St. Mark’s School of Texas Admissions | What You Need to Know to Get In

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St. Mark’s School of Texas is a nonsectarian, college-preparatory, independent day school for boys in grades 1 through 12, located on a 42-acre campus in Dallas. It enrolls 923 students, admits roughly 15% of applicants, and releases decisions on March 12. Testing requirements split three ways by grade: CATS and ATS for grade 1, the ISEE Primary for grades 2 through 4, and the standard ISEE for grades 5 through 11. Boys applying to grades 5 and up must also complete an interview. Applications for the 2027-2028 school year open in September 2026, with the form due January 8, 2027 for the upper grade bands and supporting materials due January 29.

Why Do Families Choose St. Mark’s School of Texas?

St. Mark’s opened in 1906 as the Terrill School for Boys, founded by Yale graduate M.B. Terrill. Its charter commits the School to giving students well-rounded physical, intellectual, moral, and religious training, and it describes itself as a community of teachers and students who share a love of learning and strive for high achievement in whatever they undertake. The working version of that mission is blunter: prepare young men to assume leadership and responsibility in a competitive and changing world.

The outcomes back the ambition. All graduates enroll at four-year colleges, 60% of the Class of 2026 earned National Merit recognition, and 99% of students return year over year. Niche currently ranks St. Mark’s #2 among Best All-Boys High Schools in America and #5 among Best Private High Schools in Texas. Families typically weigh it against The Hockaday School locally and St. John’s School in Houston.

Academic and Community Snapshot

How Hard Is It to Get Into St. Mark’s School of Texas?

St. Mark’s reports that in recent years, 15% of applicants have been admitted. That headline figure understates how much the odds swing by entry point. The School publishes approximate annual intake by grade, and the pattern is stark: the large doors are grades 1, 4, 5, and 9, while the intervening grades open only a few seats. Applying into a low-intake year is a different proposition entirely, which is worth knowing before you build a timeline. Our broader explainer on how competitive top private schools really are is useful context.

What gets weighed: the transcript and the rigor behind it, the mathematics and English teacher evaluations, assessment results appropriate to the grade, and the interview or observation. The School is explicit that scores are evaluated against a narrow chronological age band, which is a quiet way of saying that testing late in the season to buy more preparation time does not work.

Top Tips for Families Applying to St. Mark’s School of Texas

• Target a high-intake entry grade if your timeline allows any flexibility at all.
• Register for testing in the fall, before slots and weather work against you.
• Ask math and English teachers early; they carry real weight for grades 5 and up.
• Choose the in-person interview if you live in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
• Make sure your son can speak about one genuine interest in depth.

Best Practices in St. Mark’s School of Texas Admissions

• Begin preparation a full year ahead, particularly for grade 9 entry.
• Visit on an ordinary school day, not only at an open house.
• Be honest in the Parent Response about where your son struggles.
• Confirm which assessment track applies before registering for anything.
• Have a frank family conversation about whether an all-boys day school genuinely fits.

Common Questions About Selectivity

Does applying to a low-intake grade hurt my son’s chances?

It changes them substantially. Grades 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8 typically open between two and eight seats. A strong applicant can absolutely be admitted in those years, but families should go in understanding the arithmetic rather than reading the 15% figure as uniform across the school.

Does St. Mark’s consider transfer applicants?

Yes. Grades 10 and 11 admit based on attrition, so availability varies year to year. Our guidance on applying to a private school as a transfer student covers how to position an older applicant whose record was built elsewhere.

The St. Mark’s Admissions Process

The School frames the cycle in three stages: get to know St. Mark’s between September and December, complete the application between September and January, and receive a decision on March 12. Underneath that, families applying to grades 5 through 11 submit five distinct components.

1. Submit the online application form, which unlocks the admission checklist. Due January 8, 2027.
2. Complete the Parent Response, Student Response, and Student Activities Form. Due January 29, 2027.
3. Sit the ISEE, in person or online at home, and have scores sent using school code 441805. Score report due January 29, 2027.
4. Complete a student interview in one of three formats. Due January 29, 2027.
5. Request school records and mathematics and English teacher evaluations. Due January 29, 2027.

Younger applicants follow a different path. Grades 1 through 4 complete an on-campus student observation rather than an interview, and their assessment requirements differ by grade.

St. Mark’s Admissions Calendar and Key Dates

Admission events run through the autumn. Parent coffees are adults-only and include a campus tour; open houses are designed for the whole family.

St. Mark’s Application Requirements in Detail

Assessments

The three-track structure is the most distinctive feature of St. Mark’s admissions and the one families most often get wrong. Grade 1 applicants complete a CATS cognitive ability assessment plus the ATS achievement assessment. Grades 2 and 3 take the ISEE Primary. Grade 4 takes both the ISEE Primary and CATS. Grades 5 through 11 take the standard ISEE, available in person or online at home, under school code 441805. Parents register directly with the provider. Sustained ISEE preparation matters more than a last-minute cram, and our study strategies for the ISEE set out a realistic schedule.

Interview Formats

Boys applying to grades 5 through 11 choose among three formats. There is no preferred option, though St. Mark’s encourages in-person interviews for families inside the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

Because peers participate, this is less like a formal admissions interview and more like being dropped into a conversation. Boys who have rehearsed answers often sound worse than boys who have simply thought about what they care about. Our interview preparation works on the latter.

Written Components

Grades 5 through 11 submit a Parent Response, a Student Response, and a Student Activities Form. St. Mark’s does not require the long personal essay that some guides describe. The Parent Response is where families most often waste the opportunity by writing what they think the committee wants; our parent statement guidance argues for the opposite approach.

Records and Teacher Evaluations

All applicants request current school records through the checklist. Grades 5 through 11 need evaluations from current mathematics and English teachers specifically, not from a teacher of the student’s choosing. Younger applicants submit a single current teacher evaluation.

Not Sure Where Your Son Stands?

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Questions About Testing and Timing

Should we test early or wait for more preparation?

Test early. St. Mark’s notes that performance is evaluated relative to other students within a narrow chronological age band, so waiting does not raise a score. Testing slots also become scarce as the season progresses, and winter weather, illness, and holiday travel routinely disrupt January appointments.

Can my son retake the assessment?

Policies differ by assessment and are set by the testing providers rather than by St. Mark’s. For grade 1 applicants, the School specifically directs families to test only once, in December or January. Check the current rules with the provider before assuming a retake is available.

What if we are moving to Dallas mid-cycle?

Grades 10 and 11 admit based on attrition, and the virtual interview exists precisely for families who cannot travel. Relocating families should contact the admission office early, and our Dallas team can help sequence a search across several schools at once.

Student Life at St. Mark’s

Academics

The curriculum spans Language Arts and English, Humanities, Mathematics, Science, and Computer Science and Technology, with graduation requirements that go beyond what colleges ask. Language study requires three consecutive years of the same language through at least Level III equivalent. Honors and AP placement runs through departmental recommendation each spring; boys are encouraged but not required to accept a recommendation, and AP exams themselves are voluntary. Students new to St. Mark’s take placement tests in mathematics and language on admission.

Outdoor Education and the Pecos Wilderness Trip

Every student from sixth grade through the summer before freshman year participates in the Wilderness Program. It culminates in the Pecos Wilderness Trip, a required ten-day expedition in August before ninth grade that functions as the School’s central rite of passage. Boys may not miss it without advance permission from the Pecos sponsor and the Head of School, and only exceptionally compelling circumstances earn an excuse. Upper School students can continue outdoor work through the Sherpa Club. Alumni returning to campus tend to talk about Pecos before they talk about anything else.

Activities and Publications

St. Mark’s runs an unusually deep publications program for a school its size, including The ReMarker student newspaper, Focus Magazine, The Marque literary magazine, The Mini-Marque, The Scientific Marksman, and the Marksmen yearbook. Club life is coordinated by the Upper School Club Council, which publishes The Collective. Named clubs include the Robotics Team, Cycling Club, Anatomy Club, and Biology Club. The campus includes a planetarium and the Marksman Wellness Center, which staffs dedicated behavioral health providers for each of the three divisions. Community service runs through Habitat for Humanity and the Brendan Court ’06 Summer Enrichment Program.

Athletics

The Lions field 45 varsity teams across 16 sports in the SPC: baseball, basketball, cheerleading, crew, cross country, fencing, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, water polo, and wrestling. For families weighing how athletics factor into admissions, our piece on the most competitive sports in private school admissions is a realistic guide.

Arts

Arts offerings span 3D design and woodworking, band, ceramics, choir, drama, film studies, orchestra, painting and drawing, and photography. The drama programme has a long production history, and recent seasons have included full-scale musicals.

Summer and Enrichment

The Brendan Court ’06 Summer Enrichment Program runs during the summer months, and the School hosts a Literary Festival, a STEM Conference, and a Distinguished Guest Speakers series through the academic year. Student travel opportunities extend beyond the Pecos programme.

Notable St. Mark’s Alumni

The following are drawn from the School’s own Distinguished Alumnus Award roster and independently documented records.

1. Tommy Lee Jones ’65, Academy Award-winning actor and director, and a first-team All-Ivy League guard at Harvard.
2. Ross Perot Jr. ’77, real estate developer and businessman.
3. Alan Stern ’75, planetary scientist and principal investigator of NASA’s New Horizons mission.
4. Steve Jurvetson ’85, venture capitalist.
5. Robert Decherd ’69, media executive and former chief executive of A.H. Belo.
6. Robert K. Hoffman ’65, businessman and a co-founder of National Lampoon.
7. Steve Miller ’61 and Boz Scaggs ’62, musicians.
8. Kurt Eichenwald ’79, journalist and author.
9. Paul Wylie, figure skater and 1992 Olympic silver medalist.
10. Jeffrey Swann ’69, classical pianist and New York University faculty member.
11. Charlie Nearburg ’68, oil and gas executive and land-speed record holder.
12. Emmanuel Acho ’08, Sam Acho ’07, and Ty Montgomery ’11, National Football League players.

What Families Tell Us

A Final Word

The boys who flourish at St. Mark’s tend to be the ones who wanted the ten days in the Pecos wilderness, not the ones who tolerated them. That is a useful test for families deciding whether to apply. If the School’s particular blend of academic pressure, physical challenge, and stated obligation to defend one’s own convictions sounds like your son at his best, the work of getting there is worth starting early. Our private school admissions consulting team can tell you candidly where he stands.

Start Where Your Son Actually Is

An honest assessment beats a year of guessing. Let us give you one.

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Related Articles

The St. Mark’s Admissions Process, Explained Grade by Grade

The Pecos Wilderness Trip: Inside the St. Mark’s Rite of Passage

St. Mark’s School of Texas Admissions FAQ

We started working with Cardinal Education in seventh grade in preparation for high school admissions. The tutors were incredibly patient and dedicated, and our whole family felt confident and prepared when it came time to start the application process. My son is now a happy and successful 10th-grade student at St. Mark’s.

— Parents of a 10th-grade student