My School DC Application and Lottery

Applicants use a single family account to create, save, edit, and submit an application for each child in their family who is applying to a new school. Families also use this account to view their lottery results and positions on schools' waitlists. Creating an account with an email address is recommended, however it is possible to create an account with a username and no email address.

The matching algorithm is the computer program that runs the lottery. It is a deferred acceptance model that is based on the Nobel Prize-winning work of economist Al Roth of Stanford University. Click HERE to watch a video of how the matching algorithm works.

The My School DC application is a single, online application families must use to apply for participating public charter schools (PK3 – grade 12); DCPS schools outside your boundary or feeder pattern for any grade (PK3 – grade 12), including DCPS citywide schools; all DCPS PK3 and PK4 programs, including programs at your DCPS in-boundary school; and DCPS selective high schools and programs (grades 9–12). The My School DC application is found here and is available in English and Spanish. Application guides are available to download in Amharic (አማርኛ፤), French (Français), Chinese (中文), and Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt).

The My School DC common lottery is a single, random lottery that determines placement for new students at all participating schools. There is no advantage to applying first; however, applicants must apply by the deadlines to participate in the lottery.

A DCPS school or public charter school that has agreed to be part of My School DC. All traditional DCPS schools and most public charter schools that serve PK3 – grade 12 participate. Click HERE for a list of participating schools. Click HERE for a list of schools and programs that do not participate in My School DC.

Each student currently enrolled in a public school in DC, including DCPS and charters, has a unique ID number, called a unique student identifier, or USI. You do not need to know your student’s Student ID number or USI to start the application. When you enter your student’s information in Step 1 of the application, either the Student ID number for current DCPS students or the Unique Student Identifier for charter school students will automatically populate. If this does not happen, please call the My School DC Hotline at (202) 888-6336 for assistance.

When schools have more applicants than spaces, students who are not matched to a school in the lottery are placed on the school’s waitlist. When a space opens, the school offers the space to students on the waitlist in order. Waitlists are ordered first by preference group (in-boundary, sibling, etc.) and then by applicants with no preferences. Within each group, students are ordered by random lottery number. Important: There is no guarantee that an applicant on a waitlist will be offered a seat. 

Applicants who apply after the lottery deadlines are placed on schools' waitlists below lottery applicants by time and date of submission. The exception to this is a post-lottery applicant who qualifies for a preference (in-boundary, sibling, etc.); the applicant will be placed behind lottery applicants within the same preference group but ahead of lottery applicants with lower or no preferences. To view historical waitlist movement data by lottery year and school, click HERE.

Each student can apply to up to 12 schools on the My School DC application. On each student’s application, a family should list schools in the order they like most. The order in which applicants rank schools matters. The lottery takes your list of schools and will try to match students with their first choice first, then their second choice, etc. Students will be matched with no more than one school and will only be waitlisted at schools they ranked higher than the school where they are matched. Putting your schools in your true order of preference is a critical step in the application process. Families should only select schools they want their child to attend. You may re-rank your school selections until March 15.

The application used to apply to participating schools if a family misses the lottery application deadlines for a given school year or seeks to apply to additional schools after lottery results are released. Post-lottery applicants are added to schools’ waitlists below lottery applicants based on time of submission. The only exception to this is for post-lottery applicants that qualify for a preference at a school (e.g., sibling or in-boundary) that a lottery applicant does not qualify for. Families can submit a post-lottery application at MySchoolDC.org through the first week of October. Families seeking to apply to schools after that time must complete a mid-year application by calling the My School DC Hotline at (202) 888-6336.

The application for students in PK3 – grade 12 who move into the District midyear or who seek to change from their current school to another DC public or public charter school during a given school year. The application is used to apply to all participating schools. No application is needed for K-12 students who wish to enroll at their DCPS in-boundary school. The mid-year application period extends from the beginning of October through mid-March during any given school year. Mid-year applications are only accessible by calling the My School DC Hotline at (202) 888-6336.

Locate your in-boundary school here.