General application deadlines for some of the most popular Houston [...]

There is no guaranteed admission score. Based on our experience, however, applicants to particularly academically selective schools such as St. John’s, Kinkaid, and Awty are generally in a stronger position with stanines of 7, 8, or 9. The complete application still matters, however, even for these highly selective schools.

Yes. Most highly selective Houston schools require the ISEE for all or most prospective students. Students looking to enter the school in 6th grade will take the ISEE Lower Level, students entering in 7th or 8th grade (non-gateway years) will take the ISEE Middle Level, and students entering in 9th [...]

Start researching during the spring before applications open. This means that if your child is planning to apply for 6th grade admission, you should begin researching schools the spring of their 4th grade year. If your child is planning to apply for 9th grade admission, you should begin researching schools [...]