Applying to Lick-Wilmerding: A Guide to Admissions

Brought to you by Cardinal Education, independent admissions consultants for San Francisco Bay Area families.

Quick Answer for Busy Parents

Getting into Lick-Wilmerding means submitting a complete Ravenna application by January 5, 2027, including a Parent/Guardian Application, a Student Application, three recommendation letters (Principal/Counselor, 8th Grade English, and 8th Grade Math), and 7th/8th grade transcripts. LWHS has adopted a Test-Free Policy, so no ISEE, SSAT, or HSPT is required or considered, even if submitted. Every applicant also completes a required “Cub Conversation,” an informal interview with an LWHS faculty or staff member.

LWHS is a nonsectarian, independent day school in San Francisco built around “head, heart, and hands,” offering zero AP courses by design. Decisions are mailed March 11, 2027, and become available on Ravenna March 12 after 4:00 PM.

Why Do Families Choose Lick-Wilmerding?

Founded in 1895 as the California School of Mechanical Arts through a trust from James Lick, Lick-Wilmerding High School later merged with the Wilmerding School of Industrial Arts and the Lux School for Industrial Training, moving to its current Ocean Avenue campus in 1956. The school describes itself as “a private school with public purpose,” developing the head, heart, and hands of highly motivated students from all walks of life. LWHS does not offer AP courses by design, choosing instead to build its own rigorous educational philosophy, and has adopted a Test-Free Policy under which no ISEE, SSAT, or HSPT is required or considered.

Independent outcomes back up the school’s reputation: 98-100% of LWHS graduates attend four-year colleges or universities each year, and 73% of the student body identifies as students of color.

Academic & Community Snapshot

LWHS’s accreditation and membership record is worth understanding alongside its academics, since it reflects the external standards the school is held to beyond its own marketing.

How Hard Is It to Get Into Lick-Wilmerding?

LWHS does not publish an official acceptance rate, but the school’s roughly 140 available 9th-grade spots each year draw significantly more applications than that, making admission genuinely competitive. Because there is no standardized test and no AP-heavy transcript to differentiate candidates, the admissions committee is weighing the recommendation letters, the transcript itself, and the required Cub Conversation, rather than a single benchmark number. Families researching similarly positioned San Francisco Bay Area independent schools frequently also consider The Athenian School, The College Preparatory School, and San Francisco University High School.

What the Admissions Committee Weighs

• Three recommendation letters (Principal/Counselor, 8th Grade English, 8th Grade Math)
• 7th and 8th grade transcripts
• The required Cub Conversation
• The Parent/Guardian Application and Student Application, including the Student Activity & Interest Form

Top Tips for LWHS Applicants

• Don’t prepare for a test LWHS won’t consider; the Test-Free Policy applies even if a score is submitted.
• Request your three recommendation letters by early November, well before the January 5 delegation deadline.
• Treat the Cub Conversation as a genuine conversation, not a rehearsed pitch; no preparation is expected.

The Lick-Wilmerding Admission Process

1. Create an Account: Set up a Ravenna-Hub account and submit the required Intake Form.
2. Submit Part I: The Parent/Guardian Application, along with the $100 application fee (fee waivers available).
3. Attend Admissions Events (Optional): Register for Open Houses or shadow visits via Ravenna.
4. Register for the Cub Conversation: A required, informal 1:1 interview with an LWHS faculty or staff member.
5. Submit Part II: The Student Application, along with the Student Activity & Interest Form.
6. Submit Recommendations and Transcripts: Delegate three recommendation letters and upload 7th/8th grade transcripts through Ravenna.
7. Await Your Decision: Decisions are mailed March 11, 2027, and become available on Ravenna March 12 after 4:00 PM.

Lick-Wilmerding’s Admissions Calendar and Key Dates

• Application Opens: Late August 2026
• Application Deadline: January 5, 2027, 11:59 PM (Parts I & II, including the $100 fee)
• Recommendation Delegation Deadline: January 5, 2027
• 7th/8th Grade Transcripts Due: January 22, 2027
• Decisions Mailed: March 11, 2027
• Decisions Available on Ravenna: March 12, 2027, after 4:00 PM
• Enrollment Agreements Due: March 18-19, 2027

LWHS Application Requirements

Apply to Lick-Wilmerding with the following requirements:

Teacher Recommendations/Recommendation Letters

All three forms should be requested by early November and delegated through Ravenna by January 5, 2027.

Teacher recommendations are crucial for admission since they give a more thorough evaluation of your child’s character, personality, and academic aptitude. Because these teachers work with your child regularly, they can provide professional and unbiased observations. This is why we strongly suggest building up a good relationship with your child’s current school in order to receive an exceptional recommendation.

Transcripts

Applicants submit 7th and 8th grade transcripts via a signed Transcript Release Form, uploaded to Ravenna by January 22, 2027.

The transcript will demonstrate your child’s readiness to handle a rigorous curriculum. If your child’s grades are not where you’d like them to be, working with an admissions consultant can help you develop a holistic strategy and strengthen their overall profile. With a team of tutors and academic coaches, we provide both online and in-person tutoring for a variety of courses. Beyond boosting GPA, we also believe in a holistic strategy to work with students and develop life skills.

Interviews

Every applicant completes a required “Cub Conversation,” an informal interview with an LWHS faculty or staff member, taking approximately 30 minutes. Sessions are offered weekday afternoons from September through January.

The interview is an opportunity for your students to exhibit their character and drive to attend LWHS. Likewise, the interviewer will also be observing your child to assess and evaluate whether they will be a good fit for the school community. If you worry that your child may not be ready to take on an admissions interview, we suggest undergoing informed interview preparation. We have a team of experienced educational consultants and over twenty years of experience navigating private school admissions. Interview prep will introduce your child to common interview questions and guide them on how to answer them honestly.

Applying to LWHS? Get Every Piece Right.

With no test score to fall back on and three separate recommendation letters in play, a coordinated strategy matters. Cardinal Education helps families manage every piece of the Lick-Wilmerding application.

Schedule a Consultation

Student Life at Lick-Wilmerding

Lick-Wilmerding offers a well-rounded student experience that balances rigorous academics with a deep commitment to community engagement, athletics, and the arts.

Academics

LWHS’s curriculum spans Body-Mind Education, English, History, Mathematics, Performing Arts, Science, Technical Arts, Visual Arts, and World Languages. Every student is required to enroll in a minimum of six five-unit courses per semester. Graduation requires a minimum of four semesters of Technical Arts, one semester of Performing Arts, two semesters of Visual Arts, and two semesters of Body-Mind Education. See Head, Heart, and Hands: Inside Lick-Wilmerding’s Technical Arts Requirement for the full picture.

Activities and Community

LWHS’s Center for Civic Engagement, one of only two such centers at a school nationally, anchors the school’s Public Purpose Program, a four-year sequence of service learning that runs from a freshman-year workshop series through senior-year internships and independent study. See A Private School With Public Purpose: Lick-Wilmerding’s Four-Year Civic Engagement Program for the full four-year arc.

Athletics

LWHS fields 13 interscholastic sports across 42 teams (plus a Flag Football club): Cross Country, Field Hockey, Tennis, Volleyball, Water Polo, Basketball, Soccer, Badminton, Baseball, Lacrosse, Softball, Swimming, and Track & Field.

Arts

LWHS’s Performing Arts department offers dance, instrumental and vocal music, and theater, staged in the Ehrer Theatre. Visual Arts students can take classes in architecture, animation/film/video, drawing and painting, photography, and sculpture.

Notable Lick-Wilmerding Alumni

1. Ned Segal: Business executive who served as Chief Financial Officer of Twitter (now X) from 2017 to 2022, including through its acquisition by Elon Musk.
2. mxmtoon: American singer-songwriter known for her folk-pop music and large online following.
3. Gerek Meinhardt: Olympic foil fencer who became the youngest American fencer to compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
4. Benjamin Wildman-Tobriner: Olympic gold medalist swimmer and former world record holder in the 4×100 freestyle relay.
5. Teresa Strasser: Television personality and writer, best known for hosting the first season of While You Were Out.
6. Laura Sullivan: Investigative reporter for NPR and recipient of three Peabody Awards.

Getting Into Lick-Wilmerding: What Actually Matters

LWHS’s admissions process rewards a genuinely different kind of preparation than most Bay Area independent schools: no test score to optimize, no AP transcript to lean on, and a required conversation that carries real weight precisely because there’s nothing else to fall back on. That makes the choice of recommenders and the family’s own presentation in the Cub Conversation the actual levers that matter. Getting those pieces right, and getting them in ahead of the January 5 deadline, is where Cardinal Education’s consultants add the most value.

Start Your Lick-Wilmerding Application With a Plan

Cardinal Education helps families choose strong recommenders and prepare for the Cub Conversation with LWHS’s specific head-heart-hands philosophy in mind.

Schedule a Consultation

Related Articles:
Head, Heart, and Hands: Inside Lick-Wilmerding’s Technical Arts Requirement
A Private School With Public Purpose: Lick-Wilmerding’s Four-Year Civic Engagement Program

Frequently Asked Questions

“Cardinal Education really understood how competitive and specific Lick-Wilmerding’s admissions process is, and their guidance made all the difference. We’re so grateful they helped our daughter get into a school that truly fits who our family is.”

— A Lick-Wilmerding parent