Honors, Advanced Placement and College Credits at ECHS

More than 40 honors, College in the High School and Advanced Placement (AP) courses are offered at ECHS each year. College credits are possible by achieving specific scores on College Board Advanced Placement exams and/or meeting all requirements for dual enrollment College in the High School courses. Counselors, faculty and administration are available to help advise students in course selection, yet students and their families ultimately decide on levels of rigor, certain decisions regarding course sequence and elective courses. Students are encouraged to find the right balance of rigor, which will vary among students.

Please note that AP and college level courses also teach college level texts and content. Students and parents or guardians should consider maturity and comfort level for engaging in college level discourse on mature themes.

 Advanced Placement Courses

Students taking an AP course are required to sit for the AP exams in the spring. Families will be billed directly from Eastside Catholic School for AP exam fees. Students may earn credit and/or placement at many colleges and universities in the United States and more than 60 other countries through qualifying AP exam scores. At many of these institutions, students may earn up to a full year of college credit (sophomore standing) by acquiring the required number of qualifying AP exam scores.

Students are responsible for reporting their AP scores and submitting an official AP score report to colleges. Individual colleges and universities, not the College Board nor the AP Program, grant course credit and placement. Because policies vary by institution, students should obtain a college’s AP policy in writing. Students can find this information in an institution’s catalog, on its website or through the AP Credit Policy Info search.

Colleges that have received an AP score report will generally notify the student during the summer of any placement, credit and/or exemption the student has earned. Students may also contact the college’s Admission Office to determine the status of their AP credit and/or placement.

College in the High School Courses

Like AP courses, students should consider their overall workload when choosing a dual-enrollment course. Many colleges mandate that College in the High School grades count as part of the college GPA. While many colleges will apply these credits toward their graduation requirements, some will not. It is the student’s responsibility to verify what, if any, credit will be accepted by the matriculating college. Students earn EC credit and a high school grade for their EC transcript regardless of their decision to enroll for college credit. High school grades and grades awarded by the college may not be the same.

Students wishing to earn college credit must pay all fees and follow all deadlines provided by the college offering credit. Transcript requests and the payment and fees associated with these courses must be arranged directly by families. Families must request college transcripts from each institution, and college transcripts will be sent directly from the institution offering college credit, not Eastside Catholic.

Accommodations are determined by the institution offering the credit. The college may not recognize the accommodations offered by EC and students may only use college-approved accommodations on assignments counting toward their college transcript. Students should contact the college to start the process of having their accommodations approved by the college. There is no fee associated with the accommodation’s approval, but the process can be time-consuming. We recommend students start the process soon after registration to ensure their accommodations are in place before the first assessment. 

Students who wish to earn college credit will only be allowed the accommodations the college offers. Students dissatisfied with the accommodations approved by the college may change courses during the drop/add period or remain in the course but opt-out of the college credit.

Seattle University’s Matteo Ricci in the High School

Senior students who successfully complete Social Justice and Public Policy (Block) earn high school requirements in social studies and religious studies. To earn the 10 credits of Humanities (HUMT 1500: Composition, Language and Thought; HUMT 1315: Difference, Power and Social Change) from Seattle University’s Matteo Ricci, families are responsible for fees related to these college credits. Students earn an official Seattle University transcript for these courses. Financial aid may be available.

University of Washington in the High School

Through the University of Washington in the High School (UWHS) program, high school students can complete University of Washington courses at Eastside Catholic. Students and teachers use UW curriculum, activities, texts, tests and grading scales. The program is open to all high school students and students in grades 9 - 12 can earn college credit. To earn University of Washington college credit, families are responsible for fees related to these college credits.

Bellevue College

We plan to add Math 107 here – currently working with BC and math dept to get this approved.

Workload for Honors and AP Courses

In course listings for Honors and AP courses, listed under Other Information, we have included estimated homework time commitments to provide students and families with a snapshot of what they might expect from each honors/AP/College in the High School course. These numbers are only estimates as time spent on homework will vary by student and week. However, please note that college courses demand a higher level of involvement, increased expectations for final work and generally more student-led work.