Application FAQ's
FAQ's
- Are You Eligible for Early College High School?
- Placement Tests? And how do I prepare?
- How do I obtain a recommendation?
- What are the application essays that I should start working on?
- How do I get my HS Transcript for the application?
- When will I find out if I get into ECHS?
- If I get in to ECHS, what is next?
- Info on ECHS Lottery
Are You Eligible for Early College High School?
-
You must be 16 years old by the time PCC classes start. Check the PCC calendar for the exact date.
-
Students must have a minimum cumulative 2.0 GPA (Weighted or unweighted).
-
When classes start, you must be at least 16 years old and (1) a high school junior or (2-BSD students only) a senior who will not have sufficient credits to be able to graduate on time with their senior class and will carry over into a 5th year.
-
Students must have completed a minimum of 12 high school credits. Or if you are applying from a private or homeschooled environment you must have at least 12 transferable credits in order to graduate on time from BSD.
-
You must live within the Beaverton School District attendance boundaries. Tigard-Tualatin Students also qualify, please check with your TTSD counselor for more information.
-
Students must complete the PCC Math Placement test and qualify for at least Math 58/60.
-
Students must qualify for Reading and Writing 115. (Based on performance in language arts courses in high school).
-
Complete an application within the application window. ECHS, application deadlines are not flexible.
Placement Tests? And how do I prepare?
Both PCC and ECHS require applicants to take a math placement test before they can apply. Due to COVID-19 restrictions PCC is not requiring that Reading and Writing Placement test at the current time.
- The math placement test is called ALEKS. In order to qualify for ECHS, you must place into Math 60 (or higher). PCC allows students to take the ALEKS test off-site on any computer with an Internet connection.
- At the beginning of the ALEKS math placement test, the computer will ask you for your PCC User ID and your PCC Password. It will also ask which math class you plan to take. Most students should select "Math 060". Be aware that ALEKS will test your math abilities to the highest level math class offered at PCC. For that reason don't be discouraged if it seems that you don't know all the answers to questions on the test.
2. You can find more information about placement tests and some sample questions and study opportunities at PCC's Placement Test webpage.
3. It is possible to re-take the placement tests, however, PCC may require a student to complete an online tutorial designed help a student improve their scores before the 2nd attempt.)
4. After you complete the math placement test, you will be shown your raw numerical score, which you can ignore. Within about an hour, you will receive an email in your MyPCC email account stating your actual placement. Login at my.pcc.edu and click on the mail icon in the upper right hand corner to read your placement test results.
How do I obtain a recommendation?
The recommendation is one of the most important factors considered in ECHS admissions!
- Download the "Recommendation Request Form".
- Complete this form and give it to your high school counselor or AVID elective teacher to complete.
- Home schooled or applicants not currently enrolled in school may have an adult NOT in the immediate family who is familiar with their educational background complete the recommendation.
- Note that the Recommendation Request Form does not need to be turned in to ECHS. It is only used as an aid for the person completing the recommendation.
- Give the person completing the recommendation at least 2 weeks advance notice before the application deadline!
- If you provide an accurate email address on the Recommendation Request Form, you will receive an email confirmation when the recommendation is received by ECHS.
- An application is not considered complete without a recommendation. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that ECHS receives it in a timely manner.
What are the application essays that I should start working on?
When you apply, you will be required to submit short essays answering the following questions:
- Write a short narrative introducing yourself to us so that we may get to know you better. Feel free to include things like your personality, character traits and why you feel you are ready for the college environment?
- Why are you interested in attending Early College High School and how does ECHS fit in to your future goals? Please give specific examples.
- Is there anything about you or your situation that you would like us to know or that we should take into consideration?
How do I get my HS Transcript for the application?
- Ask your high school counselor for an electronic copy.
- You will need information on your transcript to answer some questions on the application.
- You will also be asked to upload a PDF of your transcript.
- Your high school grades, attendance, credits earned, are important in our evaluation of your application and important in determining your ability for our applicants to graduate on time when joining our program.
When will I find out if I get into ECHS?
- You will receive an admissions decision from Early College High School by email approximately 2-4 weeks after the admissions window closes. For Fall 2022 we have scheduled May admission decision notifications to take place on May 20th at or around 7pm.
- Due to the confidential nature of the recommendation and the volume of applications ECHS typically receives, feedback will not be given on individual applications or admission decisions.
If I get in to ECHS, what is next?
If admitted, new students must attend two mandatory meetings:
- Registration Meeting: At this meeting new students learn how to register for classes. Both the new student and a parent/guardian must attend. The following documents must be signed and collected at the meeting. Newly admitted families are encouraged to review these documents in advance. Copies of the latest editions of these forms will be distributed at the meeting, so it is not necessary to sign them in advance.
- Orientation Meeting: This meeting usually occurs the week before classes start. The purpose of this meeting is to connect new students with their ECHS mentor (a current student) and prepare new students for the first days of college. Check the ECHS Calendar for the exact dates of these meetings.
Choosing not to attend either of these mandatory events may result in a student's admission to ECHS being rescinded or deferred.
Info on ECHS Lottery
For applicants residing within the Beaverton, Tigard-Tualatin, and St. Helen's School Districts, If ECHS receives more on-time and qualified applicants than available space in our program we will move to a random lottery to determine Fall Admissions.
All qualified applicants not selected in the lottery will be placed on a wait list. Should seats open in the program after May 21st, Wait List students will be admitted to the program based on the availability of classes at PCC.