Quick answer
Per the Archdiocese of Chicago, the area's Catholic high schools administer the HSPT on a single citywide date, the first Saturday of December. Students take it once, at one school, and several top schools, including St. Ignatius College Prep and Loyola Academy, consider only applicants who test on their campus, so your testing site is effectively your first-choice school. Saso Prep prepares Chicago families online with an on-demand self-study course, plus live Zoom classes, practice assessments, and mock exams.
For families targeting a Catholic high school in Chicagoland, the HSPT is the gatekeeper. Schools use it to decide admission, to place incoming freshmen into honors and accelerated courses, and to select scholarship candidates, and since students get one attempt on one date, thorough preparation is the highest-leverage move you can make.
Which Chicago Catholic high schools use the HSPT?
Nearly all of them. The Archdiocese of Chicago's Catholic high schools give the entrance exam on the same coordinated date, with the Cristo Rey network schools the main exception. Well-known HSPT schools include St. Ignatius College Prep (which adds a brief writing prompt after the exam), Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Fenwick in Oak Park, DePaul College Prep, Marist, and Mount Carmel. Always confirm the current entrance-exam requirement directly with each school.
The detail that makes Chicago different: the testing location matters. Students sit for the HSPT once, at one school, and several of the most selective schools, including St. Ignatius and Loyola Academy, consider only applicants who take the exam on their campus. Scholarship consideration is also commonly tied to testing at that school. That makes choosing your test site a genuine strategic decision; settle on your first-choice school before exam day, and verify its testing-location policy directly.
School and archdiocese names are referenced for informational purposes only. Saso Prep is an independent test-prep provider and is not affiliated with, authorized by, or endorsed by any of these schools or the Archdiocese of Chicago. Test dates and policies change every year; always verify directly with your target school.
How Chicago schools use HSPT scores
Beyond the admission decision itself, Chicago's Catholic high schools use HSPT results alongside transcripts in a holistic review, place incoming freshmen into honors and accelerated courses, and weigh scores in merit-scholarship decisions, and because scholarship consideration is often limited to students who tested on campus, a strong score at the right school can pay for itself many times over. Award details vary by school and change yearly; verify current offerings with each school. (For what counts as a strong percentile, see what's a good HSPT score →.)
Saso Prep's Ultimate HSPT Self-Study Course covers all five sections with 18 video lessons, 1,000+ practice problems, and 2½ model tests, on demand, so your child can start today and study on their own schedule. $499
When is the HSPT given in Chicago?
On one citywide date: the first Saturday of December, every year, in the morning at the Catholic high schools across the archdiocese. There is a single administration, with occasional make-ups for illness or emergencies, and each school handles its own registration in the fall, so the practical first step is to pick your testing school and confirm its registration process early. See the HSPT test dates page → for dates across all regions.
How Chicago families prepare with Saso Prep
Saso Prep has spent nearly three decades on one test, the HSPT, and prepares Chicago families entirely online, so location is never the barrier. Two paths fit most families:
- Self-paced. The Ultimate HSPT Self-Study Course ↗ covers all five sections on demand with 18 video lessons and 1,000+ practice problems, so your child studies on their own schedule, plenty of runway before Chicago's early-December date.
- Live online. Prefer live instruction? The Live Online HSPT Course ↗ is a ten-session Zoom program taught by Mr. Saso, timed to fall test windows. Live students average in the 90th percentile, and registration includes the self-study course, assessment, and mock exam at no extra cost.
Whichever you pick, the dependable sequence is the same: assess, build, rehearse.
- Assess with a full-length HSPT Diagnostic Assessment ↗ to get an approximate starting percentile.
- Build skills across every section with the self-study course or live classes.
- Rehearse with a true-to-test HSPT Mock Exam ↗ so the real thing feels familiar.
New to the exam? Start with what is the HSPT → and how to study for the HSPT →. Ready to choose? Compare every option on the courses & practice tests page →.