Students who continue to perform poorly can be sent back to their neighbourhood schools. You got to work to get in here, and you feel like you have to work to be here. I try hard to challenge myself when it comes to everything. College preparation is intense at City. It begins in Grade 9, when freshmen, most of whom do not have a relative who went to university or college, learn what post-secondary education is.
Juniors undergo a practice interview with a college admissions officer.
As part of their English requirement, they must complete a college application form. Every Grade 12 student spends a full day on a college campus. The college advisor also counsels families on how to fill out the daunting financial aid forms. There is a caveat to City's success. It is a magnet school, meaning students from across Baltimore may attend, and it can select students, which it does, based on standardized tests.