College Counseling

Naviance Student from Naviance is a college and career platform that many high schools have chosen to help students prepare for college and use as the vehicle to electronically submit documents (transcripts, letters of recommendation and reports) to all colleges and universities.

Upon enrolling in high school at Eastside Catholic, all students and families are provided with registration codes to log in and begin using their Naviance accounts. Every student has an individual account. Families with more than one student attending EC may have their accounts linked so that they may view/access all their students through one account. While parents have access to their student's account, parents and students have different login information, usernames and passwords.

Learn More

Planning for college can be both an exciting and stressful time for students and their families. Our annual College Planning event for EC students and their families is offered to provide informative and beneficial information to assist with the college planning process.

We are committed to helping students find their “best fit” for college rather than focusing on rankings and college notoriety. Presentations and break-out sessions are focused on a variety of helpful college-related topics as well as personal wellness and academics, topics equally important and integral to college planning.

College Planning Resources

The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) is a non-profit organization that regulates and organizes the athletic programs of colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Additionally, it supports student-athletes who compete in college sports.

All students who desire to play a sport at the Division I or Division II level in college must register with the NCAA Eligibility Center at eligibilitycenter.org.

The NCAA Eligibility Center reviews the academics and amateurism of all prospective student-athletes.

There are different eligibility requirements for Division I, Division II and Division III athletics. Division I athletics has the strictest requirements of the three divisions and Division III does not have any requirements for athletes. See the descriptions below of the different divisions per the NCAA website.

Division I

Division I schools typically have more students, larger athletic budgets and more athletic department support than Division II or III schools.

Division II

Schools in Division II emphasize a life balance in which academically and athletically gifted students can compete at a high level while maintaining a traditional collegiate experience.

Division III

Academics are the primary focus for Division III student-athletes who experience shorter sports seasons, reducing their time away from academic studies and other campus activities. Consult the individual college or university for admission and eligibility requirements. See the official NCAA Division III website for additional information. No athletic aid is granted to students who play for a Division III school, but the institutions can offer merit and need-based aid.

Recruitment

Some student-athletes are recruited by colleges and universities to play a sport for their school. If a student is recruited by a school for athletics, the college application process differs from students applying to schools that aren’t planning on participating in sports or are only planning to play a sport at the Division III level.

Student-athletes in particular sports can be recruited as early as sophomore year. It is not recommended for students to commit to playing for a specific college or university this early in high school, but for students to keep an open dialogue with schools that may be looking at them.

 

 

 

CourseCoreGPA

Eastside Catholic School is proud to make CoreCoureGPA available to EC families free of charge. We believe CoreCourseGPA will be a useful academic tool for you and your student-athlete.

CoreCourseGPA.com incorporates the NCAA-recognized core courses for Eastside Catholic School into the online course entry forms, calculates both Division I and Division II core course GPA, automatically factors weighted grades into calculations and tracks course requirements for both Division I and Division II. Students' core course information is saved for the duration of their high school career. 

CoreCourseGPA.com also provides access to free recruiting webinars through FreeRecruitingWebinar.org, a nonprofit program. Webinar previews as well as full-length recruiting webinars may be accessed on the FreeRecruitingWebinar.org website. Viewing a full-length webinar is highly recommended to learn about the facts and rules of recruiting. The recruiting process starts in the freshman year. Make sure you are prepared.

To activate individual student accounts, simply visit CoreCourseGPA.com and click on the blue FREE New Member Account button in the upper left-hand side of the homepage. Then, input the EC school codes for each new faculty/student member in the New Member account creation box. Contact Athletic Director Stacey Stoutt, for the EC code and if you have questions about this tool.

College Entrance Examinations

Scores on college entrance exams (ACT, SAT and SAT subject tests) are often taken into consideration when determining college admission. While more higher education institutions have decided to go “test-optional”, meaning that the institutions don’t require students to submit college entrance exam scores for admission, most colleges and universities still require submission of college entrance exams to be considered for admission. The decision about whether or not to submit test scores is individual and should be discussed with your EC college counselor. 

Practice College Entrance Exams

At Eastside Catholic, high school students in grade levels 9 – 11 take practice college entrance exams (PSAT 8-9 or PSAT) provided by the school. Early exposure and repeated practice allow for better performance on the actual exams.

The PSAT/NMSQT

Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test is a CollegeBoard exam given during junior year of high school. It is particularly important because it determines student eligibility for the National Merit Scholarship Program. If students receive an index number (populated by their scores on the PSAT/NMSQT) high enough to be in the top 50,000 scorers in the country, they will be notified by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) as being eligible to become a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist. Semifinalists are notified of their status and then encouraged to complete an application to become a National Merit Finalist and be awarded scholarships. Notification is typically made in early September.

ACT and SAT Exams

Students can choose whether they would like to take the ACT, SAT or neither (if the student plans to apply to only test-blind or test-optional schools) but taking one exam is recommended to keep options open. It is also recommended to take either exam twice. Students may do better taking an exam a second time. Many colleges and universities “superscore,” which is when schools accept multiple score sets and take the best score from each individual subject from different score sets to populate a more generous test score. 

It is recommended that students take a practice ACT and SAT to determine which exam might be a better fit for them. While both tests focus on similar academic skills, there are still slight differences in the format and the curriculum tested. Most notably, the ACT includes a required science section and an optional writing section, while the SAT only focuses on math and reading/grammar. In terms of practice tests and questions, students can explore: College Board, the ACT website, Huntington Learning Center, Compass Prep and Revolution Prep.

Registration and more information about the ACT exam can be accessed at act.org. Registration and more information about the SAT exam can be accessed at collegeboard.org.

Important Reminders

• Both the SAT and ACT now require photo uploads during registration as part of the identification process
• Students are required to present an acceptable form of ID to the test center on the day of testing
• Stay updated on dates when EC will offer the school-day SAT (for EC students only)

ACT and SAT dates are available at collegeboard.org and act.org.

For the 2022-23 school year, we are hosting colleges in person or digitally. Colleges can indicate their preferences on RepVisits. Please note that in-person visits will be subject to current Washington State Public Health guidance. We will be in touch if changes occur that may impact your visit. College reps should contact Cyrus Nassersaeid with specific questions.

College visits are scheduled through RepVisits.

Please be aware that Eastside Catholic School policy only allows not-for-profit educational institutions to visit our school.

We welcome visits to Eastside Catholic during the school day before school, during lunch and after school. Please select the time and date that works for you, as noted in the RepVisit calendar. If you have specific questions about your visit or would like to request a time that is not listed, please contact College Counselor Cyrus Nassersaeid.

Day of Visit

Eastside Catholic is located at 232 228th Avenue SE, Sammamish, WA 98074. Upon entering the building, please check in at the Front Office to pick up your visitor badge. You will then be directed to Student Services.

Parking

Visitor parking is available in the south parking lot. Upon entering the parking lot, parking is located on the right. Please allow at least five minutes to walk from the parking lot to the main building. If you need a reserved spot closer to the building, please contact Cyrus Nassersaeid.  Visitor spots closest to the school are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis. Please request these arrangements as soon as possible.