By now, we hope you have learned about the rigorous academic program, pre-professional arts conservatories, and unique school culture found only at Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA). You are ready to apply!

After becoming familiar with the school’s various conservatories through an OCSA Preview Day, prospective students are invited to fill out an application and, for most conservatories, are required to participate in a Placement Activity. A public, random drawing (“lottery”) will be conducted by conservatory, grade level, and when applicable, concentration, to determine which students are offered admission.

Before getting started, please make sure that you thoroughly understand the Admissions Guidelines and have gathered all of the necessary materials. You will complete your application online and should be prepared to upload all requested materials along with your application. 

Additional support is available for students, parents, or guardians who require translation in order to best understand our admissions processes, as well as for those who need technology assistance. Applicants who have received or are currently receiving special services are encouraged to request any accommodations needed to support them during the admissions process. 

If you have questions, please read our Admissions FAQ. You may also contact our Admissions Office at admissions@ocsarts.net or 714.560.0900 ext. 5510.

Click here to read more about charter school admission rights. Click here to access the Charter School Complaint Notice and Form. 

Conservatory Placement Activities provide applicants with an opportunity to demonstrate their art form. With the exception of the Arts & Enterprise Conservatory, all OCSA conservatories require participation in a Placement Activity. Upon completion of the Conservatory Placement Activity, applicants will receive a scored rubric with helpful feedback and a proficiency level from our conservatory staff. Applicants will only be able to add an entry into the lottery for a conservatory in which they have completed a Placement Activity and met the minimum proficiency level.

Applicants should carefully examine the specific Placement Activity Guidelines for each conservatory, as ALL aspects of the guidelines are required for an application to be considered complete. If submissions do not match the Placement Activity Guideline requirements, the final rubric score will be affected. When guidelines specify that materials are to be submitted digitally, those materials should be included when the application is submitted on or before January 17, 2023.  

For in-person Placement Activities, applicants will be able to schedule their appointment dates and times. The window to schedule any in-person Conservatory Placement Activities will open on November 30, 2022. All in-person Placement Activities for the upcoming school year will be conducted in January and February 2023. Once a Placement Activity appointment is scheduled, there can be no changes to the scheduled date or time. 

Upon completion of the Conservatory Placement Activity, applicants will receive a scored rubric with helpful feedback and a proficiency level from our conservatory staff. With the exception of the Arts & Enterprise Conservatory (which does not require a Placement Activity), applicants will only be able to add an entry into the lottery for a conservatory in which they have completed a Placement Activity and met the minimum proficiency level.

Each applicant will be given two (2) entries for the admission lottery. The two (2) lottery entries may be placed into one (1) single conservatory admission lottery or can be distributed between two (2) conservatory admission lotteries.

Applicants will not be able to change their lottery conservatory selection(s) after submission (due on March 6, 2023). At the time of application, prospective students applying to grades 7-10 can elect to be placed in the lottery for the Arts & Enterprise Conservatory, should they not meet the minimum proficiency of the conservatory for which they are applying.

A public lottery will be conducted, in accordance with the admission preferences in OCSA’s approved charter petition, in order to determine admission in each conservatory. Once all available spaces are filled for a particular conservatory, Applicant Numbers will continue to be drawn and placed on a waitlist in the order drawn.