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Our Programs
College Counseling
An Individualized Process
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Determining the Best Route to Success
At Northwest Academy, college counseling is an individualized process that encourages students to examine their ambitions, abilities, and interests to determine the best route to success. Students concentrate on finding schools that will fulfill their academic needs and be a good match for them personally. Our role is to assist, encourage, challenge, and support students as they set goals and make decisions about college attendance. While the school invites parent involvement, we also firmly believe that students should take ownership of the process.
More than 50 college and university representatives come to campus each year to visit with the juniors and seniors to talk about their programs. We provide workshops for students to prepare for the college admissions process. Northwest Academy graduates attend a diverse selection of colleges and universities across the country, including Pitzer College, New York University, Bard College, and Rhode Island School of Design. Northwest Academy alumni are currently pursuing goals as varied as acting on television to completing a Master’s Degree in infectious disease and microbiology.
College Reps!
If you have any questions, please contact Julia Cain.
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College Counseling Events
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Colleges That Change Lives College Fair
Sunday, July 26, 2026
2:00 PM – 4:00 PMHilton Downtown Portland
921 SW Sixth Avenue
Portland, OR 97204Grand Ballroom II
Each program opens with a 30-minute presentation on the student-centered college search, the value of the liberal arts, and an overview of what makes this collection of schools distinctly different.
After the opening presentation, attendees are invited to attend a 90-minute college fair. The fair provides students, families, and college access professionals with an opportunity to connect directly with admission officers from the CTCL member schools.
Attendees are encouraged to pre-register in advance of the program.
CTCL programs are open to the public and free of charge. Register here.
CTCL member institutions
anticipated to be in attendance include:Agnes Scott College · Allegheny College · Austin College
Bard College · Beloit College · Centre College · Clark University
Cornell College · Denison University · DePauw University
Earlham College · Eckerd College · The Evergreen State College
Goucher College · Hampshire College · Hendrix College
Hiram College · Hope College · Juniata College · Kalamazoo College
Knox College · Lawrence University · Oberlin College · Ohio Wesleyan University
Reed College · Rhodes College · Saint Mary’s College of California
Southwestern University · St. John’s College · St. Olaf College
University of Puget Sound · University of Redlands · Ursinus College
Wabash College · Whitman College · Willamette University · College of Wooster -
SMARTTRACK College Funding Webinar
High School Initiative
Wednesday, October 14, 2026 7pm PT / 8pm MT -
SMARTTRACK College Funding Webinar
StartSmart® Program is a resource designed to help lower and middle school parents take a proactive, strategic approach to saving for college.
Funding a child’s education takes time, but it becomes far more manageable when families start early and use the right strategies. The program explains why common options like 529 plans may not always be the best fit, highlights surprising steps parents can take now to position their financial profile more favorably, and warns against popular savings approaches that can unintentionally reduce eligibility for scholarships and financial aid.
Families who plan ahead and make informed decisions are often better positioned to significantly reduce out-of-pocket college costs—regardless of income or assets.
College Acceptances & Awards
Our graduates are consistently accepted to, and receive awards and scholarships at, a remarkable array of excellent institutions of higher learning. We are proud to present this comprehensive list of college and university acceptances since 2010, and this list of awards offered to our alumni at the collegiate level.
The Class of 2024 was accepted into these Colleges and Universities. *Attending colleges in bold. Congratulations, graduates!
Aberystwyth University
Bard College
Bennington College (2)
Brandeis University
Brown University
Bryn Mawr College
California College of the Arts
California Polytechnic State
University, San Luis Obispo
Carnegie Mellon University
Clark University
Colorado College
Drexel University
Emerson College
Fordham University
Fort Lewis College
Gonzaga University
Goucher College
Hampshire College
Hofstra University
Ithaca College
Johns Hopkins University
Juniata College
Kansas State University
Lawrence University
Lewis & Clark College
Loyola University Chicago
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
McGill University
Mitchell College
Monmouth University
Mount Holyoke College
Oberlin College of Arts and Sciences
Oberlin Conservatory of Music
Oregon State University
Otis College of Art and Design
Portland State University
Pratt Institute
Purdue University
Queen’s University
Reed College (2)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rider University
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rutgers University - New Brunswick
Sarah Lawrence College
Savannah College of Art and Design
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Seattle University
Simon Fraser University
Smith College
St. John’s College, Santa Fe
St. Olaf College
Stevenson University
The New School
The University of British
Columbia, Okanagan
The University of British
Columbia, Vancouver
University of Aberdeen
University of Calgary
University of California, Irvine
University of California, Riverside
University of Colorado Boulder
University of Denver
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
University of Iowa
University of Kentucky
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
University of Oregon (2)
University of Pennsylvania
University of Vermont
University of Victoria
University of Washington
Warren Wilson College
Washington State University, Pullman
Western University
Western Washington University
Resources
Below, find information for students and parents moving through the college search and application process. This list includes major sites with helpful information on college searches, financial aid, scholarships, and testing, along with links to other sites.
Northwest Academy families: Please log in to MSA and refer to your grade-level college counseling page for more detailed information.
Northwest Academy families: Please log in to MSA and refer to your grade-level college counseling page for more detailed information.
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General Information
- The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) Professional organization for college admission counselors
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College Searches
- Cappex College search and financial aid information
- GoCollege College search, scholarship search, SAT practice tests and campus crime statistics
- CampusTours College tours online, plus campus maps and web sites
- College Confidential Hundreds of pages of articles about choosing a college, getting into the college you want, how to pay for it, and much more
- Peterson’s Detailed information on over 4,000 colleges and universities, online schools, and graduate programs. Also provides financial aid information and test preparation
- CollegeInsight A higher-education data and research resource for anyone interested in college affordability, student debt, economic and racial diversity, student success, and other important issues in higher education
- Unigo Read college reviews, get matched to schools, find scholarships, and more
- College Navigator – National Center for Education Statistics A free consumer-information tool designed to help students, parents, high school counselors, and others get information about over 7,000 colleges from the US Department of Education’s database
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Financial Aid
- Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Complete the Application for Federal Student Aid online
- CSS Profile The CSS Profile goes into more detail than the FAFSA and gives a more in-depth financial picture to the college. Over 350 institutions and organizations use PROFILE to award their aid funds equitably to the right students at the right time.
- Fastweb.com A scholarship search program with information on local and federal aid
- FinAid.org Information on scholarships, loans, and all types of financial aid. Includes a college expense calculator to determine financial aid eligibility
- GoodCall Scholarship search engine which is one of the largest databases of scholarships on the web. Requires no personal information and it’s free to use
- CollegeBoard Register for the College Scholarship Service (CSS) Financial Aid Profile. Many schools require the CSS Profile as part of the financial aid application
- Private Student Loans Guide Coverage on the latest student loan news and information, plus resources and guides for borrowers and their families about paying for college and repaying student debt
- SMARTTRACK Northwest Academy is providing access to SMARTTRACK® College Funding to help you learn how best to pay for college, how to pay less for college, and how to keep your retirement safe in the process.
- Student Loan Guide Free resource designed to help students compare reviews for student loans and make the right consumer decisions for themselves
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Standardized Tests
- College Board Register for the SAT and SAT Subject Tests, plus practice tests, information about interpreting scores, and more
- ACT Register for the American College Test (ACT), plus prep information, a college search program, and financial aid estimator
- FairTest Up-to-date source listing colleges and universities that do not require national tests for admissions.
- The Princeton Review View average SAT and ACT scores of various colleges and compare and contrast the SAT and ACT
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Applications
- Common Application Download the common application and a program to help you fill it out on your computer, or complete the application online and submit electronically. Offers links to obtain most of the required supplements to applications
- All About College Links to college web pages with downloadable applications and online submission forms
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Books & Print Resources
- Colleges that Change Lives by Loren Pope. Published in 1996 and revised in 2000, this timeless classic reminds students about the tremendous potential that exists for them if they find the right college match.
- College Unranked: Ending the College Admissions Frenzy by Lloyd Thacker. In this book, the presidents and admission deans of leading colleges and universities remind readers that college choice and admission are a matter of fit, not of winning a prize, and that many colleges are good in different ways.
- Admission Matters: What Students and Parents Need to Know About Getting into College by Sally P. Springer, Jon Reider, Joyce Vining Morgan. The new 4th Edition offers comprehensive, expert, and practical advice for parents and students to guide them through the college admissions process.
- The Fiske Guide This straightforward guide describes the academic climates as well as the social and extracurricular scenes at the “best and most interesting” schools in North America.
- The Insider’s Guide to Colleges Reference book by students covers topics from admission criteria and majors to housing, food, and social life
- Rugg’s Recommendations on the Colleges A thoughtful approach to ranking the colleges. Rugg’s advice and comments have appeared in such diverse publications as USA Today, Rolling Stone, College Bound, The Boston Globe, Rocky Mountain News, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, New Jersey Monthly, and Your Money.
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