College Counseling

IWA uses Naviance, a comprehensive website that students can use to plan for college and career. Naviance provides up-to-date information that is specific to our school. Naviance allows you to:

• Get involved in the planning and advising process: Build a resume, complete online surveys, and manage timelines and deadlines for making decisions about colleges and careers

• Research colleges: Compare GPAs, standardized test scores, and other statistics to actual historical data from our school for students who have applied and been admitted in the past

• Research careers: Research hundreds of careers and career clusters, and take career assessments

It's important to explore many different colleges and universities before making a final decision.  We encourage students to take advantage of representative visits on campus, local college fairs, and campus tours as early as possible.

• College Representative Visits: Each fall, many college representatives visit IWA to learn about the school and meet with our students. Most visits happen during the junior/senior lunch period, but some are scheduled during Flex Time. Students can view a list of upcoming visits on Naviance or on the IWA Community Calendar. We encourage students to visit with many college representatives to learn about a variety of colleges and to practice leaning into the challenge of discussing college with a new adult. 

• College Fairs: All students and their families are invited to the Catholic High Schools College Fair at Strake Jesuit (250+ colleges) and the IWA Mini College Fair (20+ colleges).  The IWA Mini College Fair is immediately prior to Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences so parents can also attend while they are already coming to campus.

• Texas Tour: Juniors may sign up to attend IWA’s Texas College Tour in the fall and the spring.  Juniors are encouraged to plan individual college visits in the spring.

The College Counselor offers college workshops for both students and parents throughout the year.  Topics include creating a college list, visiting colleges, creating a polished resume, using Naviance, and writing college essays.

• PSAT Workshop: Sophomores, juniors, and their parents participate in a workshop about interpreting the test results and how to prepare for the SAT & ACT standardized tests.

• College Application Case Study Workshop:  All students (9th-12th grade) and their parents are invited to see what it's like to be a college admissions counselor and make admissions decisions on a series of mock applications. Real college admissions counselors will lead discussions about how applications are read and how decisions are made.

• College Application Workshop: Before school starts in August, seniors come to campus for a college application workshop to begin–or even complete–applications before school starts.

• FAFSA Workshop: Juniors and families attend a FAFSA workshop led by a university financial aid officer

• PSAT/NMSQT: Freshmen take the PSAT 8/9 in the fall.  Sophomores and Juniors take the PSAT in the fall. 

• PSAT Kaplan Prep Course: IWA offers a 5-week Kaplan Prep Course on campus  The course includes proven strategies, 2 full-length practice tests, and expert teachers. 

• SAT/ACT Test:  Juniors are encouraged to take the SAT and ACT in the spring of junior year and again in the summer or fall of senior year. During the Spring Semester, IWA offers the ACT and SAT on-site during a school day.

Sophomores participate in college advisory sessions in the spring and fall.  Each session focuses on resume building and college readiness.  

Download your Sophomore Year College Readiness Checklist

View the Sophomore-Junior Parent Presentation

Juniors participate in college advisory sessions throughout the year. These sessions focus on the college search process and finding your fit.  

College Visit Policy: Juniors are allowed two college visit days. Both juniors and seniors must use the days in the fall prior to December 1 and or in the spring prior to May 1. Upon return to school, the student must also bring verification from the college that the student made an official visit. If proper procedure is followed, these days will be marked as a college visit in the attendance system and will not affect the exam exemptions in the second semester. Otherwise, the day(s) will count as a regular absence and will affect exam exemptions in the spring semester. Exceptions are at the discretion of the College Counselor.

Download your Junior Year College Readiness Checklist

View the Sophomore-Junior Parent Presentation

Throughout the year, seniors meet individually with the college counselor to finalize application list, fill out Apply Texas and/or Common Application, determine who will write teacher recommendations, review resume and essays, apply for financial aid, select a college, etc.

College Visit Policy: Seniors are allowed four college visit days during the school year. Both juniors and seniors must use the days in the fall prior to December 1 and or in the spring prior to May 1. Upon return to school, the student must also bring verification from the college that the student made an official visit. If proper procedure is followed, these days will be marked as a college visit in the attendance system and will not affect the exam exemptions in the second semester. Otherwise, the day(s) will count as a regular absence and will affect exam exemptions in the spring semester. Exceptions are at the discretion of the College Counselor.

Download your Senior Year College Readiness Checklist