Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts

What makes this school special

SFUSD's audition-based arts school: admission rides entirely on the audition, not grades or essays
Students commit to one department (Conservatory Dance, Media + Film, Vocal Music, Costume + Fashion Design, and more) and go deep for all four years
Academics share the day with serious daily arts training, taught alongside working professional artists
80% of the class of 2025 went straight to four-year colleges; the recent-matriculation list runs from UC Berkeley, Harvard, and Stanford to Juilliard, Berklee, and RISD
Not the private arts school: SOTA is regularly confused with San Francisco High School of the Arts (HSArts), a small tuition-based independent in the Haight
We have a guide to admissions here: Getting into SOTA: auditions and portfolios

Academics

Curriculum

College-prep academics + conservatory arts; students advised to cap APs at four across four years

Advanced Placement

10 AP courses

See the course list

World languages

Spanish

Schedule

Semester

Signature programs

Audition-based arts conservatory — four-year specialization in one of 14 arts pathways
Two-track day — full academics plus daily arts training

College matriculation

UC Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, NYU, The Juilliard School, Berklee College of Music, Rhode Island School of Design, California Institute of the Arts

See the full list

UC admissions

In fall 2025, 128 students applied to the UC system from this school; 102 were admitted to at least one campus, and 53 enrolled.

See UC’s data

What these numbers can and can’t tell you

Athletics, arts & activities

Athletics · CIF San Francisco Section (AAA)

BadmintonBaseball (boys)BasketballCheerCross CountryFencingFlag Football (girls)SoccerSoftball (girls)Track & FieldVolleyball

Arts

Architecture + DesignConservatory DanceWorld DanceMedia + FilmInstrumental MusicVocal MusicWorld MusicMusic ProductionTheater (Acting)Musical TheaterTechnical TheaterCostume + Fashion DesignVisual ArtCreative Writing

Clubs & activities

Student GovernmentLatinx/e Student UnionMock TrialModel United NationsBlack Student UnionEnvironmental Club

See all clubs

Applying

Key dates

Applications open: October 23, 2026
Application due: December 11, 2026
Audition: January 2027
Assignment letters mailed: Week of March 15, 2027
Accept assignment: March 25, 2027

The application

Admission to Ruth Asawa SOTA is by audition, not the citywide lottery. Families list SOTA on the SFUSD enrollment application by the early-December deadline and audition in a single arts strand; auditions are held in January. San Francisco residency is required.

Application requirements

SFUSD enrollment application (select Ruth Asawa SOTA)
Audition in a single arts department/strand
San Francisco residency

Testing

Audition / portfolio

Sources

SFUSD — Ruth Asawa SOTA — address, mission, logo, grades
SFUSD — Admission 2026-27 — audition process, deadlines, arts pathways, residency
SFUSD — Extracurricular Athletics — sports
NCES Common Core of Data — enrollment, ratio, % students of color
CA Dept of Education — School Directory — official name, address, grades
Wikipedia — Ruth Asawa SF School of the Arts — founding, arts departments, notable alumni
SFUSD Grading Periods — two-semester (Fall/Spring) structure ("18 weeks in a semester")
Ruth Asawa SOTA 2025-26 School Profile (PDF) — AP courses and four-AP guidance, college profile (class of 2025), matriculation list, graduation rate
SOTA student page and its linked 2022-23 clubs deck (the most recent published) — student government, unions, club examples
SOTA World Language Department | SFUSD — world language (Spanish 1-3, AP Spanish Language)

Details checked August 2026

Ruth Asawa SOTA