It may sound like a cliché but it really is true: engaging meaningfully in the opportunities and in the culture of Seattle Academy is an important step in applying to college. 

Time and space is essential for developing talents born, talents made, and talents discovered which is why with the exception of recruited athletes whose processes may need to begin earlier, it is both strategic and healthy to situate most college advising in the junior and senior years of high school. For the formal college advising process, each student will have an experienced College Advisor, assigned carefully. College Advising forms the organizational, intellectual, and emotional home base for a student’s college search.

College Advising:

• assigns a college advisor to each student
• customizes a plan for each student
• gets to know each advisee
• suggests colleges
• outlines and debriefs college travel plans
• practices college interviews
• develops a plan for test prep and standardized testing
• shares information about financial aid and scholarships
• discusses summer opportunities and, if interested, gap year possibilities
• arranges 150 yearly campus college representative visits
• organizes additional opportunities such as evening events, college fairs, and a “mock admission” case study program
• provides feedback on applications and related writing
• establishes due dates for college tasks
• coordinates teacher recommendation writing
• writes each student’s official “counselor letter”
• submits application supporting documents
• communicates directly with admission offices
• guides students in self-advocacy, critical to college success
• discusses eventual admission decisions, financial aid details, and college choices
• leads the industry by presenting and serving at regional and national levels
• constantly refreshes its own information about colleges
• celebrates each student’s outcome

We know every student and family is on a slightly different schedule, however, and we also know college is often a lens through which students and families make decisions of all kinds. For those reasons, we constructed a College Advising office and strategy which ensures 1) families receive answers to their questions and 2) students’ processes are well-organized for maximum effect (and minimum burnout). 

Sometimes families have questions earlier. You can count on our staff to share information for 9th and 10th graders and their families. We participate in a panel for 10th grade parents and guardians that answers common questions about the process. We have a preliminary questionnaire students can fill out if they are a potential athletic recruit or if they have interest in seeing colleges while on a family vacation, for example. Seattle Academy also provides opportunities each fall for 10th and 11th grade students to take a remote, practice ACT or SAT (11th grade students may also opt to take an official on-campus PSAT). A member of our team also answers specific 9th and 10th grade inquiries. Current Seattle Academy upper school families, after reviewing the answers on this page of frequently asked questions, please direct additional questions to collegeadvising@seattleacademy.org.

Families sometimes ask us what students should do to prepare for a process that can seem from a distance daunting or mysterious. The added layers of the pandemic and of changes to standardized testing seems to the public only to have rendered college admission more perplexing. 

Fear not:  students are preparing for college by choosing Seattle Academy for upper school. When the time comes, you will be led by a team well informed to guide you and deeply interested in the fascinating updates to college admission generated by present circumstances. We are not in the dark, and you won’t be either.

For now, regarding upper school:

• Students should adjust to high school work and life. Despite what the media says, you really do have two years before the college application process starts in earnest (starting earlier, in an official way, can distract from your life at Seattle Academy and can even distort your college process). 
• It’s your job in 9th grade to figure out some basics of time management, more challenging work, and new opportunities of all kinds. This attention to self and to experience, and the relative “inattention” to applying to college, actually pays dividends in terms of healthy personal development and healthy college outcomes. We will ensure you’re not late with anything college-related! 
• Actively develop relationships with your teachers. They will be your mentors and advisors through high school. At Seattle Academy, teachers and students know one another inside and outside of class, and you will be glad later if you take care to nurture those relationships from the beginning of upper school.
• Interested families are welcome to attend College Advising programming that is open to all grade levels as indicated on the Seattle Academy calendar.
• Consider attending this virtual event where a dynamic guest speaker discusses changes to and next steps for standardized testing (recording will be available). 
• Check out recordings from last fall’s semianual virtual college fair and panel co-arranged by Seattle-area independent schools. 
• Students, get involved. Seattle Academy will actively advertise ways to engage. “Try stuff,” even if not everything “sticks.” At some point, something will. Activities you genuinely love, versus those manufactured for your résumé, translate more honestly and effectively to colleges as well.
• If you or your family has questions about what is going on generally with college standardized testing, please see the standardized testing question in this FAQ. 
• This document has additional ideas gained from our many years’ experience working with upper school students. 

We believe in “first things first.” If you take one step at a time and try to make the most of each opportunity, the rest of high school and college admission follows naturally and successfully, as both have for many Seattle Academy graduates before you. We have a great deal of experience in college admission and college counseling, and we are dedicated to making sure you don’t miss anything along the way. 

For now, the most important thing not to miss is an engaged first year at Seattle Academy. If things aren’t going well, know that there are lots of friendly folks around to help out: We in College Advising are a few of them. Best wishes for Upper School!

As 10th grade begins, of course College Advising’s primary goal is for students to continue to engage in their classes and with their teachers, making the most of Seattle Academy. Concurrently, we would like 10th graders to start developing a gentle college awareness that informs them – but does not frighten or “package” them. This is a short “College Awareness Alert,” but please also try not to let it overwhelm a 10th grader’s academic or personal individualism, nor add additional stress. 

If you or your family has questions about what is going on generally with college standardized testing, or are interested in taking a free, optional virtual practice test this October (pre-registration required), please go here. Consider also attending this virtual event where a dynamic guest speaker discusses changes to and next steps for standardized testing (recording will be available).

Here are some other things to know or do:

• Do your best in schoolwork and establish good communication with teachers, reaching out as needed. Know that College Advising has mechanisms by which to contextualize events of recent years. We have open, good lines of communication with colleges which themselves are grappling with and understand well the present circumstances. 
• Save your work, building a portfolio of sorts by saving writing, lab reports, and creative work. 
• If curious about a college or two, register for an information session on a college’s admission homepage. COVID-19 means there has been a proliferation of new media and opportunities to connect on college websites or you can go see a sample college nearby. At this point you are surveying schools broadly, perhaps learning more about a large research university such as UW, a comfortably-sized comprehensive university like Western Washington University, and a small liberal arts college like Whitman College or University of Puget Sound.
• Students, get involved. Seattle Academy will actively advertise ways to engage. “Try stuff,” even if not everything “sticks.” At some point, something will. Activities you genuinely love, versus those manufactured for your résumé, translate more honestly and effectively to colleges as well.
• Watch recordings from last fall’s virtual semiannual college fair and panel co-arranged by Seattle-area independent schools. 
• Learn more here about this fall’s scheduled opportunities to attend a college fair organized by NACAC, the National Association of College Admission Counseling, and attended by hundreds of colleges and universities.
• Try to attend an event by or read more about Colleges that Change Lives (CTCL), a member organization of colleges known for their powerful impact on students.
• Interested families are welcome to attend College Advising programming that is open to all grade levels as indicated on the Seattle Academy calendar.
• Because Seattle Academy intentionally has never chosen to have an AP curriculum for reasons explained in the AP question in this list, colleges don’t expect Seattle Academy students to submit AP exams. While a few students each year choose to take AP tests through Seattle Academy, last year, around half of the students who initially signed up with us for testing opted not to take the tests, citing lack of strategic need or prioritizing other school and life activities. You will find additional information about this in the FAQ item about AP testing where we will also post additional information this fall. 
• This document has additional ideas gained from our many years’ experience working with upper school students. 

While present circumstances may seem only to make harder already complex processes such as applying to college, you are in great hands. For people like us who have invested our professional lives in this work, recent challenges and opportunities have been fascinating and productive. We are deeply engaged in conversations about them with one another and with the broader admission community. 

Even though the last few years have demanded and also hopefully developed agility, resilience, and healthy comfort with ambiguity, some aspects of the college process remain consistent. Years of experience, both in college counseling and in college admission itself, and current research about college search timing appropriate to adolescent development, inform the most beneficial and strategic time to kick-off “official” college advising. Before 11th grade, students benefit greatly from focus on academic and personal pursuits and not directly on the college search itself. Students need the growth gained during these early upper school years, less the distraction of the college search. In the meantime, should you have questions beyond those answered in our FAQs, please feel free to ask the member of the College Advising team dedicated to 9th and 10th grade questions at collegeadvising@seattleacademy.org. 

College Advising always gives a great deal of thought to the most effective and strategic approaches for working with all students. We also draw on our long professional life in this industry as we listen for, ask questions about, and apply information gained during the pandemic and about college admission. You are and will be led by a team well informed to guide you and also deeply interested in the fascinating updates to college admission. We are not in the dark, and you won’t be either. 

While our understandable focus in the fall is on the 12th grade (something for which you’ll be thankful when it’s your senior fall), reach out if you have an urgent question unanswered by the following and by the answers in other FAQs on this page. 

Our planned events are listed in the Seattle Academy calendar as well as in our calendar widget on the 11th grade College Advising page at right, and include an annual December meeting with 11th graders during the schoolday (information forthcoming) and with their parents and guardians only on December 6 at 7 PM (details on calendar) to kick off formally the 11th graders’ college process. 

Prior to that meeting, however, we hold several other events. Because we know that there are always questions that precede our December meeting, we hold a general information event for 11th grade parents and guardians the evening of October 6 at 7 PM (details on calendar) to answer common questions parents and guardians frequently have and to preview the work we’ll all do together. That meeting will also provide an important status report on the latest in college admission. Another helpful event is our annual college financing meeting on October 12 (details on calendar). 

If you or your family has questions about what is going on generally with college standardized testing, or are interested in taking an official on-campus PSAT or a  virtual practice SAT or ACT this fall, please see the standardized testing-related question in this FAQ or go here. Consider also attending this virtual event where a dynamic guest speaker discusses changes to and next steps for standardized testing (recording will be available).

Here are some other things to know or do:.

• As grades are the number one factor in college admission, keep your grades steady even as your classes might become a bit more challenging. Once you steady your grades, work to inch them upward such that the grade trend is positive.  
• Continue to reinforce relationships with your teachers, who write important college recommendation letters for next fall. Applicants will generally, but not exclusively, select recommenders from students’ 11th grade teachers, in two different academic subjects.
• If interested, sit in on a remote or in-person visit from a college representative to get a sense of what those meetings do and don’t. Beginning the first week of school, all 11th and 12th graders also receive a weekly email from College Advising which lists forthcoming remote and in-person college reps as well as other timely reminders.
• Colleges have increased the virtual resources available on college admission websites such that it is not imperative to visit a ton of colleges (or any!) to know much more about them. On college websites, students may sign up for information sessions for either specific colleges of interest or to geographically accessible “prototype” colleges to get an idea of what large research universities, mid-sized research universities, medium-sized urban private universities, and selective small liberal arts colleges are like.
• Check out recordings from last fall’s semiannual virtual college fair and panel co-arranged by Seattle-area independent schools. 
• Learn more here about this fall’s scheduled opportunities to attend a college fair organized by NACAC, the National Association of College Admission Counseling, and attended by hundreds of colleges and universities.
• Try to attend an event by or read more about Colleges that Change Lives (CTCL), a member organization of colleges known for their powerful impact on students.
• If you hope to play NCAA Division I or II sports in college, register now with the NCAA Clearinghouse, and then communicate that to College Advising for future processing. If you are a student athlete contacted already by college coaches or in a recruiting conversation with your school or club team coaches, feel free to email collegeadvising@seattleacademy.org for more information.
• Continue to save work, as recommended in previous grade-level correspondence. It is worthwhile and strategic to save on your computer résumé fodder, samples of writing, and creative work.
• Because Seattle Academy intentionally has never chosen to have an AP curriculum for reasons explained in the AP question in this list, colleges don’t expect Seattle Academy students to submit AP exams. While a few students each year choose to take AP tests through Seattle Academy, last year around half of the students who initially signed up with us for testing ultimately opted not to take the tests, citing lack of strategic need or prioritizing other school and life activities. You will find additional information about this in the FAQ item about AP testing where we will also post additional information this fall. 

We are also pleased to announce that over May 9 and 10, Seattle Academy will once again partner with several area schools/programs (Bush, Northwest, University Prep, and Rainier Scholars) in offering “case studies” (admission committee simulation) programs at which 11th graders and their families can participate in a mock admission committee led by admission officers who help reveal how admission decisions are made. This spring, we again ran to great success a virtual version of this program. We will share more information about this program at the various aforementioned meetings. In the meantime, know that this is a valuable program we generally urge all 11th graders to attend. Past participants felt this event informed and advantaged their eventual applications.

We know applying to college probably seemed challenging enough before the events of recent years changed our lives. But as Seattle Academy previously noted, “this new reality will require individual and collective agility, resilience, and a healthy comfort with ambiguity which are all hallmarks of the SAAS community.” These are also attributes colleges appreciate and that also prepare students for adult lives. For people like us who have worked in college admission for many years, this is an important and fascinating time. Frankly, we are energized by meaningful change happening in college admission and are tracking closely college behaviors and information. Together, you and our team have a great deal to anticipate this year but in the meantime please have a healthy and productive start to 11th grade. Please mark your calendars for the above October and December events which tend to answer many questions our experience suggests are common at this time. If you find you still have questions after the October meeting and reading this FAQ, please email a member of the College Advising staff.

Seattle Academy College Advising always looks forward to the productivity and energy of 12th grade fall. College Advisors give 11th graders specific instructions during junior spring regarding the work College Advisors expect to see when 12th grade fall begins. This work is supported by advice, instructions, and recordings by the College Advising team. College Advising is available via email over the summer and in person again as the school year begins.

A printable Checklist for Senior Fall is available here. 

To ensure everyone is on the same page, the following is due from the student to their College Advisor on the first day of school:

• Around August 1st, 12th graders should complete the new short survey in Maia. 
  • Find this under Assignments / Surveys / Senior Summer Survey.
  • This updates us on your college thinking before we reconnect officially. 
• Complete the main part of the Common App (everything under the “Common App” tab), sending your College Advisor your username/password when you finish. Each student has access to a Common Application Reference Guide developed by our team. Please email your College Advisor if you need us to resend it.
• A revised draft of a main college essay with a target of 650 words. Students are encouraged to reference the multi-part essay workshops Mike Walden delivered. If you need access to the videos please contact your College Advisor. 
• A balanced and varied college list drawn from our categories in Maia and described in our summary email home to each student/family. 
  • The exact balance of these might be different for each student but in general we would still like you to start with a fairly even distribution of likely/target/reach schools and we’ll work from there. Thanks!
• Once your college list is identified and balanced to include likelies and targets:
  • Sign up for information sessions and (if available) interviews on the admission websites of each of those schools. This is just as important at the likely and target schools as at the reaches. Thanks!
• Some colleges like UW, the UCs and the Cal State schools use different platforms, but for colleges that use the Common App, after August 1st enter those colleges into the Common App using its Search tool and write down their longer supplement questions. 
  • One of Mike’s essay workshop sessions was on supplement questions and students should reach out if they need a reminder of where to locate it. Students should feel free to start or to continue brainstorming and writing answers to the supplement questions, sending drafts directly to their College Advisor. 
• Once your fall 1st tri schedule is totally set with no changes, reach out to your College Advisor for 1:1 meeting scheduled for the start of the school year or later. 
• Please continue not to delete colleges from your Maia account and to let us know if you have questions.

Families should also please mark their calendars for several evening events. 

• Sharing information students will receive during various grade level meetings, at a 12th grade parent meeting on September 28 at 7 PM (details on calendar), College Advising will answer common questions and review specific, practical ways parents and College Advising work together to best effect. 
• Check out recordings from last year’s semiannual virtual college fair and summit hosted by Seattle Area Independent Schools. 
• During important 12th grade class meetings, we will share with students messages critical to their applications. Class meeting attendance is mandatory.
• On October 11 at 7 PM (details on calendar), we will review financial aid processes for all interested Seattle Academy families. Students or families with questions about scholarships should begin or continue their scholarship search by reviewing this scholarship guide. 
• Consider attending this event where a dynamic guest speaker discusses changes to and next steps for standardized testing (recording will be available).

Here are some other things to know or do:

• General standardized testing updates for 2022-2023 are available here. 
• Because Seattle Academy intentionally has never chosen to have an AP curriculum for reasons explained in the AP question in this list, colleges don’t expect Seattle Academy students to submit AP exams. While a few students each year choose to take AP tests through Seattle Academy, last year around half of the students who initially signed up with us for testing ultimately opted not to take the tests, citing lack of strategic need or prioritizing other school and life activities. You will find additional information about this in the FAQ item about AP testing where we will also post additional information this fall. 

We know that it might seem as if recent years complexified the already perplexing and sometimes stressful act of applying to college. We also know that adaptation, flexibility, and coping with ambiguity are traits the pandemic has demanded but that colleges also appreciate. In some ways the present circumstances are an ideal way to marshal the collective decades of expertise in the College Advising office. You can imagine the interest with which we address current information and changes to college admission after committing our careers to this work. While there are not always clear answers to every question, we know how to ask the questions and are engaged in a great many behind the scenes conversations with colleges and with one another. The information you receive from us this year, both in these communications and regarding students’ college lists, reflect current “knowns.” As challenging as this period is, know that we are also approaching it with curiosity, good energy, and the best interests of your student in mind. 

Our system is set up such that there is no such thing as a College Advising emergency. In general, we work with students and with families to plan far in advance, providing a great deal of information and context. When in doubt, after reading the above and answers to other questions in this FAQ, please feel free to direct questions to us (and not to your next door neighbor, unless we live next door to you). We have a great deal of experience and while we cannot guarantee outcomes or always provide the information students and parents hope to hear, we will always do our responsible, informed best on behalf of students. We are already very fond of the senior class and look forward to continued work together.

The short version is that standardized testing requirements have changed significantly. If you are a parent reading this and a standardized test once seemed a central part of your own college application process, times have changed. Fortunately, the Seattle Academy College Advising team has tracked this subject for years, since well before the pandemic and related standardized test changes.

For context on what’s happening now in the world of testing AND specific information for each upper school grade regarding testing next steps, click the button below.

TESTING CONTEXT AND NEXT STEPS 2022-2023

“Demonstrating interest,” or engaging meaningfully with colleges, works two ways. First, the student learns about the college and hopefully makes an educated decision regarding whether to apply. Second, the college receives a signal that the student would seriously consider the college if admitted. This can be important as colleges try to predict who will accept a possible offer of admission. In working with 12th graders, we remind them that this meaningful engagement is as (or more) important at so-called “target” and “likely” colleges as at “reach” colleges.
 
While in the past, visiting campuses was for some families a way to demonstrate interest, COVID-19 of course changed this. And while campus visits are for now again available, the reality is there are many ways to learn about and to connect with colleges.

We have always worked with students who applied first and then researched or visited their colleges later. Especially as COVID-19 might affect college visit availability, virtual college visits help students understand colleges better and also demonstrate to colleges that students are potentially serious about them. 

As of Summer 2022, this fall at SAAS we will again offer college reps the choice of whether to visit us in person or virtually. There is not a “one-size-fits-all” way to do this, but ideas for how 11th and 12th graders can engage meaningfully with colleges include:

• signing up for and attending virtual information sessions hosted on the colleges’ own websites
• 11th and 12th graders attending virtual and in-person college rep visits hosted by Seattle Academy this fall
• attending virtual and in-person college fairs
• pursuing virtual interviews by colleges that offer them
• signing up for specific college communications and then as needed taking action on those communications
• emailing questions to admission offices

At the time of one’s application, drafting a thoughtful and specific response to “Why College X?” questions on applications can also indicate thoughtful research. There is not a “one-size-fits-all” approach for demonstrating interest nor does every student need to pursue every suggestion listed here. Visiting colleges is not the only way to find out more about them. 

College Advising’s goal is that every college plan include colleges where both admission and affordability are likely. A college is not “safer” for admission if it is unreliable for aid. Our experience working with and tracking students for many years has exposed patterns that help us coach students honestly and well.

Individual conversations with students yield information about unique family circumstances. This can help College Advisors recommend colleges known for merit scholarships or remind families about the steps required to apply for financial aid. 

The federal financial aid form (the FAFSA), which is one of two common forms for 12th graders applying for aid, is available October 1st and its deadlines for seniors vary by college. In addition to 12th graders’ work with College Advising, this document walks families through a timeline and resources helpful for financial aid applications. In a weekly email sent to 11th and 12th graders, College Advising also sends reminders about financial aid and scholarships.

Each year in the fall we host a presentation about financial aid and scholarships which we record and make available for viewing anytime. Please see the Seattle Academy calendar widget on the grade level College Advising pages at right. A dedicated member of our team also works directly with any student or family who has specific questions about filing their FAFSA and other materials.

This is another answer that is as individual as the student. Here, however, we’ll tell you what we know about Early Decision right now and how it operates during COVID-19.

To start with the basics, Early Decision is one of several admission plans. If one applies, usually in November, under Early Decision and is admitted, the college assumes the student will enroll. Because this creates an agreement of sorts between the student and the college, Early Decision can increase the applicant’s chance of admission. (This can be a “bird in the hand” situation for the college.)

Early Decision, however, does not guarantee admission for every student to every college. Sometimes the benefits of Early Decision (to the college) are not enough for the student to gain admission. While no Early Decision outcome is guaranteed, College Advising is well versed in which colleges are more strategic Early Decision options for a particular student. Based on a lot of past experience, a College Advisor may say, “If you like these two colleges equally, College X would be a far more strategic choice for Early Decision than College Y.” Though Early Decision is not available at all colleges, because Early Decision can be a valuable tool in the toolkit, using it accurately and not necessarily at the most selective college on one’s list can be very important. College Advising will go over this with each student as every situation is different.

It might seem as if COVID-19 has upended the above. How is it possible to predict with any degree of accuracy where a student might gain admission? The reality is that the most selective colleges in the country are going to remain selective, COVID-19 or no. On a college-by-college basis, a Seattle Academy College Advisor can estimate the probability of Early Decision admission. It doesn’t always work out, but with excellent context they will be honest with a family so it can make its strategic decision. College Advisors also know that the certainty presented by a good-fit Early Decision candidate might be more attractive than ever right now to a college concerned this year about its applicant pool or about the future.

The idea of applying Early Decision could be uncomfortable to a student who, because of COVID-19, was unable to visit their Early Decision college before applying. We understand this. Obviously this is not ideal because the student is committing to attend if admitted. Our networks suggest, however, that good College Advisors like us are recommending Early Decision where possible because of the reasons stated above. We should also state here that because of the existence of Early Decision, for good or for ill, the competitiveness of Regular Decision can increase substantially. If Early Decision in November doesn’t work out, there is also the possibility of a second round of Early Decision in January. These are approaches our College Advisors know well and will discuss as appropriate with each student.

If a 12th grader is thinking about Early Decision this year without visiting their college, know that in any year we have always had students apply sight-unseen. By the day, colleges have been forced to enrich their online research resources. College reps are eager to meet with students right now. Seattle Academy alumni are eager to talk to current students about their colleges. We can help facilitate these connections. This fall alone, Seattle Academy will have booked well over one hundred virtual “campus visits” by colleges.

The flipside and even downside of Early Decision is that it benefits families with resources. Because of the Early Decision commitment, students who depend on comparing need-based financial aid packages will not have the benefit of contrasting more than one financial aid package. This is an important conversation to have with College Advising which may know that some Early Decision contenders are historically better than others about awarding aid.

As a last point, Early Decision is different from Early Action or even what some colleges call Restrictive Early Action. Early Decision assumes the student will enroll if admitted while Early Action (and even Restrictive Early Action, which limits the number of overall early applications) is a way to apply early, and often to receive a decision early, but not be expected to attend. While the latter is a way to gain some admission decisions usually before winter break, the lack of the binding commitment of Early Decision means that Early Action also lacks the admission advantage of Early Decision. We recommend that with our guidance 12th graders use Early Action deadlines when available, even if they are also applying Early Decision. Applicants would then withdraw their Early Action applications when and if they are happy with their Early Decision outcome.

Our office reads - a lot - and we love to share recommendations for books, articles and podcasts! If you’re ready to “get started” in this process, here are some great ways to begin:

• College Admission: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step by Christine VanDeVelde and Robin Mamlet - Purchase Online
• College Admission Essentials:  A Step-by-Step Guide to Showing Colleges Who You are and What Matters to You by Ethan Sawyer - Purchase Online
• College Essay Essentials:  A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Successful College Admissions Essay by Ethan Sawyer - Purchase Online
• Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change The Way You Think About Colleges by Loren Pope (author) and revised by Hilary Maswell Oswald (editor) - Purchase Online
• Fiske Guide to Colleges - Purchase Online
• How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success by Julie Lythcott-Haims - Purchase Online
• Paying for College, 2022 Edition:  Everything You Need to Maximize Financial Aid and Afford College by Princeton Review - Purchase Online
• Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History podcast where he explores the algorithm for US News and World Report rankings. In a subsequent episode, Gladwell explores the ranking of a particular college, HBCU Dillard University.
• The College Conversation:  A Practical Companion for Parents to Guide Their Children Along the Path to Higher Education by Eric J. Furda and Jacques Steinberg - Purchase Online
• The Truth about College Admission:  A Family Guide to Getting In and Staying Together by Brennan Barnard and Rick Clark - Purchase Online along with the accompanying workbook
• Where You Go is Not Who You’ll Be: An Antidote to the College Admission Mania by Frank Bruni - Purchase Online
• Who Gets In and Why:  A Year Inside College Admissions by Jeffrey Selingo - Purchase Online
• Valedictorians at the Gate:  Standing Out, Getting In, and Staying Sane While Applying to College by Becky Munsterer Sabky - Purchase Online

As Seattle Academy has never offered AP classes, colleges don’t expect our applicants to take AP exams. Colleges understand our curriculum which College Advisors effectively contextualize. Many other high schools also do not have AP programs and we find that colleges are decreasing credit offered for exams. While some test prep providers are now promoting AP prep as SAT and ACT prep interest has changed, our partners in college admission do not agree that AP is a substitute or even an advantage, especially for students such as ours whose curriculum is competitive for college admission but purposefully does not “teach to the test.”

Since Seattle Academy does not follow an AP curriculum, students must prepare for AP exams outside of class time. Because taking an AP test can require considerable outside prep, we urge families to think carefully and critically about whether to take an AP exam. Far beyond AP exams, one’s priority should be one’s Seattle Academy transcript and involvements. Taking an AP test, the schedule for which is available below, also requires missed class time for which the student is responsible. For these reasons, only a handful of students each year have taken one or more AP exams. Last year more than half of the students who initially registered for AP exams decided not to take them. 

AP exams occur on College Board-set days in May (no late testing dates available). Seattle Academy does not offer all tests but the general schedule is available here. Students are responsible for gaining permission from teachers and coaches; under no circumstances may a student leave an AP exam early. Please note the following points before proceeding to registration instructions. 

• This fall, we will list here the only AP exams we will offer on site at Seattle Academy. We base this on past interest and likelihood of sufficient preparation for a given test. Please do not inquire about a test that is not listed.
• Before the registration deadline of November 10, assess the outside of class time you will have to prep.
• Google the AP policies of a range of colleges of interest to see if they will give credit for APs.
• If you think you might apply to a college overseas, APs are sometimes useful. If this applies to you, before the November 10 registration deadline, email collegeadvising@seattleacademy.org with questions about how APs intersect with those universities.
• Accommodations require significant advance approval. Please contact Jaymie Lewis at jlewis@seattleacademy.org.
• All College Board programs (PSAT, SAT, AP) are connected through one account. Most students do not yet have a College Board account. Later this year, 11th graders who take the October PSAT will have a College Board account. Any 12th grader who took an SAT has one as well. Leave enough time to re-access your account if you need to reset your password, etc. College Advising does not keep that information for students. Username and password questions should only go to College Board.
• Again, colleges do not expect Seattle Academy students to submit AP scores and time spent on AP preparation that distracts from coursework or activities can be a detriment to college admission.

If you think you might take an AP exam, the registration deadline is November 10. Following these instructions, students/families register themselves for the AP test after which Seattle Academy will order the tests. 

• SAAS registration ends the evening of November 10. While they are welcome to help, parents should not create an account for a student. Students who for some reason have never had an account should go to https://myap.collegeboard.org/login and sign up. Please see above.
• Once logged in, click “Join a Course or Exam.” Again, the exams listed are the only ones we will offer. We base this on past interest and likelihood of sufficient preparation for a given test. Please do not inquire about a test that is not listed.
• Enter the join code available this fall on this page for the exam.
• Answer the questions that pop up. You should not need to enter an ID number.

Since its founding, Seattle Academy purposefully has not offered AP courses and instead offers honors courses which are AP equivalent in complexity and challenge. Doing so permits faculty the kind of course sophistication, creativity and flexibility for which Seattle Academy is known by both students and colleges alike. Rather than a cookie-cutter “teach to the test approach” necessary in an AP program, colleges respect the dynamic and original courses taught here. 

Having worked themselves collectively for decades in college admission offices before coming to Seattle Academy College Advising, Seattle Academy’s College Advisors know that college admission representatives and offices are responsible for knowing the course content at each high school in a given geographic territory. Seattle Academy applicants tend to apply all over the country and colleges know our curriculum well. Colleges do not evaluate students on whether they had AP courses but rather on what was available to them in their specific high school program. 

Through its conversations with admission offices, through its recommendation letters for 12th graders, and through documents it sends along with college applications, College Advising contextualizes Seattle Academy and its students for colleges.

This allows each student to choose a program that demonstrates initiative relative to them. For some students, this means taking the most challenging courses Seattle Academy offers. For others, it might mean stabilizing grades, focusing on honors courses only in certain subjects, adding in honors courses over time, or taking standard courses that create necessary balance in students’ lives. Oftentimes what is most important to colleges is to sustain enrollment in the five core courses (English, history, math, science and world language) until graduation even if this exceeds Seattle Academy graduation requirements. 

Throughout 9th and 10th grade, grade level academic advisors and department heads consult on course selection. As course selection complexifies going into 11th and 12th grades, College Advising contextualizes course choice on a panel for 10th grade families in the spring of the 10th grade year and 1:1 with 11th graders during their individual college counseling of them.

For further information on AP exams, please see the AP question in this FAQ. 

With its six members and first-hand experience in college admission offices, Seattle Academy College Advising is known for its compulsive organization, information-seeking and good spirit.

A closely integrated and nationally connected office, College Advising shares and analyzes what it hears, deciding as a team how  to apply that information to support all students. It recognizes challenges and fears of applying to college during a pandemic and in general, even as it sees this moment as an opportunity to reimagine Seattle Academy programming and college admission in general. 

We are passionate about our work in part because we see how the following yield success relative to each student: 

• high quality and honest information gained through decades of experience
• Individual understanding of our dynamic students in our dynamic programs
• positive energy and relentless organization