About LSMSAPrep
Leaving home at 15 or 16 is a family decision. We help you read the rules calmly.
LSMSAPrep is EduAvenues guidance for Louisiana families applying to the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts.
Here's what you're up against.
Picture a Sunday night in February. Your sophomore has the online application open, three letters are still waiting on teachers, and a quiet question sits under all of it: are we ready for our kid to live in a residence hall in Natchitoches?
LSMSA is a public school and it charges no tuition. It is also a residential school with a multi-step application and an interview, so the decision is bigger than a test score.
That is why we built this guide. The useful thing is a calm read of what LSMSA has actually published, with the steps, the fees and the residential details in one place.
What LSMSA publishes
- LSMSA charges no tuition. College-level textbooks are provided at no charge and meals are covered by room and board. Personal items, travel and phone are the family's responsibility.
- The priority deadline is March 1, 2027. Applicants who submit by then can take part in summer new student programs and events. After March 1, applications are still considered, but summer opportunities may be limited.
- The application has eight steps: the online application, standardized test scores, a transcript, LEAP or EOC score reports, letters of recommendation, current grades, a campus visit (recommended), and an interview.
- Three letters of recommendation are requested through online forms: one from a principal or guidance counselor, one from a math or science teacher, and one from an English teacher. The principal or counselor letter and at least one academic letter must be from the current school year.
Photo: Billy Hathorn, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
We went through this. That's why we built it.
Growing up in Fairfax County, I applied to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, and my parents signed me up for a prep program. The instructor had never set foot inside TJ. There were 30 students in a single classroom, almost no feedback on our writing, and templates that had nothing to do with the real application. On test day, we realized we had been preparing for something else.
My friend Vishnu was right there with me, in the same classroom, with the same feeling that families deserved something better. We talked about it all through high school and into college. Vishnu passed away far too young, but his conviction never left me. EduAvenues carries his belief forward: if you are going to do this, do it right, and do it for the families who need it most.
So we built what should have existed.
After UVA's McIntire School of Commerce and five years in financial services, including time at Goldman Sachs and at Evergreen by Alpine Investors in private equity, I walked away because this mattered more. I also served on the Board of Directors of the TJHSST Partnership (Endowment) Fund. This isn't just work for me. It's personal.
Families deserve that same clarity. This site follows the school's own pages, shows where each fact comes from, and says plainly when something is not published. For help with your own student's situation, start with the EduAvenues high school admissions page.
Today our instructors include graduates of schools like Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, Columbia, and UVA, and our team has spent more than a decade helping families through selective admissions. Meet the EduAvenues instructors.
And we built it to fit into your family's life. Lessons are online and self-paced. Prep should work around school, sports, music, and family dinners, not replace them.
Neil Kothari
Co-Founder of EduAvenues®, TJHSST graduate
Then and now
What we actually changed.
Prep taught by people who had never studied the school's application.
Lessons built from LSMSA's own published requirements, last checked November 5, 2026.
Thirty students in a room and almost no feedback on writing.
Instructor feedback on your student's own writing, with line-by-line notes.
Templates that made every essay sound the same.
Notes that keep your student's own voice and push for real, specific stories.
Rigid class schedules that took over weekends.
Online and self-paced, so prep fits around school, activities, and family time.
Google Reviews
What families say about EduAvenues.
Reviews from families across EduAvenues programs, shown as they were written on Google.
These are Google reviews of EduAvenues from families in our programs for many schools. They are not reviews of LSMSA.
EduAvenues results
Results from EduAvenues programs.
- 5.0
- Google ratingEduAvenues Google profile, covering every EduAvenues program
- $22M+
- in scholarshipsEarned by EduAvenues college-admissions students in the most recent cycle
- 10+
- years of admissions prepEduAvenues instruction and feedback, across programs
- 100+
- selective high school admits per cycleEduAvenues TJHSST program, each of the last four cycles
“He loved your courses because you always had clear explanations for not only 'how' but also 'why.' Thank you for providing detailed feedback with patience and time.”
“The feedback was really helpful. I felt that after each set, I was able to improve a lot.”
These results and reviews come from EduAvenues programs for other schools and services. They are not LSMSA admissions results, and no program can promise admission.