page_title: Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
section_title: Admission
hierarchical_section_title: Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy / Admission
caption_attribution_description: Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy campus
context_page_description: The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, or IMSA, is a three-year residential public secondary education institution in Aurora, Illinois, United States, with an enrollment of approximately 650 students.
  Enrollment is generally offered to incoming sophomores, although younger students who have had the equivalent of one year of Algebra and a 9th grade science equivalent are eligible to apply. All applicants undergo a competitive admissions process involving the review of grades, teacher evaluations, student essays, and SAT scores. Historically, approximately one-third of applicants in any given year are admitted. Due to its nature as a public institution, there are no charges related to tuition, room and board; however, there is an annual student fee which may be reduced or waived based on family income. IMSA has been consistently ranked by Newsweek as one of the top ten high schools in the country for math and science, and some of its graduates have moved on to become leaders in a variety of fields. It is the top-rated public high school in Illinois on Niche.com.
context_section_description: Prospective students, who are usually freshmen in high school but in some cases may be eighth graders, must complete an application to be considered for admission to IMSA.
  The application process consists of an official transcript of the student's last 2½ years of school, scores from the SAT I, four student essays, three teacher evaluations in science, mathematics, and English, and a list of awards and extracurricular activities.
caption: View of campus from southwest
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