Academics

College Counseling

Annie Wright students can go anywhere and do anything after high school. No matter their goal - large research institution, small liberal arts college, international university, visual arts conservatory, service academy - the college counseling team is here to support them every step of the way.
Preparation for the college admission process is embedded in the curriculum starting in Grade 9, allowing students to participate in activities that not only prepare them to be competitive for the process, but also to empower them to be strong students and engaged community members. College Counselors know and care deeply about each student as an individual, and can help them discover colleges where they will thrive.

Year after year, an overwhelming number of recent graduates tell us they are happy with the support for the college process, as well as the outcome.

College Counseling at a Glance

List of 4 items.

  • Grade 9: Laying the groundwork for a successful high school experience

    • Select the most challenging courses appropriate to you.
    • Explore extra-curricular activities such as sports teams, school activities or volunteer opportunities outside campus.
    • With guidance and encouragement from faculty, develop a love for reading and writing.
    • With guidance and encouragement from the 9th Grade Dean, focus on issues of wellness, study skills and time management.
    • With your Academic Coach/ Advisor and the Director of College Guidance, evaluate your interests, activities, and strengths to set ambitious goals for the next school year.
  • Grade 10: Beginning to think seriously about college

    • Continue to focus on appropriately rigorous academics and good study habits.
    • Take the PSAT a year early, for practice.
    • With support and encouragement from faculty, get involved in the life of the school and consider opportunities for leadership.
    • With your parents, attend the sophomore International Baccalaureate & College Counseling night.
    • With guidance from Academic Coach/ Advisor, identify and explore an area of interest and use the Spring Showcase as an opportunity to share it with the rest of the school.
    • If you are interested in playing a sport in college, meet with Annie Wright’s Athletic Director to map out a plan for recruitment.
    • With faculty guidance and support, evaluate your interests, activities, and strengths to set ambitious goals for the next school year and plan for an enriching summer.
  • Grade 11: Entering the heart of Annie Wright's college counseling

    • Excel, with faculty guidance and support, at appropriately rigorous academic coursework. In addition to earning the AWS Diploma, students can pursue the full IB Diploma or IB Course Candidacy.
    • Step into leadership roles in activities where you can make the most impact.
    • Take the PSAT in October (scores will be submitted to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation for consideration) and a practice ACT.
    • Work with your college counselor to create a customized plan for standardized testing in the spring and summer of junior year.
    • Visit several college campuses and attend information sessions during several day trips in the spring with the junior class.
    • Meet with college admissions officers that visit campus in the fall. (Some 75 colleges and universities visit the Annie Wright campus to meet with our students. Another 120 schools attend our independent school fall fair hosted in conjunction with Charles Wright Academy.)
    • Start regular meetings with your college counselor to build a strong relationship and get individual advice on how to shape a tentative list of colleges.
    • Participate in a 2-day case study and panel event with visiting college admission deans (this event is co-hosted with Charles Wright Academy).
    • Together with your parents, meet with your college counselor to create a customized strategy for your college applications that meets your academic, financial and career goals.
    • After a two-week essay-writing workshop in English class, write multiple college essay drafts before leaving for summer break.
    • With the help of your college counselor, identify teachers for letters of recommendation, work through NCAA eligibility questions, shape a tentative list of schools and finalize summer enrichment opportunities.
  • Grade 12: Choosing a college

    • Continue academically rigorous coursework throughout senior year, as your counselor will keep colleges updated on any exemplary performance.
    • Register to take your final SAT and/or ACT exam.
    • Meet with college admissions officers that visit campus in the fall, and when feasible, meet for an interview as part of your application. (Some 75 colleges and universities visit the Annie Wright campus to meet with our students. Another 120 schools attended our independent school fall fair hosted in conjunction with Charles Wright Academy.)
    • Attend College Week, where you will: finalize the application list, review deadlines, workshop your activities list and resume, meet with an assigned essay advisor to fine-tune application essays, and meet with your counselor for a final review of all applications. (The vast majority of seniors are done with their applications after College Week.)
    • Work with your teachers and college counselor to make sure all recommendation letters and applications materials are submitted on time.
    • Make any final trips to visit colleges.
    • Take any IB tests, as the vast majority of Annie Wright students score well enough on IB test to earn credit at colleges and universities.

College Acceptances

Graduates from 2018-2021 were accepted into the 4-year colleges listed below. 100% of Annie Wright students applying to U.S. colleges were accepted into four-year schools. Art schools are in italics and non-U.S. schools have an asterisk.

Aberystwyth University*
Agnes Scott College
Allegheny College
American University
Amherst College
Arizona State University
Art Center College of Design
Babson College
Bard College
Barnard College
Bates College
Baylor University
Beloit College
Bentley University
Berklee College of Music
Boise State University
Boston College
Boston University
Bowdoin College
Brandeis University
Brown University
Brunel University London*
Bryn Mawr College
Bucknell University
California College of the Arts
California Institute of the Arts
California Lutheran University
California Polytechnic State University (San
   Luis Obispo)
California State University (Long Beach)
California State University (Northridge)
Carleton College
Carnegie Mellon University
Carroll College
Carthage College
Case Western Reserve University
Central Washington University
Centre College
Chaminade University of Honolulu
Chapman University
Claremont McKenna College
Clark Atlanta University
Clark University
Clemson University
Coe College
Colby College
Colgate University
College of Charleston
Colorado College
Colorado School of Mines
Colorado State University (Fort Collins)
Columbia College (Chicago)
Concordia University (Irvine)
Connecticut College
Cornish College of the Arts
Dartmouth College
Davenport University
DePaul University
Dickinson College
DigiPen Institute of Technology
Drew University
Drexel University
Earlham College
Eastern Washington University
Eckerd College
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
   (Daytona Beach)
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
   (Prescott)
Emerson College
Emory University
Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts at The
   New School
Fashion Institute of Technology
Florida Atlantic University
Florida State University
Fordham University
Franklin University Switzerland*
George Washington University
Georgetown University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia State University
Gettysburg College
Goldsmiths, University of London*
Gonzaga University
Goucher College
Grand Canyon University
Green Mountain College
Grinnell College
Hamilton College
Hampton University
Haverford College
Hawaii Pacific University
High Point University
Hofstra University
Hollins University
Howard University
Hult International Business School 
Indiana University (Bloomington)
Ithaca College
James Madison University
Johns Hopkins University
Juniata College
Kenyon College
Knox College
La Sierra University
Lafayette College
Lake Forest College
Lawrence University
Leeds Beckett University*
Lehigh University
Lewis & Clark College
Linfield University
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola University Chicago
Loyola University New Orleans
Macalester College
Manhattan College
Marist College
Maryland Institute College of Art
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
McDaniel College
McGill University*
McKendree University
Menlo College
Mercer University
Mercyhurst University
Michigan State University
Middlebury College
Mills College
Monash University*
Montana State University
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Saint Mary’s University
Muhlenberg College
Nagoya University*
New College of Florida
New York University
Northeastern University
Northwestern University
NYU Shanghai*
Oberlin College
Occidental College
Oregon State University
Otis College of Art and Design
Pace University (New York City)
Pacific Lutheran University
Pacific Northwest College of Art
Pacific University
Parsons School of Design at The New School
Peninsula College
Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University (Shreyer Honors College)
Pepperdine University
Pitzer College
Pomona College
Portland State University
Pratt Institute 
Princeton University
Purdue University
Quest University*
Reed College
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rhodes College
Rice University
Rochester Institute of Technology
Roger Williams University
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Saint Anselm College
Saint Joseph’s University
Saint Martin’s University
Salve Regina University
San Diego State University
San Francisco State University
Santa Clara University
Sarah Lawrence College
Savannah College of Art and Design
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
School of Visual Arts
Scripps College
Seattle Pacific University
Seattle University
Seton Hall University
Sewanee: The University of the South
Simmons University
Skidmore College
Smith College
Southern Methodist University
Southern University and A&M College
St. John’s College (Annapolis)
St. John’s College (Santa Fe) 
St. John’s University (New York)
St. Mary’s College of Maryland
St. Lawrence University
St. Olaf College
Stony Brook University
Suffolk University
SUNY College at Geneseo
SUNY University at Buffalo
Syracuse University
Texas A&M University
Texas Christian University
The American University of Paris*
The College of Idaho
The College of Wooster
The Evergreen State College
The Ohio State University
The University of Alabama
The University of Edinburgh*
The University of Montana
The University of Sheffield*
Trinity College
Tulane University of Louisiana
Union College
University of Alaska Fairbanks
University of Arizona
University of Birmingham*
University of Bristol*
University of British Columbia*
University of California (Berkeley)
University of California (Davis)
University of California (Irvine)
University of California (Los Angeles)
University of California (Riverside)
University of California (San Diego)
University of California (Santa Barbara)
University of California (Santa Cruz)
University of Central Florida
University of Chicago
University of Cincinnati
University of Colorado Boulder
University of Colorado Denver
University of Connecticut
University of Delaware
University of Denver
University of Florida
University of Georgia
University of Glasgow*
University of Hartford
University of Hawaii at Manoa
University of Idaho
University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Iowa
University of La Verne
University of Maryland (Baltimore County)
University of Maryland (College Park)
University of Massachusetts (Amherst)
University of Massachusetts (Boston)
University of Massachusetts (Dartmouth)
University of Melbourne*
University of Miami
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota (Twin Cities)
University of Nevada (Las Vegas)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
University of North Florida
University of Notre Dame
University of Oregon
University of Pennsylvania
University of Portland
University of Puget Sound
University of Redlands
University of Richmond
University of Rochester
University of San Diego
University of San Francisco
University of South Carolina
University of South Florida
University of Southern California
University of Sussex*
University of the Pacific
University of the Sciences
University of Toronto*
University of Utah
University of Vermont
University of Victoria*
University of Virginia 
University of Washington (Bothell)
University of Washington (Seattle)
University of Washington (Tacoma)
University of Wisconsin (Eau Claire)
University of Wisconsin (Madison)
University of Wyoming
Utica College
Vanderbilt University
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Wagner College
Waseda University*
Washington State University
Washington University in St Louis
Wellesley College
Wesleyan College
Western Washington University
Wheaton College
Whitman College
Whittier College
Whitworth University
Willamette University
William and Mary
Williams College
Wittenberg University
Xavier University of Louisiana
Yale University
Yale-NUS College*

For College Admission Professionals

We welcome you to visit our campus and meet our Juniors and Seniors this fall from September 12th to November 15th. All sessions are in person after academic hours, but when students are still required and/or encouraged to be on campus. We use SCOIR for scheduling. Please contact the Director of College Counseling, Scottie Hill (scottie_hill@aw.org) with any questions, or requests for virtual meetings. 
For questions please contact Middle & Upper Schools Admissions Director
Maddy Mancuso ’05MS at 253.284.8603
or 
maddy_mancuso@aw.org.
Read this issue of Strength magazine to learn about the college process, including how to plan, test, choose, pay, talk about it and more.

Contact

Annie Wright Schools
827 North Tacoma Avenue
Tacoma, WA 98403
253.272.2216

 

Translate this site


 
Founded in Tacoma, Washington, in 1884, Annie Wright Schools serve students from age three through high school. Annie Wright Lower and Middle Schools offer coed programs in Preschool through Grade 8, while separate Upper Schools for girls and boys offer day and boarding options in Grades 9 through 12. Annie Wright is proud to be an International Baccalaureate World School.