O’Dea High School is a college preparatory high school and therefore we assume that all of our students will attend college. Applying to college is a process that begins freshman year and ends with matriculation at a college that is the best fit for each individual student. The counseling department is committed to supporting the student and his family in this process.
O’Dea schedules visits throughout the school day from mid September through November. We do not have college visits in the spring. In compliance with our school policy, O’Dea only allows NOT FOR PROFIT institutions to schedule visits. Please do not sign up for a college visit if your institution is FOR PROFIT.
O’Dea High School is using RepVisits for scheduling. Please log in and schedule a day/time that works for your schedule.
Every year we are very fortunate to have many college representatives from colleges all over the United States travel to O’Dea to speak with our juniors and seniors. Students learn about these visits in Naviance Student, daily announcements, posted weekly calendars of the visits, O’Dea Family newsletters, and posters from the colleges on the bulletin board outside the Counseling Department. A student must register for these visits in Naviance Student in the Colleges section, then go to Research Colleges and select College Visits. You can then scroll through the list of colleges that will visit O’Dea and sign up. You will receive an email through Naviance Student to remind you of the date and time of the visit. You must then have the teacher for the class that you will miss, sign a Permission Form. After the form is completed, you return it to the Counseling office. All of this must be completed by the end of school the day before the scheduled visit. Attendance at these meetings is a privilege so it is always dependent on final approval from the Counseling Department.
If you are interested in a school, it is very important that you attend the meeting with the college representative when he/she comes to O’Dea. Not only do they record who attended the meeting, but they are often the first people who will review your application folder. These meetings should be taken very seriously and the college representative should be treated with utmost respect. You should come prepared with any questions concerning the college, as the college representatives are a wealth of information.
Each year O’Dea High School’s counseling department hosts a College Financial Aid Night for the parents of current senior students. Below you will find links to the handouts from this years’ presentation.
College offers the opportunity to continue participation in athletics at many different levels. Colleges have a wide variety of avenues for student-athletes to develop their skills, from well-known Division I teams to campus intramural teams. Intramural and club sports can be the most athletic fun a student will ever have. Participation in athletics during college can be a very rewarding and satisfying experience. By carefully evaluating their abilities and potential level of participation, athletes can determine the most appropriate type of team sport and level of competition. To help the student and his family sort through the many different options, we are presenting some topics for your consideration.
“Choose the school, not the team” is advice that we strongly support. It is easy to be dazzled by an exciting sports program or a “great” coach. However, remember the ultimate reason that you are attending college is for the academic programs. Why academics?? Consider what remains if a career-ending injury occurs, the “great” coach leaves, or the exciting team is a bad fit. Academic programs remain constant. A good strategy for student-athletes is to consider the sport as just one aspect in their college search.
Student Athletes who are being recruited to play in college will have two groups of colleges that they will be considering. The first is the group of colleges that are pursuing him to play a sport on their campus. The coaches of the sport control this group and the student has very little control. If a coach is interested in the student, the college is on the list but when the coach no longer has the student on his list of recruits, the college is off the list. The second group of colleges is totally in the control of the student. This list of colleges is one that has colleges that the student is interested in attending even if he is not going to play the sport. Some of these schools may also be on the Coach-controlled list but these schools will remain even if the coach “drops” the student. Some athletes do not develop this second group of colleges and find themselves without a college to attend because they have been dropped by all of the colleges that initially recruited them. It is crucial that O’Dea athletes follow all of the required procedures and apply to colleges that they would be happy to attend even if they are not recruited to play their sport on the campus. Students can always try to walk-on to a team at a college they love but only if they have applied and been accepted. Don’t count on “the full ride scholarship” to play your sport and then end up without a college to attend.
One of the most important factors in assessing the student’s college athletic options is to honestly evaluate his skills and interests. Athletes who overrate their abilities may be set up for disappointment. The coach of the O’Dea team or the select team coach may be able to help determine which division best reflects the student’s abilities. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has the following divisions:
Division I is the most competitive, has the highest profile and offers athletic scholarships. The University of Washington and Washington State University are Division I schools.
Division II is the second tier of schools and has an above average level of competition, a somewhat lower athletic profile and fewer scholarship opportunities. Examples of Division II schools are Central Washington University and Western Washington University.
Division III is made up of smaller colleges, which range from division powerhouses to no-cut teams. Athletes in this division are students first, athletes second. There are no athletic scholarships. Pacific Lutheran University and the University of Puget Sound are Division III schools.
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is another athletic association. It began as a men’s basketball organization but has grown to include both men’s and women’s teams in many different sports. They do offer athletic scholarships. Examples of NAIA colleges include Carroll College and The Evergreen State College.
Athletes who are considering Division I or II schools must fulfill all of the NCAA requirements by the time of graduation from O’Dea. The NCAA requires that athletes have completed a core curriculum of 16 core courses with a minimum grade point average (GPA) and a minimum SAT or ACT score. Athletes who do not meet these requirements may not be eligible to compete. There are many other NCAA regulations that are also involved in the recruiting process. These rules apply to both the student-athlete and to the colleges. It is imperative that the student and his family become knowledgeable about these rules as any transgression may jeopardize the student’s participation on the college team. All of this information is available on the NCAA Eligibility Center Website. You should print a copy of the Guide for the College Bound Student-Athlete which is located on the NCAA website. It will give you specific information about the minimum high school academic requirements and the regulations that you must follow during the recruiting process.
All high school athletes who hope to compete at a Division I or II college program must submit a NCAA Initial Eligibility form in the spring of junior year. You must submit the data online: NCAA Initial Eligibility Form. Your counselor will submit an official transcript to the NCAA Eligibility Center electronically once you complete the registration process. You must also have the SAT or ACT send your test scores directly to the Eligibility Center from the testing company.
Questions? Please contact Kit Soldato.
802 Terry Ave, Seattle, WA 98104
We are located in Seattle's First Hill neighborhood directly behind St. James Cathedral.
P: (206) 622-6596 F: (206) 340-4110
Attendance Line: (206) 923-7550
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