Researching colleges, completing applications, and navigating scholarship and financial aid resources can be exciting and also challenging! Shorecrest's College Counseling Office (CCO) is designed to address these challenges with a personal, individualized approach focused on each student. Students are coached to find a best match college or university that meets their needs, interests and expectations. In addition to one-on-one guidance and a strong network of connections with colleges, the CCO is also equipped with Cialfo, software designed specifically for research, organization, and communication during the college admissions process.
Our motto is: We guide, you decide.
Shorecrest’s College Counseling Office is one of the most successful in the Tampa Bay area with 100% of our seniors accepted to colleges of their choice.
View a 2020-2024 College Acceptance list
A resource bank for each grade level is curated by the College Counseling Team including:
- the Shorecrest College Counseling Handbook
- reminders of important deadlines
- advice for student athletes
- scholarship and summer program information
- additional resources and helpful links
Families can expect to be provided with information, assistance and support with an emphasis on collaboration between students, parents, teachers, and counselors.
Resources:
- Shorecrest CEEB code: 102026
- Shorecrest School Profile
- Information for Visiting College Reps
- 2024-2025 CCO Calendar
- Request a Transcript
College Counseling Sessions & Events
Throughout the year sessions held by the College Counseling Team provide information on a variety of topics for students and their families including:
- First Year Foundation: Building a Foundation for College
- Sophomore Strategies: Beyond the Transcript
- Junior Journey: Navigating the College Process
- Junior GPS
- Senior Recharge
- Senior Launch: Countdown to College
- The Art of College: Pursuing the Arts at Shorecrest and Beyond
- Playing the Field: Taking your Talent to the Collegiate Level
- Money Matters: Financial Aid & Affording College
Shorecrest also hosts an HBCU (Historically Black College or University) College Fair, participates in Tampa Bay Case Studies, and connects students and families with the BAIS (Bay Area Independent Schools) College Fair and other college events.
Students interested in playing sports in college have the added responsibility to become familiar with the eligibility rules of the NCAA, the NAIA and the colleges and universities to which they are applying. Students who are applying to an NCAA Division I or Division II institution MUST REGISTER with the NCAA Eligibility Center by the end of JUNIOR year, if they want to be eligible to accept invitations to "official" on-campus recruiting visits. Feel free to discuss these procedures with the Athletics Department and the College Counseling Team.
Students who are looking at Division III schools must contact the Athletic Offices at each school and inform the coaches of their interest. It is important to research the procedure and requirements of each college or university.
“Playing the Field” Seminar
Shorecrest Upper School students interested in learning more about pursuing athletics in college - along with their parents/guardians - can join us every other year for a special information session entitled, "Playing the Field: Taking your Talent to the Collegiate Level." In the intervening year we present “The Art of College” focused on the visual and performing arts.
Additional Resources
NCSA College Recruiting
Positive Coaching Alliance
Recent Shorecrest Alumni Competing In College
- Five members of the Class of 2023 committed to football and swimming.
- 9 members of the Class of 2022 committed to Baseball, Sailing, Golf, Swimming, Soccer, Volleyball and Track and Field.
- 3 Chargers from the Class of 2021 signed for sailing, tennis and volleyball.
- 10 Chargers from the Class of 2020 signed in baseball, basketball, football, sailing, swimming, tennis and volleyball.
Students interested in attending a visual or performing arts college or majoring in the visual or performing arts have the added responsibility to become familiar with the portfolio and audition requirements and schedules of their colleges of interest. Feel free to discuss these procedures with your arts teachers and the College Counseling Team.
“The Art of College” Seminar
Shorecrest Upper School students interested in learning more about pursuing the visual and performing arts in college - along with their parents/guardians - can join us every other year for a special information session entitled, “The Art of College: Pursuing the Arts at Shorecrest and Beyond.” In the intervening year, we present "Playing the Field" focused on college athletics.
Additional Resources
Association of Independent College of Art and Design (AICAD)
AICAD Portfolio Review Portal
National Portfolio Day Association (NPDA)
National Unified Auditions
College Counseling Timeline
- The Shorecrest Advantage: Exploring Upper School hosted by Shorecrest College Counseling for Middle School families in the fall
- Lunch and Learn for rising ninth grade families hosted by the Admissions Office
- Rising ninth grade class meeting with Upper School Administration and College Counseling to discuss course scheduling process in the spring
- Take PSAT 8/9 in April (students only)
- Introduction to College Counseling via directed advisory programming (students only)
- Take PSAT 8/9 in October (students only)
- Attend BAIS College Fair in October (students and parents/guardians)
- Attend First Year Foundations (parents/guardians and students)
- Consider Signature Programs like GSI and STEAM
- Meet with College Counseling to review grades, courses, extracurriculars, and develop testing plan (students and parents/guardians)
- Take PSAT/NMSQT in October (students only)
- Attend BAIS College Fair in October (students and parents/guardians - off campus)
- Attend Sophomore Strategies (students and parents/guardians)
- Maintain strong academic record
- College Counseling advisory sessions and programming (students only)
- Meet with College Counseling to review grades, courses, extracurriculars, and testing (students and parents/guardians)
- Take PSAT/NMSQT (students only)
- Attend Junior Journey (students and parents/guardians)
- Family meeting with assigned College Counselor (students and parents/guardians)
- Attend Tampa Bay Case Studies (students and parents/guardians)
- Take ACT and/or SAT (students only)
- Visit colleges and universities (students and parents/guardians)
- Attend Junior GPS (students only)
- Attend Senior Recharge (students only)
- Attend Senior Launch (parents/guardians only)
- Take SAT and/or ACT (students only)
- Attend college rep visits at Shorecrest (students only)
- Finalize college list (students and parents/guardians)
- Submit applications to colleges and universities (students only)
Download a Shorecrest College Counseling Timeline
Download a Shorecrest College Counseling Calendar
Some recent matriculations of Shorecrest Chargers
College Representative Visits
Each fall approximately 75 admissions representatives from colleges and universities across the country (and a few from outside the U.S.) visit Shorecrest to meet with students and counselors. You can see a list of our 2022-23 visitors here. In addition some colleges travel together and present regionally, rather than visiting individual high schools. Examples of these presentations include Six Colleges (Amherst, Bowdoin, Carleton, Pomona, Swarthmore, and Williams) and Exploring College Options (Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Penn, and Stanford). We ensure that these regional visits get publicized to the Shorecrest Upper School community. Students register in advance on Cialfo to participate in college rep visits.
The college application process has evolved so much and it can prove to be a daunting, complex and uncertain web for even the highest performing students. The Shorecrest College Counseling team places a structure around the students' experiences and decisions from the first day of high school to put students along a winning path and one that will result in the right fit for each individual.
One-on-one and student-parent-counselor meetings proved very beneficial to give us clarity and help us feel secure that we were doing the right things at the right time. I'm very grateful for the personal attention my oldest son received in order to achieve his engineering scholarship and I look forward to enjoying more of the same with my younger son.
- Mary Heckert, parent of Alumni Class of 2019 & Class of 2024